Delta Air Lines is the only domestic airline to use a flexible staffing program. The name is Ready Reserve, and it’s used to fill numerous operational positions at all of its hubs nationwide. The airline calls it a “win-win,” saying it helps better manage staffing levels. But critics say it’s a not-so-thinly-veiled attempt to simply eliminate full-time jobs with benefits. Which is it?
Ready Reserve jobs start at $10.82 an hour for positions such as baggage handlers and ramp operators. According to Delta’s website, and this temporary job posting at Career Builder, these workers lift, load, unload, and transport baggage, mail, and cargo to and from aircraft. Duties also include operating ground support equipment such as tugs, conveyor belts and tow tractors.
The airline won’t make public the cost savings it derives from the program. It also won’t say officially how many Ready Reserve workers it employs nationally.
The International Association of Machinists has a site called The Delta Air Lines Organizing Committee, who says it’s reason for being at Delta is to “help our coworkers enjoy the benefits and security that comes with being union members.”
On that site they quote Delta’s Vice President of Customer Service – Stations, Carol Zupancic, saying this in a 2010 conference call: “We have grown over the last 18 to 24 months to over 3,000 Ready Reserve when before that we have had less than one third of that.”
“Our view is it’s a win-win,” said Delta spokesman Morgan Durrant in the Minneapolis StarTribune. The program “fits well with its operations today.”
Full-time staffers as you might guess don’t quite see it that way though. They have seen the seniority of the airline workforce go down dramatically through layoffs, cuts, buyouts, retirement, and so on. And they are concerned the airline is doing this to destroy “career jobs” and turn them into “revolving-door temp jobs.”
Here’s more from the The Delta Air Lines Organizing Committee website.
“In recently insourced Delta stations the Company is utilizing large percentages of Ready Reserve workers, according to IAM members in those stations. These employees, who have no health benefits and accrue no seniority, vacation, sick, OJI or pension, are cheaper to employ than outsourced workers.”
“In recently insourced Delta stations the Company is utilizing large percentages of Ready Reserve workers, according to IAM members in those stations. These employees, who have no health benefits and accrue no seniority, vacation, sick, OJI or pension, are cheaper to employ than outsourced workers.”
Delta claims the program can be a good starting point for other jobs in the airline industry, and that it can also be a boost to teachers and college students and others who might be looking for additional income through summer or second jobs.
The IAM says the primary function of Ready Reserve is to “provide the absolute cheapest labor available.” They take exception to one of the arguments used by the airline in defense of Ready Reserve, that it can help to mitigate and manage peaks and valleys from a staffing standpoint.
The Ready Reserve program is one of the principal reasons behind the efforts of a group of former union members at Delta trying to restart the union. They are in the process of gathering support from Delta workers across the country to trigger another election.
“Pro union workers are not against Ready Reserve workers,” it states on the The Delta Air Lines Organizing Committee website. “We are against a category of worker that receives no benefits and no seniority for the time they put in. When the IAM wins the election we will negotiate to make sure the only difference between Ready Reserves and other employees is the number of hours worked. Whether a Ready Reserve worker is some one waiting for a permanent position or a firefighter who wants a second job, they deserve seniority, sick pay, OJI pay, vacation accruals and a pension. Delta is moving quickly to WalMartize our industry. That’s not good for anybody, except shortsighted executives who aim to line their pockets. This process can be stopped, but only with a union contract.”
What do you think? From what you have learned about it, is this particular flexible staffing model a good one? A fair one? Or just one aimed at taking advantage of a large labor pool to replace a group of full-time workers who have benefits with lower paid temps who have zero benefits? We all want to fly from Point A to Point B as cheaply as possible. Is this what it takes to achieve that? Does this go too far? Is greed at the heart of Ready Reserve?
{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
If you’ve ever flown it, you know Delta aka Northwest is a shit hole through and through. It’s been that way since the early 1980s when they removed the doors from the crappers just in case you tried to escape from misery with a smelly break.
The underlying economic reality with gas prices soaring (every penny gas goes up, it costs Delta $25 million in fuel per year) is no one there is going to be happy for a long time to come Ready Reserve or not.
