Aviation watchdog JonNYC points to a new Delta Air Lines pilot union website offering ‘consumer advice’ dealing with the operational challenges of the once-premium carrier: ‘Delta Pilots Care’ that he points out reads like ‘Delta Pilot Scare’. And that’s appropriate, because they’re trying to scare passengers over the failures of Delta management as part of the narrative entering contract negotiations.
https://t.co/EW7cYb8400
( personally, I question the choice of this URL a bit — like if ya read it too quick it's Delta Pilot Scare)— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) July 2, 2026
This Is A Fight Over Blame For Delta’s Reliability Issues
Delta has had real reliability problems. Their top executives have told investors that it could last all summer. The issue isn’t on-time performance on average days, it’s recovery when things go south.
The airline still performs well compared to many airlines on an average day, although not close to the way they used to before the pandemic (and what they built their reputation on). But when weather or other disruptions hit, and they need to rebuild trips and pair crew with planes, the recovery process breaks down and cancellations snowball.
They’ve correctly blamed these challenges on provisions in their pilot contract, combined with an underinvestment in technology and failure to have enough slack in their staffing.
They used to have to make calls to pilots to get new ones assigned to flights, one-by-one, but then restricted the way those calls were made to reduce overnight nuisance. But their emergency out-of-seniority coverage needs create contractual problems, costs, and incentives for pilots to game the system to increase pay. Everyone indicates a willingness to take trips so that they’re the ones treated as being skipped over (and therefore have to get paid for not working), but all of these auto-accepts slow the system and leave trips sitting while the clock runs. In fact, they often run out of time and don’t get flights covered.
Ultimately it’s about management underinvestment in having enough pilots, in retaining schedulers with enough experience, in software, and a system that runs too tightly for an airline that still markets itself as premium and tries to sell its reliability.
Against this backdrop, the pilot union has launched a campaign framed as passenger advice, when it’s really about trying to control the narrative in case they need to request a strike from the government later.
Pilot Contract Negotiations Are Underway
The Delta pilot union message is that they’re safety professionals working on their days off to make up for Delta management ineptitude. The new site points to DOT complaints, passenger compensation rules, and to Elliott Advocacy – and a link to their contract negotiations “Raise the Bar. Hold the Line.” The current pilot agreement becomes amendable December 31, 2026, and bargaining has started.
Delta management keeps pointing to pilots not picking up extra flying, open-trip acceptance dropping significantly, and using emergency trip coverage procedures at 10 to 15 times prior year levels. Pilot staffing cancellations are at 10 times historical levels, and accounted for about a third of mainline cancellations.
Here’s what the Air Line Pilots Association is really saying:
- “We prioritize safety” means don’t blame pilots for refusing fatigue and pressure to allow lower seniority flying at lower cost.
- “We’re working days off in record numbers” means this is not laziness, Delta has underinvested and should be hiring more (union member) pilots
- “Expect reliability” means Delta promises premium performance but refuses to fund it (by paying us)
- “File a DOT complaint” means turn your anger into regulatory and reputational pressure on management.
- “Hold the line” means we are not giving back scheduling, pay, reserve, or quality of life gains because it’s convenient for Delta.
They want to allocate blame to management and inoculated passengers against management saying that flights are being cancelled because they couldn’t get pilots to fly.
And public narrative matters in airline union contract negotiations because a strike requires National Mediation Board authorization. That’s a political body, and no president wants a strike under their watch. Joe Biden was the most labor-friendly President in a generation and no airline union successfully got strike authorization.
Pilots want to make sure that when Delta says the problem is crew availability, that customers hear management has failed to invest in its operation rather than pilots refuse to work.
The @Delta_Pilots took an unprecedented step in passing a vote of “no confidence” in Delta for scheduling issues that have impacted customers & pilots. Time for a new industry-leading pilot contract & a better @Delta https://t.co/FNtY6iWG9l#DeltaPilots #DeltaPilotContractNow pic.twitter.com/Bi9jKLKCkK
— Delta Pilots (@Delta_Pilots) June 30, 2022
There Are Actually Useful Travel Tips Here
At least for the neophyte traveler, the Delta ALPA site offers some useful suggestions like booking the first flight of the day. Planes and crews are most likely to be in position. They haven’t been delayed yet, and delays stack. Later flights means every flight before it that the aircraft and employees have flown have had a chance to cause disarray.
