A lawsuit filed by Delta Air Lines pilots alleging the carrier failed to pay for short-term military absences is moving forward as certified class action, a milestone for more than 3,300 pilots seeking back pay.
A federal judge granted the pilots’ motion for class certification Aug. 7, the latest update in a dispute that began more than five years ago.
According to a court order in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia, the pilots allege Delta compensated pilots for other types of short-term absences, such as jury duty, bereavement and sick leave. Meanwhile, the carrier allegedly did not provide wages or salaries for short-term military absences.
By doing so, the pilots believe the Atlanta-based carrier violated the Uniformed Service Employment and Reemployment Rights Act (USERRA), a federal law protecting the job rights of military service members who have been absent from a position of employment because of service.
In a statement, a Delta spokesperson said the ruling “doesn’t pertain to the merits of Delta’s position, but rather only defines a class.”
“Delta will continue to focus on its decades-long track record of supporting our people with military obligations in many ways,” the spokesperson said.
By granting the motion, the court has determined the proposed classes are adequately defined and ascertainable.
The court determined there were two classes: a class consisting of Delta pilots who previously took military leave of 30 days or less who are seeking damages, and a class of current Delta pilots who also serve in the military who would benefit from an injunction seeking a change to Delta’s uniform leave policy to comply with USERRA.
Approximately 3,361 pilots are included in the damages class, according to the court order. They took a total of 119,285 instances of short-term military leave from Jan. 1, 2007 to Sept. 30, 2022. Approximately 669 Delta pilots are in the injunction class.
Delta argued it cannot ascertain how many pilots are in either of the two classes, according to the Aug. 7 order. To determine whether a pilot is in the damages class, Delta said the court must be able to determine when the period of military leave begins and ends. But Delta alleged “pilots frequently do not report their entire period of military leave,” and it is not possible to determine who is in the class using objective criteria and available data, according to the order.
Delta previously argued that providing plaintiffs paid military leave would amount to preferring reservists over other employees, and that USERRA requires employers treat reservists equally. It has also argued that paid military leave is not a right or benefit under USERRA’s statutory language, among other claims. The court rejected these arguments in 2022.
Delta’s uniform leave policy is applied to its pilots through collective bargaining agreements, according to the Aug. 7 court order.
The Delta pilots union contract provides compensation for jury duty leave, bereavement leave and sick leave, but not for short-term military leave of 30 consecutive days or fewer, according to the order. The Air Line Pilots Association union at Delta is not a party to the suit.
In a statement, a spokesperson for the union said the Delta pilots union leadership supports its military pilots and all of its members “who seek to enforce their rights whenever the company fails to meet their obligations.”
At issue in the case is whether the policy violates USERRA. To determine this, USERRA requires a jury to compare short-term military leave to other forms of short-term leave. The court believes the jury can do so by using evidence that is common to all Delta pilots who are or were members of the military and took short-term military leave.
Litigating the USERRA claim via class action offers advantages over requiring every class member to bring an individual case, the court said in the Aug. 7 order.
Damages for each pilot who took short-term military leave will be calculated individually, according to the court order.
Two lawsuits were filed within five days of each other in March 2021 by former Delta pilots Patrick Haley and Randal Reep. They were later consolidated into one amended complaint in June 2021. Delta moved to dismiss the complaint, which the court denied in March 2022.
The plaintiffs filed their first motion for class certification in June 2023, which the court denied without prejudice in December 2025. After amending their complaint, the plaintiffs filed a renewed motion for certification in January.
Similar lawsuits have been filed against other carriers in recent years. In 2025, Southwest Airlines agreed to pay $18.5 million to settle a class-action lawsuit accusing the carrier of failing to pay employees taking short-term military leave, in what is the largest recovery secured under USERRA to date. Under the settlement, approximately 2,791 eligible Southwest employees would receive an average of $4,421.
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