Delta says that while the overall culture and corporations are moving away from DEI, they’re leaning in. And they’ve banned a comedian from the airline for life after he tweeted a photo of a Delta flight attendant’s pride pin (he quickly removed the flight attendant’s face from his post) and used vulgarity.
According to Delta’s ban letter,
During the flight, you took a photo of our flight attendant, who was wearing a pin permitted under Delta policies. You subsequently posted the photo on X, along with vulgar and hurtful language towards our flight attendant’s perceived sexual orientation. Delta is proud to employ 100,000 individuals from many backgrounds who serve all our customers and their communities.
In short, the post was disrespectful towards our flight attendant and contrary to Delta’s values and culture.
We have deemed your behavior to be unacceptable and made the decision to now allow you to fly Delta Air Lines. For the safety of our crew members and our customer, we cannot risk this type of behavior from you again.
Day 83 of being treated like a terrorist by@Delta – put on their NO FlY LIST for a tweet. The will not answer the phone or call me back. They claimed we needed to have an "IMPORTANT" conversation. My guess is a woke employee planned to shame me for not having the same views as… https://t.co/VTtRysc0gn
— Tyler Fischer (@TyTheFisch) October 29, 2024
Delta CEO Ed Bastian has advocated that any passenger banned from one airline should be banned from all airlines and placed on a terrorism list.
Delta takes significant subsidies from the federal government and from state governments. During the pandemic the federal government took an ownership stake in Delta (and other airlines). Banning passengers for offensive speech when not even flying seems problematic.
However, even if you think that this comedian should be banned from Delta – and banned for life – surely his tweet shouldn’t cause him to be banned by the federal government from all airlines forever?
Tyler Fischer was apparently once named “New York’s Funniest Comedian” and he doesn’t seem all that funny. But not being funny – or even offensive humor off the aircraft – seems a bit of a stretch for a ban to me.
Correction: I have seen Tyler Fischer live on tage and on Gutfeld. He is very funny and has the single best Trump impression of standup comedian.
Important: Delta is a quasi-monopoly and this is certainly a case of exercise of monopoly power to wresk someone’s livlihood. The FAA and Justice Dept. should address this right away and ban the practice.
The claim od a safety threat is wholely spurrious.
I can not applaud Delta enough!
Thanks Delta!
DEI is part of the progressive left’s secular religion and this comedian has been deemed guilty of blasphemy. This type of retaliation for speech has no place in a free society. Delta is enforcing their religion on their customers by permitting FAs to express their perceived righteous views (via rainbow pins) to their customers while punishing customers for expressing blasphemous contrary views (not even on the airplane!). Imagine an airline permitting FAs to wear MAGA hats then banning customers for writing a critical post on BlueSky about it. This can’t be how America works. We have to learn how to tolerate, engage with, and when necessary ignore viewpoints that we disagree with.
As much as I moved away from Delta, they got this 100% right. Don’t be a dick.
What ever happened to freedom of speech? Massive overreach by delta! Their business license need to be revoked immediately. Shut this airline down!
I support Delta rarely but onboard this time around
Delta is a bit too harsh. The guy is a jerk. To have a finite ban is possibly ok. Bastian should be banned from all airlines too (including Delta) for continuing his SkyPesos scheme.
Too add
I don’t support a ban on other airlines unless he threatened somebody or continues to behave poorly onboard
Excellent! The guy is a complete AH. Ban him from all airlines!
Employed as a FA. We already have problematic Passengers. We don’t need him on board anywhere He definitely might incite more of his kind
FAFO. Decided to take a photo of flight crew for cheap points, consequences arrived. Enjoy flying other airlines!
He should have tweeted a photo of Mr. Biden’s Nuclear codes fellah AKA as the football rifling thru women’s luggage bags at the Delta baggage claim….
Would DL terminate an employee for similar behavior? I doubt it. Suspend their travel forever? I doubt it.
@Gary,
The “comedian” even admits his original post on X (Twitter) clearly showed the flight attendant’s face. You may want to change your story so as not to be posting inaccurate info.
https://x.com/TyTheFisch/status/1849858207843541036
I haven’t seen his tweet, but unless it was something that isn’t protected speech (e.g. a “true threat” against the FA in question,) the federal government (or any government entity within the U.S.) can’t ban him from flying or take any other adverse action against him over this. That would be plainly unconstitutional.