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Thanks for the comment. We all know the airlines have been on a long, steady slide for years. Many say the decline dates back to deregulation, when an airline seat truly became a commodity.
This post isn’t necessarily meant to be a wider referendum on airline service and how challenging air travel – or operating an airline – is today.
I am more interested specifically in this flexible staffing model, and the fact that Delta (so far anyway) is the only domestic airline to try it.
Given the audience of Staffing Talk, I am hoping for some lively comments and conversation from some who want to take the side of the airline and say it’s their right to use any staffing and operations model they want. And then I presume there might be others who would have an opinion to the contrary about what Ready Reserve truly is.
I believe this can be a great benefit to a lot of people by giving well deserved workers the opportunity to prove themselves who might not have had the opportunity before. It also gives people flexibility and the means to earn more money.
However, if it is just a cost cutting measure , it will be viewed as that and will put a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and in the culture. If they are looking to serve their workers, customers and corporation by doing this, I think it is a good idea.
Our company does not provide full time jobs to most of our employees but we let them know that up front and they understand that we are doing the best we can to give them opportuinities to advance. We depend on them to build our brand and serve our clients. We know they are who make us successful.
I think it boils down to the question of it being a cost cutting measure or a better way to serve their customers.
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I work for Delta Airlines and feel the ready reserve program is a way to save money. We have ready reserve employees who are working 30 and 40 hours a week. They are not used to “Plug holes”. We have 65 full time employees and over 120 ready reserves. It really makes you feel like you are being forced out
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I am a DL employee who will be furloughed as of Sept. 1 due to an office closure. I have put in 14 years and am at top pay. If i want to transfer over to the airport to keep my job the only option is Ready Reserve which will be HALF of my hourly wage with no benefits. In my opinion that is a huge slap in the face and proof to me they don’t care about the time and loyalty I have gave them. Ready Reserve is a joke!
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DL Employee… With all of the major airlines in severe financial situations don’t you see the reason for them attempting to cut their labor costs? Union contracts are a very large part of what is killing the airline industry. I hope that you guys will soon see that it’s either everyone in the union reduces their pay or the airlines go out of business and there are no jobs for any of you…
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THIS IS A DELTA ISSUE NOT UNION OR NON UNION ISSUE ! So don’t point the blame at unions. DL is closing 2 call centers in United States while maintaining a few in foreign countries. A few weeks after the announcement of 2 office closures which DL calls a consolidation, DL purchased an oil refinery to save cost on fuel. CEO received stock bonus and then sold it. All of this information is available on internet. So why don’t you dedicate some time to researching the facts?
Did you read the first line of the story? “Delta Air Lines is the only domestic airline to use a flexible staffing program”.
Hot debate. What do you think?
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SayNoToUnions….believe me I will be the first to tell you that i do in fact understand the need to save money and over my time with DL believe me we have taken consessions. A 50% cut in pay though is insane. If they need to save money so bad then maybe Mr. CEO needs to decline his bonus’ and take a pay cut himself! He needs to take some pointers from Japan Airlines CEO!
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Employees have taken concessions. In 2005, when NW filed for bankruptcy, some employees took a huge paycut, wage reduced $7 hr. After bankruptcy, employees weren’t reinstated to previous higher salary.
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Oh and one more thing, ya might want to get your facts straight before posting…DL is a NON UNION airline!
