The Scoop: Delta pushes back on DEI-related misinformation following crash

Delta Air Lines is working to combat misinformation about members of the flight crew on a plane that crash landed and flipped upside down in Canada on Monday.

The incident resulted in injuries to 21 passengers, all of whom have been released from the hospital. Everyone aboard survived.

While the crash at Toronto Pearson International Airport remains under investigation, internet sleuths and trolls are speculating about the cause. Social media has been abuzz this week with rumors about the qualifications of the pilots involved in the incident. Much of the buzz seems to be focused on DEI activities from Delta and subsidiary Endeavor Air, including criticism of promoting all-female flight crews.

In response to those rumors, the airline provided its first details of the captain and first officer leading the flight on Thursday. The statement– one of nine released by Delta since Monday – specifically says that both crew members are “qualified and FAA certified for their positions.”

“Endeavor Air and Delta are correcting disinformation in social media containing false and misleading assertions about the flight crew of Endeavor Air 4819,” the statement begins.

The statement goes on to identify the captain as a pilot hired by Endeavor Air in 2007 with experience in both active duty and flight safety training. The first officer, hired in early 2024, completed training in April and exceeded federal flight experience requirements. The pilot is referred to as “he,” while the first officer is “she,” quietly revealing their genders.

Delta emphasized that “claims of failed training events” for either pilot is false.

Why it matters: In recent weeks we’ve seen backlash against corporate DEI programs and policies. That has spilled over into seemingly unending questions about what role those policies have played in any number of situations.

Following the tragic, fatal in-air collision near Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., President Donald Trump questioned whether DEI rules played a role. There is no evidence that is the case.

Delta’s initial statements focused on need-to-know information pertinent to survivors and their loved ones, such as the health status of those involved and financial and legal resources available to those affected. But now the narrative has changed and Delta was compelled to respond in order to defend the flight readiness of all its crews.

CEO Ed Bastian outlined the training of “all” Delta pilots during a segment of  “CBS Mornings” earlier this week.

“All these pilots train for these conditions,” he said. “They fly under all kinds of conditions at all the airports in which we rate, so there’s nothing specific with respect to experience that I’d look to.”

Those two simple sentences reinforced that the crash wasn’t about hiring practices or gender but rather a tragic accident that could have happened to anyone.

In Thursday’s statement, Delta made the choice to not focus on the individual identities of the pilots involved in the Flight 4819 incident, though they did reveal gender. That likely aimed to address widespread misinformation that the first officer was the pilot in charge and seemingly flying alone.

Doing any more than that likely would have just pulled them farther into an uphill fight unnecessarily. No one wants that.

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Casey Weldon is a reporter for PR Daily. Follow him on LinkedIn.