On the other hand, if someone actually assaults, threatens, etc. a crew member or fellow passenger, then I’m all for banning them from every airline (and that would be completely legal.)
Just make him fly spirit and have 3 stops on every flight.
If Delta is going to allow employees to express opinions, then customers need to be afforded the same rights. As long as neither becomes abusive or endangers the flight – you can’t have it both ways. I’m not saying the guy isn’t a jerk, he most surely is. Just flip it around, if the FA wore a MAGA pin, should a non-MAGA passenger be banned?
Tyler Fisher. In other words
..who??? Ban him. Next time try confronting someone face to face tough guy.
In this case Delta has a right to ban him, although I think its a bad idea anyway. I have no problem if they contacted him about it though. To put him on a terorism no fly list is way too severve. If we had laws to support something like that, generally its a bad idea. This guy is a keyboard warrior. There are others screaming for attention. I also feel that as part of the uniform its best to keep all politics out of it. 100% so. In the world we live in right now, it presents too many possible issues and problems. The breast cancer awareness month I would see no issue. All other political statements should not be on the uniform. I know most airlines dont allow it. I can also say that if a customer comes on board wearing full MAGA gear, hat and hirt, that can cause some some definite issues. I am sure not sure that can be banned, but it can bring risk.
@Rich +1
@Gary – It’s pretty strange that you’re taking Delta to task for standing up to hate.
Delta is now my go to airline! Thank you Delta!
Good for Delta. I’m tired of people who are intolerant of others.
If you aren’t drinking the MAGA Kool Aid, they call you a
Leftist radical. But they feel they can say anything.
This actually does present a threat. He posted pictures of a Delta employee and put a spotlight on him in a way that can incite violence from a significant percentage of the population of this country. His post was a dog whistle for people that think violence is ok against people they don’t like.
Good on Delta, hate speech and potentially inciting violence are not protected freedoms.
Shame on Delta.
If Tim Dunn has a shred of LGBT pride (he’s a single ~60 year old gay without naming him, but single for reasons anyone can figure out given his personality), he’d say the same
As a gay person I do not agree with his point of view but as a gay person I do not think he should be singled out and prohibited from flying any airline. This is not hitlers rules. MAGA rules do fit apply to free speech nor can you force your own views onto someone else
Delta is acting like the Gestapo Tried hung and guilty
As a gay person I do not agree with his point of view but as a gay person I do not think he should be singled out and prohibited from flying any airline. This is not hitlers rules. MAGA rules do fit apply to free speech nor can you force your own views onto someone else
Delta is acting like the Gestapo Tried hung and guilty.
Think Delta did him a favor after seeing how they land their airplanes
Man, this cancel culture routine acceptance is scary to see here.
Not going into the details of the tweet or ban too much myself but In hindsight and out of pure curiosity to see who’s consistent vs a flat out hypocrite , I’d love to read the comments side by side over the recent debate re: the FA’s Palestinian Flag lapel pin that got the ADL all worked up
It’s amazing why this is even a thing – if Delta doesn’t want him on their flights because of his behavior then it’s their choice. Just like this wouldn’t have been tolerated if he had the guts to say it in person – it shouldn’t be tolerated when someone acts like this on X or any other platform under the guise of cowardice. Good for Delta!
It was a very graphic, insulting, vulgar tweet. Tyler ended it saying he didn’t want to fly with FAs who do those things, and it was time for him to find another airline. Delta gave the punk what he said he wanted.
Gary conveniently ignored the content of the post, which was explicitly sexual and demeaning about one of their employees and identified that person. It’s surprising since he usually rushes to publish such details, but other blogs have reported it.
Banning him from their business was clearly the right thing to do.
Spare me the ‘cancel culture’ bit. This has nothing to do with politics.
Freedom of Speech applies to the public sphere (but who knows for how much longer), not to the inside of a private company’s property.
