AFA-CWA Applauds National Mediation Board for Proposed Voting Procedure Change

    Single Certification Application Withdrawn for Delta/Northwest Flight
Attendant Election

    WASHINGTON, Nov. 3 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Association of Flight
Attendants-CWA (AFA-CWA) today withdrew the single transportation
certification application it filed with the National Mediation Board (NMB)
in July on behalf of flight attendants at Northwest Airlines and Delta Air
Lines. The withdrawal is in response to the NMB's recent proposed voting
procedures announcement that would permit a majority of workers who
actually vote in union elections to decide the election and stop assigning
"no" votes to workers who do not participate.

    "Now that the NMB has announced that, for the first time in recent
years, airline employees seeking union representation will have a chance
for truly fair elections, flight attendants at Northwest and Delta are
excited for that opportunity," said Patricia Friend, AFA-CWA International
President. "As the largest private sector union election this year, we want
this election at Delta Air Lines to occur under the new democratic
procedures and therefore are withdrawing our single transportation
application."

    If AFA-CWA did not withdraw the petition, it is likely that the Delta
flight attendants would be voting during the NMB's 60-day comment period
with the ballot count taking place just weeks, if not days, before the
final balloting rule is implemented. Since the NMB had yet to respond to
AFA-CWA's initial application, an election for the flight attendants had
not been scheduled.

    "Employees seeking union representation will now have the opportunity
to have their voice heard and their votes counted. We have a responsibility
to withdraw our application to not only protect the Northwest flight
attendant contract, but also to ensure that Delta flight attendants have
the opportunity to vote for AFA-CWA representation in the most democratic
of ways," added Friend.

    For over 60 years, the Association of Flight Attendants has been
serving as the voice for flight attendants in the workplace, in the
aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill. More than 50,000
flight attendants at 20 airlines come together to form AFA-CWA, the world's
largest flight attendant union. AFA is part of the 700,000-member strong
Communications Workers of America (CWA), AFL-CIO. Visit us at
http://www.afanet.org.