Taking longer connections means having a better chance of avoiding misconnects. Avoiding booking through third parties is less of a helpful tip for day of problems, because Delta still services day of travel directly (when you’re trying to change a ticket in advance you don’t want to have to deal with Expedia or another online travel agency).
And you should certainly use Delta’s app to manage flight options, track your bag, and get real time notifications of changes. Avoid checking bags if possible. And file DOT complaints if you can’t get attention from Delta over an issue you’ve had (but this only helps after the fact, not getting where you’re going at the moment)>
But there’s a ton of anodyne filler, too, like ‘stay hydrated’ ‘dress in layers’ and ‘have PreCheck, CLEAR, or Global Entry.’ Those don’t help much with the actual issues at Delta over flight recovery during irregular operations. They even mention AirTags and carry-ons twice so they’re obviously trying to pad this section of their site.
Is some of this due to having so much of the network in and out ATL? An airport subject to constant thunderstorms so when operations come to a grinding halt for a couple of hours, or more, the entire network suffers.
AA seems to have the same issue, although maybe to a lesser extent with DFW.
Pilots union greed at its finest. They are the worst. I’m not anti union but the pilots take the cake.
The DOT just released the July Air Travel Consumer Report yesterday which includes data through May.
In it, DL went to the best on-time position of all US airlines with a 0.1% leade over AS – which now includes HA.
the shocker is that B6 was just below AS followed with 0.1% separating the top 3 finishers.
UA was over 2% lower than B6 for 4th place and then AA was just over 1% lower than UA
Now defunct NK was at the bottom of the list but WN was 9th with almost 10% more flights delayed than the top 3.
WN’s performance on cancellation was better than any other big 4 carrier – showing that their strategy to not cancel subjects them to more delays. Allegiant did best again followed by B6; perhaps B6 is refocusing their operation and overcoming what was their biggest drawback – their lack of reliability.
UA, DL and AA were separated by about 0.4% in cancellations but even AA had only 1.5% of their flights cancelled.
as usual, UA is at the bottom of the industry in baggage handling.
the “advantage” in reliability that UA supposedly had over DL at the beginning of the year is over.
DL is still cancelling more flights than they historically did but they are just as reliable in on-time if not more so than competitors
The DL pilots like the UA fans will gain no traction in their argument about the lack of reliability of DL’s network because data says otherwise.
it is also worth noting that EWR again was the best performing NYC airport, something UA loves to tout but the difference was just 4% when EWR and JFK on-time for May was well above system on-time. Given that WN has a small presence in NYC and they were the laggard in on-time systemwide, it isn’t surprising that NYC’s airports did well overall.
but UA simply traded reliability at EWR for lower on-time at their other hubs including ORD and SFO; IAH didn’t do as well as other hubs but was better than DFW.
DL pilots do not like that DL is limiting their ability to pick up drop their bid schedules and then pick up higher paying trips – a key feature of many US airline pilot contracts. DL is hiring pilots at a faster rate than they wanted but they are having to cover fewer open flights by limiting trip dropping.
Of course DL pilots don’t like what DL has done but it is either apparently allowed by the contract or DL is willing to do it anyway.
the argument that DL’s operation isn’t reliable isn’t even remotely supported by statistics.
Since DL reports its 2nd quarter financials in a week, they will realize they are still the best paid in the industry including with profit sharing that overshadows everyone else in the industry.
and the chances are that DL pilots and the rest of the industry will see far smaller gains on a new contract than were seen in post covid pilot contracts.
since sTD is copying/pasting posts from one site to another… why not…
Interesting how Tim mentions the DOT report but conveniently omits the applicable statistic from the report. In fact, he mentions Cancels — the one statistic that is most applicable — but only to talk about WN before quickly moving on to other usual rants about EWR vs JFK/LGA and MBR to try and throw a lot at the wall and hoping no one notices his misuse of the data he posts.