What he did amounts to anti gay swatting. No matter your beliefs or politics, when you weaponize social media against any individual or organization, that person or org has the right to respond. Thats a basic freedom and establishes consequences for actions. What if it had been a flight attendant in with a trump pin and someone posted photos and slammed them online, leading to negative and potentially dangerous consequences for the FA and the org? Freedom is meaningless without individual responsibility.
Not a good look for Gary trying to defend a person who doxed an employee for wearing a pin he disagrees with.
Of course, it doesn’t help that the guy made some terrible comments too.
Whose side are you on Gary? The side that likes to hate certain minorities?
Of course everyone’s hair is on fire over this. But regardless of whether you’re an ally of gay people, or a bigot (or some other category, if there is one) Delta had no choice whatsoever in this. Obviously terrorism watch lists are not relevant to this story, that’s just Gary working on “engagement”. But banning the guy from Delta was the right move, because doing less would deeply peeve the one or two (maybe 3?) gay employees at the airline. And all the attention the guy is getting is good for Delta. Employee morale is worth paying this price for.
A company can fire customers they don’t like, and some employers value their employees more than they value an obnoxious customer. At least in this case, before the company fired the customer there was documented evidence that the customer was being hostile toward the company’s employee on the basis of legally protected group identity.
The banned customer can’t be added to the government no-fly list or watch lists for suspected terrorists — Trump’s guy Kash Patel is now in charge of the government’s aviation blacklists for suspected terrorists. Kash Patel isn’t a friend of the ACLU, SPLC, or HRW.
Bravo Delta. Make him fly Spirit where he belongs.
Ahh, late to the party.
First, let people love who they love, and live how they live, so long as it doesn’t literally harm others. And remember to treat others as you want to be treated. The golden rule is a cornerstone of nearly every religion.
Did none of you grow up listening to shock jock radio or watching reality television? It’s the ‘attention’ economy. Folks will be as offensive as possible. I’m not fan, personally. And there very much is a ‘line’ depending on current culture, which is always changing.
I’m with those who still support the US Constitution, including the 1st Amendment, preventing *government* from censoring our reasonable speech, even if I personally detest the content. However, Delta is not the government, they’re a private entity, even if they are a publicly traded corporation, and it can decide not to do business with specific customers for reasonable justification as here, not explicit animus on the basis of race, ethnicity, religion, gender, etc. Also, free speech is not the guarantee to be heard or to be agreed with, and in many cases others’ reactions to your speech may offend you, too, clearly as here.
This isn’t hard, but some just love to hate and to pile-on against their perceived enemies. I wish we had better examples and leadership at the top. Alas, it is undeniable ‘that guy’ motivates much of this, sadly. We know better, and we deserve so much better.
@GUWonder — I’m with you. That’s a balanced, nuanced, and ‘based’ take as the kids would say these days.
@JohnnyBoy – This guy gets it, too.
@Too Many – Gary doesn’t have to pick a side; he can post what happened, then you get to decide for yourself.
@Doug — To the uninitiated, what you’re saying may ‘sound’ good (in closing, you ‘advocate’ for tolerance), but there is also the ‘paradox of tolerance,’ in which the hateful pretend the decent are being intolerant by calling out their hate. Your initial description of ‘the left’ shows your true colors—I suspect you would readily discriminate against your perceived opponents in the ‘culture war’. Prove me wrong.
@Tim Avila — Folks like you are just partisan. If it was the other side being harmed you’d celebrate their ‘tears.’ I believe your side also likes to say something about ‘your feelings.’ It’s cheap and silly.
@Dillion — That’s too extreme, and a blatant false equivalence to one of the most murderous regimes in history.
@Julie — Stop picking on Tim. He’s a good, decent man who loves Delta very much. I like him and Delta, too.
@ Gary — Airlines must stand up to the hate spewing from the current administration. Otherwise, when American tanks are turned on its own people and other countries stop welcoming Americans, their businesses will face a crisis.
Comedy is rooted in truth. That’s what makes it funny.. whatever it is he posted, was biased, homophobic and judgemental.
Banned for life?
Maybe the guy will learn that humor and truth telling can be funny, and not at the expense of other individuals or a blanket insult to a whole subset of people.
