Delta apologizes over social media postings that denigrated flight attendants wearing Palestinian badges with the Palestinian flag

Delta Air Lines has apologized to one employee who took advantage of the social media accounts of the company to say it would be “terrified” if they saw the flight attendants sporting their Palestinian flag…

Delta Air Lines has apologized for an employee’s use of the social media page of the company to claim the company would feel “terrified” if they saw an Delta flight attendant sported the 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 said in an email announcement.

Whoever made the comments won’t be the person in charge of social media accounts, the spokesperson stated.

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

The comments that were deleted were a response to a post made on Tuesday, on X, posted by the Twitter account @iloveteslas. Two photos were shared that showed flight attendants wearing Palestinian flag pins as they served customers. The original article was compared to that Palestinian flag pin that had the “Hamas badge,” Hamas being the militant group that controls Gaza that has also been designated as a terrorist organization.

Screenshots show Delta replied in a blog post the next day: “I hear you and I’d be frightened to take it personally. Our employees reflect our beliefs and we won’t take things lightly in the event that our policies aren’t being adhered to. “

A separate social media post by Delta announced that they will study the pins it uses.

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

Delta’s account was then deleted from the comments. The airline didn’t provide specifics about exactly where the images were taken however, a spokesperson said that they were on separate flights on different days.

It has resulted in a plethora of users online expressing their displeasure with Delta and requesting that Delta be boycotted. Delta believing that the comments were anti-Israeli.

In a letter sent to the Delta CEO Ed Bastian, the steering committee of Delta AFA, the Delta AFA union that represents flight attendants, has harshly critiqued Delta for its omission of comments.

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

The letter said that the posts deleted are “bigoted and inflammatory” and said that it was “regardless of leadership approval, represent our airline to the world.” The union’s letter demanded an apology by Delta in addition to a more strict moderated use of social media as well as a halt of photos that are not consensual with 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 read.

The spokesperson did not immediately respond to questions about the rules governing the pins that flight attendants wear. However the union’s letter says that for many years pins were used to celebrate the diversity of passengers on board the plane.

Before Delta’s response CAIR The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) CAIR, the nation-wide civil rights advocacy and civil rights organization called on Delta to apologize for its deleted comments.

“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 announced in an official press release.

Following the apology CAIR issued a press statement that they ” welcomed an apology from Delta Air Lines” for the post which were later removed.

Louis Krauss