April 11, 2017
April 2017 IROP
Fellow Delta Pilots,
What started as a day with a challenging system of forecasted thunderstorms in the Atlanta area quickly shifted to an IROP that exceeded the magnitude of the operational meltdown of last August’s IT “disruption.”
First,
thank you very much for your performance, especially the past few days; you deserve to be commended for safely and professionally handling this very frustrating event. Times like these prove our Company’s success is largely due to your efforts and dedication in delivering our passengers safely, comfortably and on schedule (when operationally within your control). Similarly, we extend our gratitude to our fellow frontline employees who also shouldered the operational burdens during this IROP.
Our immediate focus is on the above-and-beyond contributions from the pilots and all other employee groups. We continue to offer any help we can, as an organization and as invested Delta employees, to improve Delta’s operational performance including a more successful navigation of challenging IROPs.
Unfortunately, press reports included the following statement, attributed to a Company communication:
“…the ongoing disruptions were a result of limited availability of flight crews, whose working and rest hours are mandated by law for safety reasons”.
Statements covered in the press about flight crew unavailability contributing to this IROP are inaccurate. This may have been a miscommunication or misinterpretation in the heat of the moment over the weekend as press reports were developed apparently from information on the Delta News Hub (Corporate Communications). Pilots and flight attendants proactively attempted multiple contacts with Crew Scheduling, went days without receiving Crew Scheduling or Tracking contact, were placed on hold (in some cases for over six hours), and were camped out in crew lounges and airports resembling refugee camps. This, all in an effort to do their jobs and recover the operation.
The Company agrees, as noted in Mr. Bastian’s video from yesterday afternoon on “Ed’s Newsfeed.” We appreciate their prompt internal message of clarification and recognition of all employees,
and we hope that message reaches our customers and the general public.
To be clear,
there was no availability problem, contractual or regulatory;
there was a connectivity problem . . . connecting pilots and flight crews to their airplanes . . . or any airplane, which exacerbated this event
.
Regarding the root causes of the problem, there are both simple and complex potential explanations. Several days of perspective and analysis will be necessary to fully evaluate the failure points. Those answers will include corporate information technology (IT) investments in crew tracking and operational control, and likely enhanced staffing in those areas. We encourage the Company to expand the technology investments they have
already accelerated since the recent IT “disruption.”
While some of the problem areas are obvious, the solutions may not be that simple or expeditious, even with the increased resources being applied. We have scheduled meetings with the Company to be held after a full analysis has been completed. We will evaluate the Company’s solutions and continue to offer suggestions and resources.
We have been assured this event will not lead to simply creating special teams generating reports that won’t be aggressively acted upon. We’ll leave it to senior management to describe the implementation process and timeline for the improvements to flight crew interaction with Scheduling and Tracking, as well as the improved scheduling and tracking software and systems.
Flight Operations has also assured us that any contractual violations from this event will not be quibbled over and will be
properly (and promptly) compensated.
I know that many of you may say you’ve heard those assurances before, so what? The sheer magnitude of this event requires substantial improvements in the system to prevent a reoccurrence and further damage to our brand.
More information will be forthcoming as we work together with the Company to find effective, long-term solutions to these significant operational challenges and unacceptable service meltdowns.
To enhance feedback, we have developed two online tools: a Pilot Report page and a Suggestion Box.
Thank you again for your commitment to our airline and our profession.
Fraternally,
Bill Bartels
Delta MEC Chairman