I applaud Delta’s decision.
This is not a free speech issue. This is a customer acting inappropriately and being 86’d from the place of business for it. Pretty simple.
At a time when passengers are increasingly abusive to FAs and other employees, Delta’s action as an employer affirms their concern for the safety of their crews – who are vital in insuring the safety of their passengers – even the obnoxious ones.
Actions have consequences.
Comedian gets some spotlight time for his behavior, Delta gets to make a public statement that will reassure some of its FAs that the company has their backs, and since no actual violence is directly attributable to the tweet, comedian might be able to appeal his lifetime ban down the line.
Takeaway? Don’t be a dick – and if you make your living on the road, don’t mess with the FAs or you will be driving a lot more than you want to.
Adding this comedian to the terrorist watchlist lifetime ban across carriers is hyperbole – this behavior does not rise to that level, though this might be a teachable moment about civility.
Can anybody make the case that society has benefited from Twitter/X in a meaningful way?
@ JohnnyBoy
sure, thing Strawman. Gary’s post was clearly political. Just because you don’t want to talk about politics that may or may not suit (likely your stance since you’re trying to stiffen it) doesn’t give you some pedestal to stand on re: where political speech is allowed.
the Pin is clearly a political icon which is at the core of the discussion here.
so spare me the high horse BS. my comments were on the rush to judge and literally agree to ban someone (and a terrorist no fly list?!?) because that person went against someone’s views.
now, that’s where WE as a populace have to step in with fairness vs tyranny.
i wanted to avoid even commenting on the topic because of the political partisan baiting nature of it.
but may as well in attempt to have my initial curiosity around consistency in comments on different topics being actually heard…
i think the dude who tweeted out got what he deserved. F-around, Find out. Delta has a right to refuse service.
Had he blurred out the faces before initially posting the tweet, i’d like to think he’d have a better case. since he didn’t, the damage had been done and it seems justified for Delta to defend their business and employees.
Asking for a complete no-fly list is a repulsive abuse of power (and should lose their government subsidies completely for this). Seeing many people support this is terrifying.
What if that happened to any of us? Still onboard? that’s a tough pill to swallow
Either companies can decide who they can serve or they cannot. That was settled in the 1960s. They cannot.
Freedom of speech is not freedom from consequences… and in a time where hateful speech has already driven one young girl in Texas to suicide, I applaud Delta for protecting their employee and the shared space that their cabins represent.
Delta has every right to refuse service to anyone, and they are absolutely right to ban this guy from their flights. These bigots need to learn that their words and actions have consequences. He doesn’t have a right to fly Delta.
Remember that Delta’s biggest hub is in Georgia which is rather red, and they have a large presence in the South. They are merely minimizing their liability by banning this guy. Last thing they need is one of their many homohobic Southern red state customers picking up on this and doing something malicious to this FA, who was just doing their job and wearing some flair that was permitted by the Company.
While at first glance, a lifetime ban appears harsh, and one would think the message could have been sent with perhaps a one year ban, we have to keep in mind we’re not dealing with logical, rational, educated people here. As our most recent election shows, many subjects we thought were settled are not in the eyes of many red state fanatics, so rather than assuming he can reflect and behave appropriately, Delta knows that someone in this demographic may not be able to recognize the error of their ways, and it’s best to part ways. I trust a Southern company like Delta to understand how their Southern customer base, how they may act, and take appropriate action to protect their employee and the company’s liabilty.
As much as I’m not a DL fan given thier cronyism…..
DL is allowed to do business with anyone they wish. This tweet and identifying information about the employee was not acceptable per DLs 1st amendment right too. Flying is a privledge not a right, if you are going to be a jerk…..DL should have the right to not take his business.
The comedian is allowed to criticize. And he has….
In terms of other carriers making a choice to ban this guy…..I think they are certainly allowed to not do business with him too given the information out there. It’s also thier right to do business with who they want to.
