Delta FA Lawsuit

[Mamma]

I've tried to find an answer to this awhile ago and really never received a good answer. My ALPA rep says preflight pay is "all rolled into your pay." If that is so then why does the math not work? If I fly one leg in a day for 6 hours of credit I get paid for 6 hours plus the one hour of preflight---7 hours of work. If I fly 4 legs paying 6 hours of credit, I did 10 hours of work (4 preflights) for 6 hours of pay. Where is this rolled in pay? The 4 leg guy seems to be missing 3 hours of pay somewhere.

http://www.universalhub.com/2013/delta-flight-attendants-based-logan-sue-airline-ov

Delta flight attendants based at Logan sue for overtime

By adamg, Sat, 08/03/2013 - 12:47pm
Two Delta flight attendants based at Logan Airport charge the airline would only pay them for time they spent in the air and say they're owed back wages for all the time they worked before and after flights.

Nancy DeSaint of Cranston, RI and Barbara Keenan of Salem filed a class-action lawsuit last month in Suffolk Superior Court. Delta moved this week to have the case moved to US District Court in Boston, in part because of the amount sought - more than $5 million.

In their suit, the two flight attendants - one of whom still works for Delta - say:

Flight attendants are required to perform work before flights take off and after landing, but they are not compensated for that.

Additionally, flight attendants are not properly compensated for travel time, including overnight travel and travel required to return to their base after a flight.

They add Delta also didn't pay them for time they were on call at the airport but were not assigned to a flight and did not pay time and a half when they worked more than 40 hours in a week.

 

[SIG600]

Good luck with that. Hence why you have a contract. Non-starter.

 

[Mamma]

Good luck with that. Hence why you have a contract. Non-starter.

Thanks Sig! I was hoping to find someone versed in Federal Labor Law to answer the preflight question. Can a contract abrogate the law or does it have to follow the law? What does federal law say in regards to making an hourly worker be someplace and perform a specific function? Are we as pilots salaried (min gurantee)or hourly workers? What about flight attendants? Thanks for any help you can offer!

 

[Raoul Duke]

Employees covered under the RLA are categorically exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. FAs from NetJets tried this same argument and lost.

 

[Old School 737]

Employees covered under the RLA are categorically exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. FAs from NetJets tried this same argument and lost.

Sad that FA or even pilots at net jets fall under this .. Since it a private jet with owners being flown in it .. So to speak .. ..

 

[Mamma]

Employees covered under the RLA are categorically exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. FAs from NetJets tried this same argument and lost.

The overtime arguement was just one of many arguments put forth in this case. I'm interested in the merits of requiring flight crews to work uncompensated...preflights and post flights. For a flight attendant this adds up to a lot of hours. Could be over 80 hours of work a month. What law allows this? That is my question.

 

[IBNAV8R]

It's all been to court before. FAs won't get jack.

 

[doh]

That is why Delta FAs desperately need a union.

 

[IBNAV8R]

That is why Delta FAs desperately need a union.

How, exactly, will a union help in this case? It has been brought up before and lost. If anything the FAs could argue that since they are NOT union, they don't have a CBA. Thus, they cannot be exempted from FFLSA.

Sorry, but that one failed too. They would have to argue that they are not making minimum wage or minimum salary (or fee-based compensation) of $455/wk.

Regional FAs might have a claim on this but, that too has been fought and lost.

 

[Flyby1206]

Employees covered under the RLA are categorically exempt from the overtime provisions of the Fair Labor Standards Act. FAs from NetJets tried this same argument and lost.

I thought the RLA only applied to unionized labor groups. If the Delta FAs were non-union then they might have a case, correct?