Delta CEO promotes DEI initiatives as ‘merit-based’ following Trump executive orders

The interview occurred during Delta’s annual event when it pays out profit-sharing to employees, days before the crash of a Delta Connection plane in Toronto operated by Delta subsidiary Endeavor Air. The Feb. 17 crash led to allegations that the Endeavor flight’s female first officer was not qualified for the job, which Delta has dispelled.

“As with any airline pilot, her flight experience exceeded the mandated minimum requirements set by U.S. Federal regulations,” Delta said last Thursday.

The company’s recently published annual report retained its section on DEI — albeit with subtle changes, including additions of the words “merit-based,” which echoes verbiage in one of the new executive orders.

When asked if the airline planned to change its DEI strategy following the Trump administration’s efforts, Bastian said, “We don’t have DEI initiatives. We have people initiatives. … That’s the way it’s always been. It’s core to who we are.”

In 2020 Bastian vowed to double the airline’s percentage of Black officers and directors by 2025. The company also has eliminated a college degree requirement for most of its jobs in an effort to broaden its talent pool.

It published statistics on its demographic breakdowns from 2020-23 and has sought diversity among its suppliers. The company’s first-ever Chief Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Social Impact Officer, Keyra Lynn Johnson, took charge of its DEI strategy in 2016.

Bastian told the AJC the carrier is “the best airline in the world because we have the very best people in the world. We’re completely a meritocracy, and we continue to look for the very best people.”

The NAACP recently applauded Delta for being among the companies sticking to its DEI initiatives.

‘Equity is the motive’

Johnson, who declined a request for comment from the AJC, said in a 2023 interview with online news outlet Huge News that the company began to “put more rigor” behind DEI goals in 2017 and that things accelerated after 2020. Following the murder of George Floyd that year, Delta (like many other companies) turbocharged its DEI initiatives in a public way. Bastian sent a companywide memo vowing to “make an impact and take a stand against racism and injustice, from programs to policy changes.”

In its 2020 annual report, Delta outlined weekly company town halls and memos updating employees on COVID-19 and “our plan to take action on racial justice and diversity.”

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Two years later, Bastian wrote on LinkedIn, “I’m proud to say that not only have we been listening, but we’ve been taking action. We’re boldly pursuing equity and equity is the motive.”

The company hasn’t treated DEI as “a bolt-on to the business,” Johnson said in 2023.

A quote from Bastian on the airline’s supplier diversity page ties the effort to its business strategy. Because Delta’s fastest-growing markets include women, minorities and international travelers, he said, “Doing business with diverse suppliers makes sense and is a core element of our growth strategy.”

Johnson said in the 2023 interview that making these initiatives core to the business strategy “anchors everyone before the headwinds come. And they will come.”

“If you’re just getting started with this work, I understand why some people are blowing to the right and the left,” she said.

“I feel good that we’ve been able to stand firm because this is one of those years,” she said months after the Supreme Court ruled in June 2023 against affirmative action in college admissions. “But standing firm has a lot to do with the fact that we’ve stood up.”

‘Merit-based’

Delta’s federal contracts include providing discounted flights to government travelers, cargo and charter air service, and maintenance for government aircraft, as well as flight operations and aircraft maintenance training.

A Trump executive order in January pressuring federal contractors to abandon DEI initiatives is titled, “Ending illegal discrimination and restoring merit-based opportunity.” It requires agency heads to add a line into all contracts certifying that contractors do “not operate any programs promoting DEI that violate any applicable Federal anti-discrimination laws.”

Unlike some other companies, Delta largely retained the DEI section of its 2024 annual financial report, published earlier this month. But the section does include subtle changes, including additions of the words “merit-based” to describe its hiring practices, which were not present in 2023 or in previous years.

Delta’s 2023 report cited a goal of “closing diversity gaps in senior leadership positions by increasing the representation of women, Black and Latin/Hispanic groups.” But the 2024 report lost references to specific racial groups, instead stating the priority is to ensure the leadership “reflects the diversity of backgrounds and experiences” of its employees.

In early January, Delta Chief External Affairs Officer Peter Carter was asked on an earnings call if the company planned to roll back its sustainability and DEI initiatives. “No, we are not,” he said. “We are steadfast in our commitments because we think that they’re actually critical to our business. DEI is about talent, and that’s been our focus. And, of course, the key differentiator at Delta is our people.”

Delta long has maintained that part of its competitive advantage hinges on employee satisfaction, which pays dividends in high customer service metrics — and therefore customers’ willingness to choose Delta over other airlines.

As Bastian told the AJC about the company’s $1.4 billion employee profit-sharing celebration last week, “The better job (employees) do taking care of each other and our customers, the better job we do taking care of them, the loyalty just continues to grow.”

— Staff writer Mirtha Donastorg contributed to this report.