Now if there is a rush to ban too many across the industry Then there will be political and financial push back….so it’s a delicate balance. And they shouldn’t deny them based on protected classes. (If you are unvaccinated you should not be banned to travel *cough* Canada)
People need to quit being so soft about expression. I’d side-eye someone wearing a maga hat with their uniform but I wouldn’t get my knickers so twisted that I’d blast them over social media for it. This comedian needs to toughen up and not get all whiny over a pin. I’m with Delta here (the idea of banning the guy from all flights is obviously insane but that’s one guy in Delta world saying that). We need more big businesses willing to take a stand against the new administration in any way they can. Mark my words, if our new “king” is allowed to run wild it will hurt all of us regardless of political affiliation. The real divide isn’t red vs. blue, it’s the common American vs. the wealthy and everyone pushing the culture war distraction technique nonsense, like the comedian, should be considered an enemy of the common American.
I fail to see a problem here, other than the author’s attempt to create one. Delta rightfully banned him. The ‘banned from all’ bit is a stretch.
It’s about time someone calls out this dog whistle garbage for what it is. Nothing but bad faith from this crowd. What’s that trope about personal responsibility for the bad choices you made now, snowflake?
@Uncle Jeff — Ugh, here you go again. Tom is spelled T-O-M, not J-E-F-F. As with your earlier comments on other posts at VFTW, you are misguided, at best.
On this post, more accurately, please note that Delta’s headquarters is Atlanta, which is a blue stronghold in a red state. Further, Delta has a practical monopoly in Atlanta, so they can offend nearly whoever they want and still get by just fine. Whether that’s a good thing or not depends on who you ask. However, I am not a fan of monopolies, regulatory capture, or any anti-competitive practices because I am for consumers, for small businesses, and a fan of personal freedoms, even if I personally find this comedian’s detestable.
The irony ! A jerk tries to get a gay employee fired but gets banned himself. Sooo sweet.
So… The post that this “supposed” comedian showed… The one that “got him banned”, was actually a lie.
“This is it”, he says in a post that accompanied this article.
Well, again, that was a lie.
The original post did not have a black box with text across it. Instead, he posted the flight attendant’s face.
It was a direct threat against the flight attendant (by posting the individual ‘s face) and this “comedian” got exactly what he deserved.
And while he may whine about his free speech, nobody is stopping him from saying anything (including whining about other individuals’ speech, which they have every right to say).
What he doesn’t have a right to do is to put other people in harm’s way and Delta has every right to protect their employees.
So, “No flights for you!” is perfectly acceptable. Now, continue your whining, funny man. Oh, and I hope the flight attendant takes legal action against you.
@Key West — I read ‘no flights for you!’ in the tone of ‘no soup for you!’ and I believe that was your intention. I miss that show. Wish it had continued.
Hey Delta,
We want to get from point A to point B without have people’s personal agendas shoved in our face.
Is that too much to ask?
I’m sick of our society enabling jerks who make our lives worse. Good on Delta for banning the whiny assh0le.
I think Tyler Fischer is a pretty funny guy. He can be a bit edgy sometimes. I have no idea what the deleted tweet showed, but it shouldn’t show someone’s face and try to shame them (that isn’t doxxing, which is revealing private information, like someone’s home address). On one hand, the employee is wearing whatever she/he wore in a public setting, so there’s no expectation of privacy. On the other hand, businesses should have the right to fire customers if they feel like their employees are abused. There’s no freedom of speech in a private company. But the punishment seems overly harsh. I would think that making amends for the offense should be sufficient to let him back on. And certainly trying to ban him on other airlines is over the line. If Delta pushes it too far, it might attract some unwanted attention from the federal government.
I normally like your blog, but why don’t you be more specific about the content of the original post?
Your viewers can view it here: https://imgur.com/a/bVoG1Kv
Not sure why any flight attendant needs to wear anything other than name and language pins. Any company that allows it is just dumb. Are swatstika pins ok? Who decides? Sounds like passenger is a jerk who was triggered by poor business policies. Next we will hear about Delta’s federal licenses being paused for being too woke. I suppose that will be fine by the you get what you ask for crowd here too. People get a grip. Both parties here are wrong.
@Gary Delta is a private company. They can ban whomever they want.
If you don’t like it, you can vote with your wallet and choose to fly another airline.