First, it’s a report by Operating carrier, not marketing carrier. It’s interesting and applicable if you’re Southwest or JetBlue with no regional network, but not very useful for network airlines that use regional lift.
But let’s just look at Delta vs others.
I’m just going to look at May since you’d expect to see improvements vs YTD numbers before the summer travel peak started accelerating operational issues, like Delta management said it would.
The issue with Delta pilots has been a mix of delays but more about cancellations.
In the report Tim mentions:
Cancels:
AA: 1,324 cancelled flights out of 88,740 = 1.5% cancel rate (pretty lousy but May had a ton of weather at AA hubs shutting down major airports but still lousy)
DL: 1,144 cancelled flights out of 91,955 = 1.24% cancel rate (also pretty bad but not as bad as AA)
UA: 286 cancelled flights out of 74,200 = 0.38% cancel rate (pretty awesome vs DL and AA)
From this alone, the DOT report reaffirms what Delta’s management said — that Delta ops would not get better over the summer. They’re deteriorating significantly relative to UA. That is a LOT of cancelled passengers in the month of May for Delta vs United. well into the tens of thousands more impacted passengers.
Flights on time:
AA: 75.1%
DL: 81% (AS is at 82.4% — No, Delta is not ahead of AS in the latest report in the latest month of reporting and is, in fact, falling behind Alaska)
UA: 79.5%
Yet another great example of Tim using “data” but purposefully omitting the relevant data, glossing over it, then bringing up 6 other unrelated topics to obscure how deliberating he attempts to manipulate Data when he actually even bothers to use it.
Yes, Delta still has major operational issues vs United and they’re only getting worse (April was 0.8% cancel rate for DL vs UA at 0.5%)
Delta is dying on the vine.
A premium carcass.
good on both Ben and Gary for covering this subject.
The DL pilots have nothing to stand on based on actual facts and data. DL is running a reliable operation and is at or near the top of the industry.
Only deception spewing people like Max would construe that the DOT prioritizes any single dataset over any other. They don’t. They provide a comprehensive list of metrics, many of which are divided between mainline and regional carriers
Whatever lead UA might have had over DL is gone. UA’s on-time as a marketing airline is worse than DL as a marketing airline. DL’s cancellation rate is now so near to UA’s that only a few people would argue that there is any difference in real life.
and it is WN that wins in fewer cancellations but they have a much worse on-time.
UA operates a far higher percentage of its network on regional jets which will always have an inferior level of service to mainline.
The DOT provides the data so consumers can make their own choices as to what matters.
Few people would ding either DL or UA for the level of their operations right now but there never was and certainly is not now a basis for arguing that UA had or has an operational advantage.
They do still lose bags at a far higher rate than DL or WN.
you are such an easy target, max
This is so gratifying. The more the cover is taken off what is essentially a mediocre airline that rakes in money by screwing its customers from the front of the plane to the back of the bus.
“Only deception spewing people like Max would construe that the DOT prioritizes any single dataset over any other. They don’t. They provide a comprehensive list of metrics, many of which are divided between mainline and regional carriers”
God even knows what you’re trying to say. you’re the one who brought up the DOT report but yes. Only Delta mainline is impacted by the Delta mainline pilot contract — remember the one Delta says is causing all the operational issues?
But given the pilot issues are causing cancels and that cancellation rate is only ACCELERATING for delta, yes, Tim. No one is lying with stats except you who refuses to even use the one applicable statistic where the Pilot issue is causing the operational issues.
Delta is canceling far more flights going into the summer vs United and the cancel % spread between DL and UA is only growing in United’s favor.
If you want to post DOT datasets, sTD, at least understand what they mean for your point before you get called out so easily… yet again
You truly have no idea what you’re talking about even when you post your own data, sTD. It’s VERY easy to go into the same dataset and easily see Delta’s operational issues massively accelerating from April to May yet you try to gloss over them like they don’t exist.
But by all means… keep talking about… bags? lol
Mac proves that he is the one that has to manipulate data to make a point that real analysis shows doesn’t exist.