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I never said that they were a union. I made a blanket statement that unions were killing the airline industry. I think the fact that they are closing two call centers in the US and keeping their overseas ones just backs up the fact that the high labor costs in the US are killing their profitabllity. Why should the CEO take a pay cut or decline his bonus? In order to attract a top talent to turn the company around they have to pay for it. On the flip side of that, paying extrorbitant amounts for manual laborers who do basic tasks is a much larger problem for them. I’m sorry that you took a pay but 7 years ago but guess what? The economy is in way worse shape now then it was. With unemployment at such a high level the FACT is that they can get people to do your job for much less. Am I supposed to say that since Delta saved money on fuel by purchasing a refinery and closed 2 call centers that they should now have a solid bottom line? Sorry but no…
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I am a ready reserve delta employee and I think that ready reserve should have a time limit, I have been with the company almost 2 years and am still ready reserve and to make matters worse they keep hiring in other ready reserves from other stations that have higher seniority that keep bumping me down the latter more and more, this is obsurd!!! I work just as hard if not harder than full time employees and I get paid the least and have to pay out of pocket for health and dental insurance which is just about my whole pay check. I love my job but to be ready reserve for over a year is rediculous, how do they expect us to actually make a living? So I think that Delta should be ashamed of being the most profitable biggest air line but treats their employees the worst. Ready reserve or not we are all Delta employees who love the company
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I have just applied for ready reserve position. Maybe it’s not a good position for everyone but I would work fine for me. I’m on disability because of a on the job injury. Being able to work part time will help me big time 1) Ssd does not give enough to survive so it will allow me to earn extra money while not going over the hours set by Ssd do that I wont loose my my disability check 2) their traveling perks would allow me to travel .
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thats great for you in you specific situation but not for others that would like to be full time, in my opinion ready reserve program should be for people like you with certain circmstances. Delta did not make the upgrade process very clear upon being hired and further more they dont even have a dated process policy in the human resources mannual which to me smells fishy. Just very frustrated with the whole process
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I think the whole ready reserve program is a unfair way to use its employees. You get 1300 hours a year and if you use them up, you get your badge taken and get fired because they don’t want to hire anyone full time. If you get hired full time you get a pay cut of one dollar a hour, then you have to start you pay scale all over again. Im ready reserve waiting to get full time.
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As a ready reserve on ramp. The benefits seem good. Fly around world for cheap. But if you have no money when you get somewhere where what’s the point. We are overworked, working faster and more efficient then the old worn down full time employees. Delta is taking advantage of the Americans that need jobs now and will take anything. Even if its a physically strenuous , toxic working environment from Deisel exhaust, asbestos brake dust and jet A fuel breathing in while loading bags and driving around on the ramp. Delta knows RR need the job and will kill themselves to keep it. You cannot feed a family, let alone yourself on 1300hrs a year @10.82hr before tax. Health insurance forget about it! IIf you get injured on job as ready reserve you screwed! No disability pay, only work comp of 2/3 of you already low pay. So then the scheme really starts to unfold. You go to their “choice” doctors and they ice, xray and drug you and send you home telling you to get well so you can go back to work!
I have seen, experienced and heard horror stories from my fellow employees full and part time ready reserves…full timers hate ready reserves because they know and feel they are getting pushed out..so they push back by taking advantage of a ready reserve..two hour lunches, doing as little work as possible, and paying ready reserves under table to work their shift! The ready reserves are majority younger guys and gals being taken advantage of for their nativity, strength and poor financial situations.
I have worked six different places on the ramp from bag driver , mainline ramp and bag rooms…same situations same sorry old workers so lazy and beat they don’t realize we are are all getting screwed…when there are no unions its lime going to court without a lawyer..your gonna sit and go last, not known your full rights and intimately pay more in The long run for not having a lawyer than having one! Without union you have no representation going up against the largest airline in the world, its like you trying to fly by flapping your wings and saying I don’t want wings because the fees are to high and the wings ‘mightoout’ work? Sheeple!
If delta wanted to save money it would save fuel by installing solar charging stations for new electric ground service equipment- this would pay for itself ten fold reduce employee exposure to carcinogens and last but not least reduce environmental impact and use of a NON renuable resource-OIL. If they thought about future, how could a company and our civilization depend on a nonrenuable resource to fuel its economic lively hood. Its like starting a car wash with a five gallon bucket of non renuable water!
Thanks for reading my rant.
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The IAM negotiated ready reserve at Hawaiian airline in which it agreed that ready reserve workers would get no benefits but still have to pay full dues, and have half the pay. They also agreed to ‘weekend part time’ which is even more flexible than ready reserve. The inception of the ready reserve started with the IAM in the US AIRWAYS contract of 2003. Thus, the IAM is the grandfather of the ready reserve and Delta only followed to stay competitive.
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