Delta may be a publicly traded corporation following corporate law but they are also a common carrier and are required to carry most passengers without differentiation. Sooner or later a court case will make it’s way to the Supreme Court and precedent will take place on whether or not a person such as this can be denied the right to travel on a given airline and what factors can be considered to deny a person the right to travel in such a manner. I would consider brawling at the gate area to be an indication that such behavior may continue onboard so boarding can be denied. There is probably no need for a lifetime ban in that case unless such actions take place again. Posting online in a provocative manner may not reach even that standard unless a specific threat has been made. Delta’s control over their employees is much different than their control over their passengers.
Not a fan of DEI but ultimately Delta is a private business and should be allowed to decide who they will or will not serve. A comedian playing the victim role over this is sad. He’s not a victim. He did this to himself. Delta has every right to tell him to fly elsewhere.
Why stop there, ban him everywhere, and take away his driver’s license and his guns? As much as I think he is a very “average” comedian there is this little thing called free speech for better or worse.
Bad behavior should have consequences, & hate is not free speech.
If it involved an employee + hate speech + public posting, yes he should be banned for life from Delta. And this shows very poor judgement by the passenger so yeah, I can see why not wanting him on other airlines would be appropriate. The last thing you want is an attention seeker from publically harassing employees in a confined space for hours.
@David O
Delta is not a private company as they are heavily subsidized by taxpayers.
Delta is a common carrier and not a private automobile.
Almost no one believes a “private company” can ban “whomever” they want, even if airlines were private and not common carriers, you would flip out of Spirit airlines got tired of the rift raft and decided to only let Whites and Eastern Asians fly. In fact, you’d be calling for their heads.
@Ken Vengren
“Hate” is free speech. Hate is also extremely subjective. Nazis and Soviet Communist felt the same way as you.
Many people are fine with cruelty and hate, until they face consequences for their actions of hate, cruelty and division. The comedian is not sorry for what he did, he’s only sorry he was held accountable for what he did.
Delta flies so many people on a daily basis, I can guarantee you that there are plenty of other people who have made tasteless social media posts. Do I condone that type of behavior? Definitely not, but we still live in a (somewhat) free country. I think where he crossed the line is taking a photo of a Delta employee. Even though he removed the face of the employee, that’s still unacceptable. I mean, would you (general reference, not directed at Gary) want someone to come into your place of work, take a picture of you, post it on the Internet, and then mock you just for a small accessory on your clothing? I’m guessing a lot of people would NOT be okay with this.
In short, this is ultimately a company protecting their employee. More companies should do that, because they are nothing without the people who work for them.
This Tyler Fischer creep should be banned from polite society. Shunned everywhere for a few months. Serve his exile in Guantanamo. That, or bring back public humiliation in punishment. A couple days in the blocks. Too many of these az*oles suffer or feel no shame for their reprehensive behavior. They must be taught manners!
Glibertarians vs Libertarians
This thread is precious.
This brings to mind another comedian who said that he does not suffer fools gladly because that merely encourages them.
For all those who say a private company should not be allowed to refuse service to customers, what about the Colorado bakery that refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple? The Supreme Court supported the baker.
@1990, you said, “@Key West — I read ‘no flights for you!’ in the tone of ‘no soup for you!’ and I believe that was your intention. I miss that show. Wish it had continued.”
You’re right! That WAS the tone I was going for! See, that show WAS comedy.
This “comedian” isn’t funny. He was threatening a Delta employee and got exactly what he deserved.
Oh, in the ORIGINAL post, this “comedian” publicly stated that he was going to start using a non-WOKE airline… So why are you whining when Delta simply agreed with your sentiment?
You didn’t want to fly a WOKE airline and they are ensuring that you get your wish… “No flights for you!”
FAFO
@ David O — Not exactly.
This one is interesting for the sake of the comments because it puts the usual suspects in awkward positions. If you stick up for the airline, you’re advocating corporate censorship – which many have skewered in the context of social media platforms, opining that conservative views were being unfairly squelched. If you stick up for the comedian, you’re seemingly advocating at least unpleasant speech, perhaps hateful, maybe even threatening speech. Not sure where to land on this one, except to say people & companies really should strive to be nicer and more respectful to one another.
