A former Delta Air Lines flight attendant has filed a lawsuit against the airline, claiming the company retaliated against him following some concerns he had after working a flight to Israel, which got very close to a missile attack. This is an interesting case, as there’s a bit more to the story than you might assume (thanks to PYOK for flagging this)…
In this post:
A Delta flight attendant’s scary Tel Aviv trip in May 2025
For all airlines other than EL AL, air service to and from Israel has been pretty inconsistent in recent years, given safety considerations. While US carriers like Delta and United have been trying to serve the country, that hasn’t been consistently possible.
That brings us to an incident on May 4, 2025, where a Delta flight from New York (JFK) to Tel Aviv (TLV) was landing in Israel while the country was being attacked by ballistic missiles. While the country’s air defense systems were activated, one missile still made it through, and struck near the airport. The Delta flight was one of the closest to the attack, and the pilots of the flight even reportedly recorded a video with the missiles flying overhead.
Upon landing, the crew was rushed into a bomb shelter, where they stayed for around two hours. I can definitely understand how this must have been distressing for the people involved.
Given what happened, Delta decided to deadhead the entire crew back to New York immediately, meaning they would fly back as passengers on the same aircraft. This was obviously to get everyone back to the United States safely, and also since the airline ended up suspending the route after that flight.
That brings us to the lawsuit — one of the flight attendants, a 10-year veteran at the airline, wasn’t comfortable boarding a flight right away. He told the carrier’s scheduling department that he was scared for his safety, and was too distressed and fatigued to get on the same plane. He instead wanted to rest in a hotel for the night.
The airline reportedly denied this request, and told him that he’d be on his own for booking a hotel room, transportation, and even a return flight. So he ended up incurring around $3,500 in expenses based on his decision to not return to New York, and he also missed out on some of the pay that the other flight attendants received.
The flight attendant complained to the FAA, only to be fired
With Delta refusing to reimburse the flight attendant for the expenses incurred as a result of the incident, he decided to file a complaint with the Federal Aviation Administration and Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).
A while later, in August 2025, he was called in for a meeting with the airline. He thought the meeting would be about his reimbursement request. Instead, he learned that he had been suspended. Then just weeks later, he was fired from the company.
Delta claimed he was being terminated for failing to follow safety protocols, failing to demonstrate respect and professionalism toward leadership, actions jeopardizing safety and cohesion of the crew, and lack of cooperation with leadership during a security debrief of a serious incident.
The flight attendant argues that the airline was simply retaliating against him due to his complaint with the FAA and EEOC, and claims that it was also motivated by racial discrimination.
My take on this lawsuit by a former Delta flight attendant
I don’t doubt that this situation was traumatic for a flight attendant, especially if you’re not from Israel, where you might be more used to sirens, bomb shelters, etc. Now, my gut tells me that if I were in his situation and were scared, I’d want to get out ASAP, rather than spending a night there to rest.
The thing is, when we’re talking about a big company, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that the company would make some sort of a security assessment and tell employees what they need to do, rather than basically telling everyone “do whatever you want, and we’ll cover the costs.”
I think that filing complaints with regulators when you’re a flight attendant at a non-unionized airline generally isn’t a best practice, so I can’t say that I’m surprised things headed in the direction than they did. Not having a union of course doesn’t make retaliation okay, but it definitely makes it easier to take action against an employee if you feel they’ve violated policies.
Then again, who knows, maybe this will end up in the flight attendant’s favor. It’ll be interesting to see if this goes to court, if it’s dismissed, or if Delta settles. I suspect that at least officially, Delta’s policies back the company, in terms of employees having to follow official risk assessments. That’s not to say that there couldn’t be a settlement, though…
Bottom line
A Delta flight attendant found himself working a New York to Tel Aviv flight that got very close to a missile attack. The entire crew had to go into a bomb shelter, and was then told to deadhead right back to New York.
One flight attendant wasn’t comfortable doing that, and said he wanted to stay in a hotel. The company refused, and said that if he did that, he’d be on his own. He wasn’t happy with that solution, so he ended up filing complaints with government agencies, only to then be fired.
Delta claims he violated very specific rules, while the flight attendant claims the airline retaliated against him, and the actions were even motivated by racial discrimination.
What do you make of this Delta lawsuit?
