Delta Air Lines’ Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), launched a comprehensive campaign against the company's management over its decision last week to ban pins of the Palestinian flag or any national flags except the American flag.
The organization representing the employees sent a letter to the CEO, Ed Bastian, and the company's management, demanding a public apology to the flight attendants who were photographed with Palestinian flags on their uniforms. They also demanded legal protection against unauthorized photography or recording by passengers, which they define as harassment and a violation of their dignity.
"For decades, our flag pins have been a proud symbol of our aviation history and a bridge between cultures," the group wrote in an online petition. "But Delta Air Lines is now threatening this tradition with a policy change that disregards our pride and our rights. Instead of standing up against harassment, Delta made a shocking decision to bow to the demands of those who target flight attendants by changing policy: prohibiting all flag pins except for the USA flag."
Simultaneously, the association released a video and conducted an online campaign in which flight attendants claimed that the new ban on national flags pins, including the Palestinian flag, promotes harassment and removes their right to express themselves. "Starting today, Delta is banning all flag pins except for the United States flag. Last week two of our coworkers faced racist harassment online," the flight attendants said in the video.
"Not only did Delta's official corporate account exacerbate the harassment, but they also implemented a new policy punishing all the flight attendants, saying that now we can only wear pins with the U.S. flag. For decades, flight attendants industrywide have worn flag pins as a symbol of our role, connecting the world and connecting different cultures. This policy removes our right to express ourselves and does nothing to face the real problem: harassment."
"It gives bad actors an excuse to continue targeting us. By silencing workers and restricting expressions of our identity, Delta is betraying their own values and setting the stage for even more harassment and discrimination. To all Delta flight attendants: Nobody's going to stick together for us but us. Join thousands of us. We're getting Delta to retract this change in pin policy and enact some real change that'll stop us from this harassment. 'Cause that's what we really need. This is not just about a pin or a picture. This is about defending our dignity. Because our pins are not the problem. Harassment, and Delta's failure to do anything about it, are the problem."
Last week, an American passenger tweeted a photo of two airline attendants wearing Palestinian flag pins and wrote: "Since 2001, we take our shoes off in every airport because a terrorist attack in U.S soil. Now imagine getting into a Delta flight and seeing workers with Hamas badges in the air. What do you do?"
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Tweet against Delta employees who wore Palestinian flag pin
(Photo: X / @iliketeslas)
The company responded to the tweet from its official X account: "I hear you as I'd be terrified as well, personally. Our employees reflect our culture and we do not take it lightly when our policy is not being followed."
The response was condemned by the Council of American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) in a statement. "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. Bigotry against Palestinian-Americans is absolutely out of control in workplaces and at schools – and it must stop," the statement said.
The airline quickly apologized for its comment and said: "Delta removed a mistakenly posted comment on X Tuesday because it was not in line with our values and our mission to connect the world…The team member responsible for the post has been counseled and no longer supports Delta’s social channels…We apologize for this error."