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On Wednesday, 20,000 Delta Air Lines flight attendants, including 674 based in Salt Lake City, began voting on whether to affiliate with a union.
Previous attempts by Delta cabin crews in 2002 and 2008 to unionize went down to defeat. This time, the result, when voting ends Nov. 3, could be different and possibly herald a new era for the mostly union-free airline.
Unlike in the past, 7,000 attendants who worked for heavily unionized Northwest Airlines before Delta acquired the Minneapolis-based carrier two years ago are eligible to vote.
The voting rules are different, too. In the earlier elections, attendants who were neutral or not sure, and didn't take part in the election, were counted as "no" votes. Under new rules instituted by the National Mediation Board this summer, only a simple majority of votes is necessary to approve or reject the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA as their bargaining agent.
"This is the first election ... that will be conducted by democratic procedures. Whoever gets the majority of the votes wins," said Corey Caldwell, an AFA-CWA spokeswoman.
Although the airline isn't explicitly urging attendants to vote no, Delta has a long tradition of resisting organized labor. "Now the voting rules have changed, and all employees will need to vote in order to have their voices heard," spokeswoman Gina Laughlin said.
"We have long had a point of view. We believe that our unique culture here at Delta is worth preserving. But at the end of the day, this is our employees' decision, and we will respect whatever they decide."
It's hard to know what the voting outcome will be. Attendants say support is strong for and against union affiliation.
"It's something that we've wanted for years and years," said Marianne Bicksler, a 23-year Delta attendant stationed in Salt Lake City.
"I don't want to offend anybody, but it's a business, and I believe that a [union] contract is good for business. It makes everything crystal-clear by [spelling out] what is expected by both parties," she said.
Cindy Hanks, also based in Salt Lake City, said she has come to believe strongly over her quarter-century as a Delta attendant, that union representation isn't necessary.
"I am ... part of an employee involvement group, and I am the liaison between flight attendants and upper management, and I have personally seen how committed management is to the flight attendants' causes and concerns," she said.
"So, for me, I don't need yet another layer of management interfering with my direct relationships with the managers of Delta Air Lines."
The outcome could presage a major cultural change inside Delta. Balloting begins Oct. 14 for 14,000 fleet-services workers who handle baggage and cargo, including 600 to 700 employees in Salt Lake City. Voting will end Nov. 18.
Like the attendants, a large percentage of the fleet-services workers were members of a union when they worked for Northwest. And like the Northwest attendants, fleet-service workers who went to work for Delta after the merger continue to be represented by their union, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers.
Craig Pallotta, a baggage handler at Salt Lake City International Airport who has worked for Delta for 26 years, said he intends to vote to join the IAM. Over the years, Delta has done a good job keeping pay and benefits commensurate with what Southwest Airlines, American Airlines and other big carriers pay their employees, he said.
"Now, during economic times that have turned bad, everybody is taking pay cuts and concessions on their benefits. We haven't seen the same percentage or effect on upper management," Pallotta said.
In all about 3,500 Utahns work for Delta at the Salt Lake airport, its westernmost U.S. hub.
Before buying Northwest, Delta's only unionized workers were pilots and flight dispatchers, or about 12 percent of the work force, according to the company. By the end of 2009, with the addition of unionized Northwest workers, that figure roughly tripled, according to a Delta regulatory filing. Union victories in the latest voting would bring the total to more than half.
An increase in labor costs from work-rule changes may add to Delta's expenses for each seat flown a mile, the industry's benchmark. Delta's costs on that basis were 12.31 cents in the first half, second highest among the six biggest U.S. carriers behind American, based on data compiled by Bloomberg.
Bloomberg News contributed to this report.