Delta to Add 700 Flight-Attendant Jobs as Travel Demand Improves, CEO Says
By Mary Jane Credeur - Oct 15, 2010 9:30 AM MT

Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s second-largest air carrier, is adding about 700 flight attendant jobs as demand for travel improves, Chief Executive Officer Richard Anderson said.

Delta first offered the jobs to flight attendants who were on furlough and 425 accepted, which “still leaves a few hundred positions to fill,” Anderson said in his weekly recorded message to employees. The company expects to interview about 90 candidates a day through the end of the year as it goes through the 60,000 applications it received, he said.

Delta has about 20,000 flight attendants, and the new positions would be a 3.5 percent increase for that work group. Flight attendants are voting through Nov. 3 on whether to be represented by the Association of Flight Attendants union, which represented the Northwest group before Delta bought the smaller airline in 2008.

Pre-merger Delta flight attendants have twice rejected union drives. A change by the U.S. National Mediation Board now allows the majority of votes cast to determine the outcome of an election. Previously, abstaining from voting was counted as a “no,” setting a higher threshold for unions to win approval.

United Airlines and Continental Airlines merged in October to form United Continental Holdings Inc., surpassing Atlanta- based Delta as the world’s biggest carrier.

To contact the reporter on this story: Mary Jane Credeur in Atlanta at mcredeur@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: Ed Dufner at edufner@bloomberg.net.