@Karl Rupp
Let me ask you a question… Let’s say you were the flight attendant?
People start harassing you and threatening you because some “comedian” with a Twitter following (I refuse to call it the 24th letter of the alphabet) posts a harassing tweet with your name and your face?
Where do you fall?
Empathy much?
If he apologized for this he should not be banned.
We are a free country and doing this shows we really are not free.
He removed the post. The gay pin bothered him. He was just posting his disapproval.
He believes in a man and a woman…..heterosexual.
He made a mistake and this was just TOO HARSH.
JMO
Customers today are treated very badly unfortunately.
@Key West
If you’re asking me personally….
-If I’m the flight attendant I’m considering every time I elect to put the pin on (whether that be an American flag, pride symbol, or whatever signifier of my beliefs) that there are pros and cons to my choice, with at least one con being potential recrimination and responsive free speech from those who see my pin, and at least one pro being that I am manifesting my personal values and identity, and I ask myself whether I accept those cons for the pros;
-If I’m the comedian, I’m considering that my livelihood depends on the same free speech rights that I’m impeaching by attacking the FA for exercising those same wearing the pin and exercise their own free speech;
-If I’m either one, or the airline, I seek to combat speech I don’t like with speech of my own, not retribution for the speaker whose message offended me.
That’s where I land.
This is on DL management for even allowing any pins other than an American flag lapel to be worn by any of the employees while in uniform on duty. No MAGA, BLM or anything else. Their job is to serve their clients and provide excellent customer service, not to make any political or social statements.
Diarrhea Delta and Ed Bastard do it again. It is inexcusable for ANY Fortune 500 company employee to make a political or philanthropic statement on their uniform when they are in a service-oriented business. For example, Susan G Komen supports breast cancer research. If Diarrhea Delta wants to support it, fine–but don’t shove that philanthropic support down the throats of customers who already overpay Diarrhea Delta for grossly substandard service.
I always, without exception, decline to support charities where a for-profit vendor (like a grocery store) asks for a donation on their behalf or parades a political advertisement. And then, I start using their competitors. Unfortunately, such messages are prolific and I just have to stomach them sometimes.
All I have to say is SHAME, SHAME, SHAME on Diarrhea Delta and Ed Bastard for promoting LGBTQ nonsense to your customers. Whether the customers agree with that position or not, you have a duty to your shareholders first. If the shareholders pass it in a resolution, fine. Until then, keep your mouth shut and your uniforms free and clear of such crap.
@arthur…The American flag could represent a political or social statement to any number of people.
While I’m pleased with Delta standing up for its employees, I do agree that the flight attendants should only wear their wings and the flags of nations that they speak the language. Nothing else! I’m beginning to think I should fly only foreign airlines as 99% of my flights are international.
I’m not sure where the “threatening” comes in. I saw the imgur of the post (sans the person’s face) but don’t see any threatening action there. But then again, simply misgendering someone is now “threatening”. And I’m a gay male. Personally I don’t wear ANY pins/logos/etc. when I work. Work is work to me, and I wear the company logo/apron that we’re required to. I am there to do my job and nothing more and nothing less. Now, I have co-workers who have Pride pins, African-American heritage pins, etc. I personally don’t care. But I’m sure someone will get bent out of shape about something, which is why I don’t wear any. I have enough a*****e customers on the rare times when I encounter them to deal with. Now, was the post in poor taste? Sure, but show me a comedian nowadays who doesn’t drop an F-bomb or say something political that either side gets all pissy over. (Lighten up, America!).
Personally I think Delta should’ve given a warning at most rather than ban. But then again, as a Libertarian that is also their prerogative. But I find the *reasoning* behind it hard to digest. Although perhaps there was more to the post than the Imgur photo showed? Like he said that person should be beaten? (that’s threatening, IMO). But then again, we’ve become so touchy lately that almost anything is “threatening”.
I’m sorry. Perhaps I missed it. Does this affect Amex’ lifetime rule on Delta’s co-branded cards?
“For all those who say a private company should not be allowed to refuse service to customers, what about the Colorado bakery that refused to sell a wedding cake to a gay couple? The Supreme Court supported the baker.”
