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(ABC 6 News) — An airline trade group is challenging Minnesota’s earned sick and safe time (ESST) law.
The law requires employers to provide paid leave to employees for certain reasons, including when they or a family member is sick as well as when seeking help for domestic abuse, sexual assault, or stalking.
However, the original law passed in 2023 excluded flight deck and cabin crew members. As of January 1, that exemption was removed.
Now, Airlines for America, which represents airlines including Delta, Southwest, and United, filed a lawsuit seeking to bring it back.
They say the law undermines collective bargaining agreements and will make it “too easy” for pilots and flight attendants to call in sick, which could lead to more flight delays and cancellations.
In a statement, the Airline Pilots Association pushed back, saying, “Treating the sick leave rights of flight crew differently than other employees is not only unfair but completely unnecessary.”
ABC News has reached out for comment from several other union groups representing these airline staff members but hasn’t heard back.