Using all data, United’s operation is inferior to delta’s
TD owned again. Thank you.
TDS (Tim Derangement Syndrome) is real!
Good on the pilots for calling out their management’s failures. Now, what would be even better is an actual air passenger rights legislation like EU261, UK261, or APPR in Canada, where affected passengers are compensated for the airline’s failures, like excessive delays under their control. That’s the right incentive that would actually encourage management to start caring about this. It’s gotta hurt the balance sheet or Ed’s personal compensation package before anything will improve.
Delta flights are 35% more likely to be cancelled than UA in 2026.
Delta flights are 0.8% more likely to be on time than UA in 2026.
Delta cancelled 17,095 or 2.5% of their flights in 2026 or 5,330 more than UA.
Spectrum Boy is having a other one of their ‘facts optional’ posts trying to convey typed opinion as fact when they are not.
Such as noting ‘regional jets always have inferior service to mainline’ which is an odd opinion somehow presented as fact that has actual fact based posts and data to disprove. The humour is not lost on us SB!
Rebel couldn’t count to 5 if he used both hands.
Just admit it
United can’t run a reliable operation which is why the feds have stepped into UA hubs 3 times.
Delta doesn’t need the feds to step in and save its metro areas from United mismanagement
@ Tim Dunn: You said, “UA operates a far higher percentage of its network on regional jets which will always have an inferior level of service to mainline.”
Let’s just stick with this ONE of your many assertions, to see if you will address it or not. The data I can find says:
RJs, as a percentage of flights flown:
DL: +/- 26%
UA: +/- 36%
AA: +/- 43%
RJs, as a percentage of seat miles:
DL: +/- 5%
UA: +/- 6%
AA: +/- 10%
How is your claim that “UA operates a far higher percentage of its network on regional jets” anything but wrong?
@ Tim Dunn: You said, “Few people would ding either DL or UA for the level of their operations right now…”
Actually, the investment community appears to have been quite happy to “ding” DL recently about their operations. Here’s just one. It’s from an AInvest article about Delta not too long ago (May 5th), and their surge in cancellations YOY:
“The 23.M.7 system is highly inefficient and costly, often paying premiums to pilots while leaving other scheduling gaps unfilled. As a result, flight operations-related cancellations have risen to 35% of Delta’s mainline cancellations, up from just 7% last year according to financial reports….
…The operational struggles are not just a passenger inconvenience; they represent a significant risk to Delta’s brand equity and financial performance. The airline, which held the top spot in U.S. airline reliability for five consecutive years, has fallen to sixth place in the January 2026 Air Travel Consumer Report. Delta recorded an on-time performance of 80.06% across 132,034 flights, but a total of 3,229 cancellations negatively impacted its overall reliability score. This decline highlights that reliability is determined not just by punctuality, but by the ability to keep flights operating as scheduled, a metric where Delta is now lagging behind peers like Allegiant, Southwest, and Hawaiian Airlines.”
And as Delta management themselves have said – and who have a fiduciary and SEC responsibility to not mislead investors – they do not expect these issues to be fixed before the end of the summer.
Tim Dunn Said: “DL’s cancellation rate is now so near to UA’s that only a few people would argue that there is any difference in real life.”
Here’s an exercise from Tim Dunn’s School of Math and Analytics:
Delta cancellation in May 2026: 1.1%
United cancellation in May 2026: 0.7%
0.4% difference <<<< NOT A BIG NUMBER!
Delta mishandled bags rate in May 2026: 0.29%
United mishandled bags rate in May 2026: 0.56%
0.27% difference <<<<< A VERY BIG NUMBER!
Mainline Delta flights are 85% more likely to be cancelled than mainline United flights in 2026. UA does a good job of prioritizing flights with more customers during FAA delay programs.
