Skift Take
Delta CEO Ed Bastian faced immense blowback and calls to boycott the airline for his muted response to Georgia's new elections law, a break from his usual vocal support for social justice issues. The airline and his PR-orchestrated statements will face growing scrutiny just as the travel recovery is taking hold.
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has not been shy in weighing in on social matters, from supporting gun control to solidarity with last year's nationwide protests for racial justice. This made the carrier's tepid comment on a new incendiary Georgia elections law all the more puzzling since it's been called outright voter suppression.
This, coming as the Atlanta-based airline faced growing pressure to denounce the law, or face a boycott.
In response to employee blowback for the tepid public response, Bastian on Tuesday released an internal video to defend Delta's position and his comparative silence. His basic premise was that the company sought to shape the legislation behind the scenes and not fight the battle in the media. He noted that with a Republican-controlled state legislature, there was no way for any company or group of companies to get lawmakers to completely quash the bill.
"I know that many of you are disappointed, frustrated, and angry that we did not take a stronger public stand against