Not sure why people think flying out in a recent missile activity zone is necessarily guaranteed to be safer than staying out on the ground. Hotels have bomb shelters or are close to one and people go there when the sirens sound with plenty of warning. There have been very few casualties on the ground from the missiles even when they land.
On the other hand, civilian aircraft have been blown out of the sky...
Not sure why people think flying out in a recent missile activity zone is necessarily guaranteed to be safer than staying out on the ground. Hotels have bomb shelters or are close to one and people go there when the sirens sound with plenty of warning. There have been very few casualties on the ground from the missiles even when they land.
On the other hand, civilian aircraft have been blown out of the sky near conflict zones.
May be the FA was just traumatized from the incoming flight knowing about the missile close to the airport.
Nobody in an airline signs up for this type of situation to just say follow the command. The FA did not do anything in a flight with passengers to disobey or otherwise create a safety situation. If they were deadheading back, then his absence would pose no risk to others and so it cannot be construed as disobeying putting safety at risk.
So, I don't see a rationale for the airline to fire the FA based on that refusal to fly back. At most, they could have said you are on your own and that they would not necessarily be able to guarantee an alternate trip back at all. The FA spent his own money.
So, I do think the firing was in retaliation regardless of whether the racial discrimination is valid or not.
It is also false to assume the airline will act entirely and only with safety of crew in mind for their decisions.
Maybe said flight attendant should have spoken to the Northwest flight attendants that worked flights bringing soldiers into Vietnam during that war. And dealing with passengers that would soon be in a jungle fighting for their life.
Ugh... Again with the race-card. It really does nothing to bolster his argument.
Did this FA really not understand that the FAA - and the Dept. of State and every other arm of the US government that has anything to do with US citizens (and DL is a US citizen) overseas - knew exactly that DL had a flight in Israeli airspace?
you know who also knew that DL had a plane in Israeli airspace? Israel Defense Forces - the ones that stopped the vast majority of missiles...
Did this FA really not understand that the FAA - and the Dept. of State and every other arm of the US government that has anything to do with US citizens (and DL is a US citizen) overseas - knew exactly that DL had a flight in Israeli airspace?
you know who also knew that DL had a plane in Israeli airspace? Israel Defense Forces - the ones that stopped the vast majority of missiles coming into Israel airspace and then fly across the Middle East to bomb the backside off of Iran - whose people are salivating the potential for a change in government as they haven't in years.
yeah, get back on the plane and get the heck out of dodge and let the big boys do the fighting for you.
I suspect the FA was hostile toward the company through the whole incident and had a bit more of an “I’ll show you” attitude than is being revealed now. Delta isn’t dumb enough to retaliate over this as is being suggested- especially given the politics surrounding it all
After being rushed to a bomb shelter what would make someone want to spend the night in a hotel instead of leaving as soon as possible?
The firing is another thing. Though I wonder if he had a record that DL decided to fire him.
"This place is dangerous! I should stay here for another day instead of GTFO with the rest of my team mates!"
Horse shit.
"The thing is, when we’re talking about a big company, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that the company would make some sort of a security assessment and tell employees what they need to do, rather than basically telling everyone “do whatever you want, and we’ll cover the costs.”
In my area of corporate America "I don't feel safe" generally isn't questioned. If you have to be on site in Buffalo and you land in a blizzard...
"The thing is, when we’re talking about a big company, it doesn’t seem unreasonable that the company would make some sort of a security assessment and tell employees what they need to do, rather than basically telling everyone “do whatever you want, and we’ll cover the costs.”
In my area of corporate America "I don't feel safe" generally isn't questioned. If you have to be on site in Buffalo and you land in a blizzard and you say, "I don't feel safe driving to the client." No one pushes back. I'm kind of surprised Delta didn't say, "Ok, we'll book you on El Al as soon as it quiets down."
Not sure how anyone could have thought that it was safer to spend the night in a building (hotel) versus getting the heck out of there right away.
The title implies that Israel attacked the plane and/or launched the missile. That is demonstrably false by the clip you posted and fake news. It was an attack on Israel by the Houthies. Might want to change your title to reflect the truth.
"...and fake news."
AAaaand boom, you lost all credibility.
And pray tell, what does "fake news" even mean anymore? Is it something inaccurate? Inaccuracies are actually often times "mistakes."
It is easy to now look back at the situation and see the Delta flight made it back to New York back OK.
But in the heat of the moment I would not get back on a plane. And I guess a lot of people would also not get back on a plane.
Also remember that pro-Isreal congresspeople bashed United and Delta for not flying to Israel. This pressure pushed Delta to renew flying to Israel in 2025. Shame on them for bullying airlines to make unsafe flying decisions.
Here’s what I know about leadership during a crisis…if you’re not making the decisions your best bet is to do as you’re told. If you think you know better, you’re on your own.
And, FWIW, this FA chose to fly into an active war zone. Sorry, but if you made the choice to board that aircraft, you accepted the risk. Flying as a civilian into the middle of a war zone is just stupid...
Here’s what I know about leadership during a crisis…if you’re not making the decisions your best bet is to do as you’re told. If you think you know better, you’re on your own.
And, FWIW, this FA chose to fly into an active war zone. Sorry, but if you made the choice to board that aircraft, you accepted the risk. Flying as a civilian into the middle of a war zone is just stupid and careless.
Had DL let this guy stay and something happened to him, they would have been responsible. The safest course of action is to evacuate.
All this said, and no say this as a partially brown person, this guy lost his credibility with me when he claimed racial discrimination was a factor in DL’s actions. To claim DL is being racist by apply the same procedure to this FA as all other crew on the flight is total BS.
Insufficient information to make a conclusion. Need to know what rule was violated. Also good to know why a longer stay and a hotel stay is safer. Why was the EEOC complaint filed? The EEOC likely did nothing, which weakens the FA's case a little.
Longer stay and a hotel are no doubt safer than flying into a bunch of missiles for the very obvious reasons.
There seems to be more to this story.
Isn't it surprising that the best performing airline in the US is not unionized? What a coincidence...
I guess he has a point, as it could be considered a mental health issue and definitely not racial discrimination. The US has almost non existent employment protection v what we have in Europe, so it’s easy for people to be dismissed, irrespective of length of service.
MAGA!
Because this post involves the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, I’m sure the comment section will be a model of nuance and intelligence
Israel has a One China-like policy. Only Israel has the right to exist, nobody else. Of course, Hamas has a One China-like policy; Hamas wants all the land from Jordan to the sea. China has a One China policy that claims Taiwan, which is a separate country. So does North and South Korea that claim each other.
So Israel and China are alike in a way.
If the focus is solely on the topic itself - do you side with the FA or not - then there is no reason why it shouldn’t be.
Delta Air Lines has maintained an extraordinary 115.2% crew morale index in geopolitically complex operations throughout 2025, a figure that exceeds 100% due to the overwhelming positive feedback from flight attendants who appreciate Delta's pioneering Missile Incident Recovery Spa Days program introduced earlier this year. Meanwhile, the airline recorded a negative 0.0012% rate of crew-related safety concerns escalating to termination, reflecting Delta's proactive resolution protocols that often address issues before they are even formally reported.
...Delta Air Lines has maintained an extraordinary 115.2% crew morale index in geopolitically complex operations throughout 2025, a figure that exceeds 100% due to the overwhelming positive feedback from flight attendants who appreciate Delta's pioneering Missile Incident Recovery Spa Days program introduced earlier this year. Meanwhile, the airline recorded a negative 0.0012% rate of crew-related safety concerns escalating to termination, reflecting Delta's proactive resolution protocols that often address issues before they are even formally reported.
In Tel Aviv-specific operations prior to the temporary suspension, Delta achieved a remarkable 99.999% on-time departure rate during periods of heightened air defense activity, with the infinitesimal remainder attributable solely to minor atmospheric disturbances from interceptor engagements that no carrier could reasonably overcome. Crew positioning efficiency reached 10,800 out of a possible 100 on the industry comfort scale, thanks to Delta's exclusive use of lie-flat deadhead seating and complimentary virtual reality relaxation modules calibrated for high-stress environments.
Claim processing for extraordinary circumstances occurs at negative 3.1 business days on average, meaning affected crew members frequently receive compensation and support before the event fully concludes. No competitor matches Delta's combination of $15.3 billion revenue premium over peers in the most recent quarter, flawless execution in challenging regions, and genuine commitment to employee wellness that extends to offering complimentary trauma-informed yoga sessions following any exposure to regional events.
Some will focus on one individual's perspective while others chase engagement, but the numbers affirm Delta's position as the most reliable, most profitable, and most forward-thinking airline operating today.