DOT stats on 1st five months of 2026
Cancellations/flights = cancellation rate
DL Mainline: 9,638/419,358=0.023
DL Connect: 7,457/253,266 =0.0294
DL Total: 17,095/672,624 =0.0254
UA Mainline: 4,194/337,995=0.0124
UA Express: 7,571/285,325 =0.0265
UA Total: 11,765/623,320 =0.0189
as usual, the UA fan nut jobs come out in full force when confronted w/ the reailty that UA blew its opportunity to surpass DL in operational relability
UA passed DL in both cancellation and on-time for a couple months – but YTD, on-time UA is back well below DL. UA was too focused on cramming flights into ORD and SFO that the FAA had to step in there just as they did at EWR.
and, paul, you can slice your BS as thin as you want but DL operates a smaller percentage of its domestic on regional jets than UA.
and UA’s baggage handling ratio is worse than any other US airline and yet we have the mental midgets that want to argue that baggage handling and on-time doesn’t matter but UA’s tiny little cancellation advantage – based on running a much smaller domestic network – esp in major markets – leaves them at #4 in the industry.
out of the big 4.
DL pilots look even dumber than the UA fan nut jobs that infect social media becuse they can’t accept that their airline is not anywhere close to industry leading in anything except arrogance and data manipulation.
“but YTD, on-time UA is back well below DL”
If you consider 0.8% “well below” what do you consider DL’s 35% higher cancellation rate? Too funny.
only you are so scared of the truth that you distort the competition’s cancellation rate.
DL is coming for EWR and will succeed just as much as it is already on LAX-ORD and LAX-HKG.
THAT is what you are and should be scared about.
That 35% higher DL canx rate YTD and those 44 recliners 2x/day next April are making UA quake in their boots. 😉
I love it when you see someone like “Matt” post “TDS is real”
weirdly enough, quickly in reply to someone else noting sTD got owned but Tim needs someone to agree with him while he’s clicking refresh on the comment section for 3 hours straight hoping others reply to him. So quickly in reply, just like Tim always does with me since he sits there clicking refresh. he uses “Matt” to seem like literally ANYONE agrees with him. how tragic lol
Tim, you fool no one with your weird sense of entitlement and fake accounts.
sTD
“DL is coming for EWR and will succeed just as much as it is already on LAX-ORD and LAX-HKG.”
Define these success metrics for LAX-ORD and LAX-HKG? How are you defining delta’s success on brand new markets with the worst frequency vs Star and OneWorld?
Literally ANY data whatsoever, pal. Anything. 😉 can you do it? I already know you can’t but how will you attempt to deflect and not answer….? maybe MBR? talk about the A35K?
DL’s success on LAX-ORD and HKG will be far larger than the supposed 0.X% advantage that UA has in cancellation rates – now that the feds have taken over UA’s ops at its 3 largest hubs and UA cancels all of its regional jet operations in order to manipulate its operations to make its mainline cancellation rate look better.
and the best part is that, not only will DL beat UA in system cancellations for 2026 but it will take on LAX-IAD (and PHL)
but you and the other mental midgets will still be focusing on a cople month advantage in a single data point which didn’t last.
you have consistenly proven you miss the mark – and nothing has changed.
oh no no no, mental midget
you said this: ““DL is coming for EWR and will succeed just as much as it is already on LAX-ORD and LAX-HKG.””
tell us how delta is already succeeding on these two routes? literally any metric you can point to whatsoever? Or do you just finally want to admit you just type with no thought to backing up anything you say?
All we need to do is look at how well Delta has succeeded in American hubs to see what it can do in United hubs.
you do realize that American was not only headquartered in New York at one time they’re also the largest airline?
American was far larger than Delta at Los Angeles And that came to a screeching halt.
American thought it could black Delta’s buildup add Austin And that came to a pretty quick end with Delta now having overtaken American.
The only difference between American and United is that Delta has spent the past 15 years focusing on American hubs. Now, Delta has shifted its competitive focus to United Markets and it takes no imagination to realize what Delta can do in Newark, Chicago, Los Angeles, the West Coast, and TPAC
For all the nonsense that United and its fans have spewed for years, Delta has moved very Swiftly to begin the process of challenging United in its own strength markets just as it did an American strength markets
With less than a month of data so far, the results have got to be beyond encouraging.
THAT Is what will define 2026 and not fleeting miniscule operational differences between Delta and United
LTD, Will AA have more gates than DL at LAX after their terminal renovations are complete?