In its second attempt to gain the right to represent the flight attendants at Delta Air Lines, this time the Association of Flight Attendants once again came up short. But this time it was because not enough flight attendants voted.

Apparently 5,253 of 13,380 eligible flight attendants cast “yes” ballots, well short of the majority required, the National Mediation Board reported today. Employees who don’t vote are counted as “no” votes. A total of 5,306 ballots were cast.

So while the AFA made the point on its website that it received a majority of the number of votes cast, a majority of eligible voters must vote for an outcome to be certified by the NMB.



This is an interesting election for a number of reasons. One, because AFA probably thought it had its best chance in years to get the prize, considering the Delta flight attendants are going union-less into a merger deal with Northwest.

Secondly, AFA represents the flight attendants at Northwest.

So this presents an interesting scenario, as Delta F/As easily outnumber the total at Northwest. So it is going to be very interesting to see how the representational vote goes for the merged group — if and when the Delta/Northwest deal finally comes to pass.

Ticker: (NYSE:NWA); (NYSE:DAL)

Technorati Tags: airline unions, airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines