Delta apologizes for social media posts that criticized flight attendants who wore Palestinian flag pins

Delta Air Lines has apologized for an employee who used the social media account of the company to declare that the company would feel “terrified” if they saw the flight attendants wearing the Palestinian flag…

 

Delta Air Lines has apologized after an employee used the company’s social media account to say they would be “terrified” if they saw a Delta flight attendant wearing a Palestinian flag pin.

“Delta removed a mistakenly posted comment on X Wednesday because it was not in line with our values and our mission to connect the world,” an official Delta spokesperson stated in an email statement.

The person who posted the remarks will not be in charge of the social media pages The spokesperson said.

“The team member responsible for the post has been counseled and no longer supports Delta’s social channels,” Delta’s spokesperson added. “We apologize for this error.”

The deleted comments were in response to a post on Tuesday on X by @iliketeslas. Two photos were posted that showed flight attendants sporting Palestinian flag pins while they served their passengers. The original article compared to the Palestinian flag pin with an “Hamas badge,” Hamas being the militant group that runs Gaza which has also been declared as a terrorist group.

Screenshots reveal Delta responded in a post the following morning: “I hear you and I’d be scared too personally. Our employees are a reflection of our values and we don’t do anything lightly when our policies are not being observed.”

A different social media post from Delta stated that the company will investigate the pins used.

“Nothing to worry, this is being investigated already, particularly the involved parties,” it read.

Delta’s account was later removed from the remarks. The airline did not provide details on exactly where the pictures were shot however, the spokesperson stated that they were on distinct flights on different days.

The incident has led to numerous people online condemning the company and others demand the boycott of Delta in the belief that the statements were anti-Israeli.

In an letter addressed Thursday the Delta chief executive Ed Bastian, the steering committee of Delta AFA, the Delta AFA union, which represents flight attendants, harshly criticized Delta for its deleted remarks.

“The (committee) underscores that these incidents reflect a repeated failure by Delta management to stand up for flight attendants,” the letter stated.

The letter stated that the deleted posts were “bigoted and inflammatory” and stated they “regardless of leadership approval, represent our airline to the world.” The union’s letter called for a public apology from Delta as well as greater moderation of social media, as well as a ban of unconsensual photographs of crew members.

“These incidents underscore an urgent need for a social media moderation and feedback protocol that also ensures the safety and dignity of crew members,” the letter stated.

The spokesperson didn’t immediately address questions regarding the policies governing pins worn by flight attendants however, the union’s letter states that for a long time pins have been used as a means of celebrating the diversity of the crew members on the flight.

Prior to Delta’s response, CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) CAIR, the nation-wide civil rights advocacy and civil rights group demanded Delta to apologize over its deleted remarks.

“Whether this racist post on Delta’s X account was approved or unauthorized, Delta must apologize and take steps to educate its employees about this type of dangerous anti-Palestinian racism,” CAIR declared in a press release.

After the apology CAIR announced in a news release that they ” welcomed an apology from Delta Air Lines” for the posts that were later deleted.

Louis Krauss