As indicated by the Flight Operations Update today, management is advising pilots of potential staffing shortages for this weekend – an ongoing issue due to the Company’s decision to pause pilot hiring in 2025 while increasing capacity. This may now be compounded by weather in ATL.

If the predicted operational issues materialize, please be aware of the following resources available to pilots.

Fatigue Resources and Fitness For Duty

• Fitness for Duty: You are legally required to assess your fitness for duty before each flight. If you determine that you are fatigued at any point during the flight duty period, you must notify the Company at that time, remove yourself from flying, and be placed into rest.
• For time-critical FAR questions that you cannot resolve by calling the Company, please contact the Delta MEC FAR 117 Hotline, which is being staffed 24/7 at (800) USA-ALPA (872-2572).
• For the FAR 117 Quick Reference guide, click here to access on the Delta MEC website or find in your EFB at Library>ALPA>Fatigue Resources>FAR 117 Quick Reference Guide. Page 8 outlines what is legally required to be rested and fit to fly.
• Reminder: FOM 21.2.2.1 depicts what to do if you are in your rotation and unable to contact someone. 

Accommodations

• Mid-Rotation Accommodations: Per PWA Section 5 E.4, if Company-arranged lodging at a layover station is not available, a pilot may arrange other lodging and the Company will reimburse the pilot for the actual reasonable expenses of such lodging.
• Sleeping in a crew room is not considered rest. Do not be pressured into doing so.

Section 23.K Double Recovery 

• Per the PWA, if a pilot is removed from his/her recovery flying, the pilot may again be assigned recovery flying provided either the pilot’s original rotation or his/her originally assigned recovery rotation was scheduled to operate to or from an airport on a day(s) such airport is covered by a publicly announced waiver of passenger change fees due to IROPS.

• Click here to read MEC Alert 20-08: Frequently Asked Questions on Recovery Obligations for more information.
• Review the chapter on Reroute and Recovery Obligations in the Scheduling Reference Handbook (pages 135-169) as well as “Keeping it Legal During Major IROPS” (starting on page 314), and Appendix II: FAR Part 117 – An In-Depth Discussion.