Not equivalent. The Colorado baker (or his bakery) was not a common carrier. Look up “common carrier” on Wikipedia.
Why do commenters say that Delta is a “private company”? No it is not . . . it is a common carrier and traded as a public company on NYSE. I’m disappointed that hurt feelings have escalated from bad manners to essentially a felony. In this case punishment for life without judication is inappropriate especially by a public company. What form of punishment is next, medieval stocks at the airport or a public stoning? This is a hill our culture may not want to die on.
DL is cleaning up their planes and taking out the “trash”. Good job DL!
DL is a private company and therefore has the right to refuse service. Even if the reason is pathetic, or not.
@ George N Romey . . . I disagree. DL is a publicly traded company and a licensed Common Carrier. Seems to me that decisions are made much differently at a “private” company than they are at a “public” company. Private companies are solely accountable to the owner whereas public companies are accountable to Board of Directors and ultimately stockholders (or a hedge fund as we see with SW). Th only “business” with least amount of accountability is the government.
@ Gary. Have you ever considered putting a character count limit on your comment section? Not censorship but a celebration of the art of brevity. I like reading others thoughts and opinions but not dissertations.
“We have deemed your behavior to be unacceptable and made the decision to now allow you to fly Delta Air Lines. For the safety of our crew members and our customer, we cannot risk this type of behavior from you again.”
This is Delta letter from the post and it says they made the decision to now allow you to fly Delta airlines”?
This doesn’t jive with the post…saying they are allowing him to fly? Is the Delta ban letter for real?
Bravo to my fellow gay Liberterian @mjonis for his/her spot-on comments! I completely concur. IMO, I found plenty of poor taste and a lack of humor in the post, but there was absolutely nothing threatening in it. And hate speech is still protected speech. There’s a simple litmus test: if you support the right of people you despise to speak, you’re for free speech. And DL needs to stick to NO pins outside of DL pins – period. Problem solved.
Im gay and give zero fuks. I’ve seen him on TV and find him funny.
@One Trippe — You truly are mendacious. You only pretend to care about free speech. Others may have forgotten, but I remember your earlier comments across many posts at VFTW, complaining to Gary, requesting he ‘mute’ and/or ‘ban’ others–not because they did anything wrong, but merely because you disagree with something they said. Just admit it–you are a rabid partisan, and instead of engaging in meaningful debate, you’d rather petition the referee to ‘cancel’ your opponent. Shameful. If you can’t handle the heat, get out of the kitchen!
“…and made the decision to now allow you to fly Delta…”
Did someone intend to write “not” instead of “now”?
I love the multiple comments saying almost exactly the same thing that just happen to come in one after another but cleverly under different names. He sure fooled us by changing names.
@Christian — Call ’em out by their ‘names,’ good sir. Even better if you can briefly remind us what these ‘folks’ have said before on here. Remind these bigots that they are actually outnumbered on here and everywhere. Appeasement and indifference do not help. Speak up. Fight the good fight.
Shame on Delta. I hope that the Trump Administration comes down on Delta like a tonne of bricks.
I see that Delta allows its employees to wear pins promoting “Pride”. That begs the question: Does Delta also allow its employees to wear pins opposing “Pride”?
Flight Attendants for Delta and for that matter, any airline ought to do their job and not push or promote their sexuality to their customers like the flight attendant who wore a rainbow “pride” pin did.
@Dale — So, if ‘they’ don’t conform to your worldview, you want them punished. Got it.
In that case, we’re all hypocrites, so nothing matters. Nihilism. Anarchy. And whoever has more ‘power’ wins–‘might makes right’–screw the vulnerable–truth, rules, norms, decency be damned. For the rest of us, we can either ‘punch’ up or down, or just watch.
That doesn’t seem ‘good’ for most of us. No empathy or compassion. It feels like a lot of innocent folks are gonna get hurt that way. A bit too Darwinian, and when we don’t even need to be that harsh to one another. There is enough to go around. It’s 2025, not the Dark Ages.
Clearly, you and others think you’re immune from such harms, so you gleefully dish out the hate. How delightful and privileged that must be. Don’t worry, the leopards won’t get you. You’re safe!