Delta Bans Employees From Wearing Flag Pins

Delta Air Lines is changing its uniform policy, eliminating what was a cool form of expression for frontline employees. If you ask me, unfortunately the airline really had no choice here.

I first wrote about this a few days ago, but wanted to provide an update, as this situation is now being used in an effort to get flight attendants at Delta to unionize, and I can’t help but find this to be a bad faith argument.

Palestine flag issue causes Delta policy change

Historically, Delta employees have been allowed to wear flag pins, representing countries and nationalities of the world. While airline employees of course wear uniforms, it’s nice to give people some ability to express themselves, and it can even be a great conversation starter.

For example, many flight attendants who speak foreign languages might have a flag pin for a foreign country they speak the language of, which can be an easy way for non-English speaking passengers to identify them. Others might just have a connection to a certain culture, and it’s intended to be a good way for employees and passengers to connect.

Unfortunately in recent times, any positives from these flag pins have been outweighed by the negatives. There have been several viral incidents whereby Delta employees were spotted wearing Palestinian flags, and of course this caused an uproar online. This put Delta in a tricky position:

• Given how polarizing the conflict is, employees wearing Palestinian flags made some people uncomfortable and angry
• Delta’s policy has stated that employees shouldn’t wear “any clothing that conveys a message or advocates a position or cause other than Delta-sponsored programs or initiatives”
• Delta hasn’t explicitly told employees they couldn’t wear Palestinian flags, because as you’d expect, that wouldn’t go over well

So Delta is now addressing this issue by more broadly updating its flag pin policy. As of July 15, 2024, Delta is no longer allowing employees to wear any flag pins with their uniform, with the exception of the US flag. Here’s how Delta describes this decision:

We are taking this step to help ensure a safe, comfortable and welcoming environment for all. We are proud of our diverse base of employees and customers and the foundation of our brand, which is to connect the world and provide a premium experience.

Unfortunately I think this all fits into the “this is why we can’t have nice things” category, and I’m not sure Delta had another choice here, but to address it this way.

Back in the day, Emirates flight attendants used to wear flag pins representing their home country. It was such a fun aspect of the Emirates uniform, and highlighted how international the company’s flight attendants are. However, eventually China found out that Emirates was letting employees wear Taiwan flag pins, and then demanded that the airline immediately stop allowing that.

As you’d expect, Emirates couldn’t simply eliminate the Taiwan flag, so the airline just got rid of flag pins altogether.

“Terrified” Delta social media employee “counseled”

The biggest Delta social media story of the past week involves a Twitter/X post, where someone posted pictures of two Delta flight attendants wearing the Palestinian flag, and wrote the following:

Since 2001 we take our shoes off in every airport because a terrorist attack in US soil. Now imagine getting into a @Delta flight and seeing workers with Hamas badges in the air. What do you do?

The official Delta account responded as follows:

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.

To me it seems likely that the Delta social media employee might just not have been paying attention with what was being shared (or took the comment, rather than the picture, at face value — that’s the Palestinian flag, not a “Hamas badge”), since surely that wasn’t Delta’s intended official response.

Delta has now taken action regarding this. First, the company “removed a mistakenly posted comment on X because it was not in line with our values and our mission to connect the world.” Not only that, but “the team member responsible for the post has been counseled and no longer supports Delta’s social channels.”

I mean, I’ll simply say that I don’t envy the job of airline social media employees. On a good day, they get to deal with angry people complaining about delayed flights, lost bags, etc. On a bad day, they get drawn into lose-lose conflicts.

Union uses flag pin situation for clout

Let me start by saying that I’m a generally pro-union guy, which is to say that I think workers should be able to unionize without intimidation, and that unions serve as an important balance to corporate greed.

Delta is the only major airline in the United States where flight attendants aren’t unionized. For the record, I think that’s great too — if they’re happy with their situation, kudos to all involved.

Of course there have long been efforts to convince flight attendants at Delta to unionize, and now the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) is using this flag pin controversy as a way to argue for unionization at the airline. The AFA is requesting that Delta issue a public apology, and backtrack on its new flag pin ban, once again allowing flight attendants to display all flags.

As the union explains:

Working Delta Flight Attendants have been subject to harassment after pictures taken without their consent were circulated on social media with false, inflammatory, and discriminatory allegations. Delta’s social media responses showed contempt for current employees, and the subsequent lack of public response and concern for the safety of all crew members is unacceptable. We are calling on Delta management to issue a public apology, strengthen protections for crew members, and address shortcomings in your corporate social media moderation strategy.

The union then makes the following demands:

The Delta AFA Steering Committee, the national representative body of Delta Flight Attendants organizing our union, demands the following: 

• Public Apology: Delta leadership must publicly apologize to the targeted crew members, confirm that pins representing the flags of different nations are allowed per policy, and denounce the moderator’s response. Leadership must further issue an unambiguous statement from Delta explicitly stating all employees deserve a safe and harassment-free work environment.
• Protection for Crew Members: A public statement implementing the prohibition of non-consensual photography of crew members while on duty or in uniform.
• Social Media Moderation: Immediate action to address shortcomings in its corporate social media moderation strategy, ensuring proper handling of sensitive situations and upholding company values.

The union’s perspective here seems highly idealistic. Delta already bans photography of frontline employees without their consent. But the union wants employees to be able to wear Palestine flags, and to not be harassed publicly.

Like, I don’t disagree with the premise that we should have the right to express ourselves in a respectful way without fear of harassment. But, umm, I wouldn’t exactly say that reflects the reality of the discourse in this country at the moment.

Do you think some random person on Twitter/X who is calling a Palestinian flag a “Hamas badge” is simply going to not “expose” people online because it violates Delta’s policy, when they have strongly held beliefs about it?

Bottom line

Delta is updating its employee uniform policy. As of July 15, 2024, Delta employees can no longer wear flag pins, aside from ones with the US flag. Unfortunately in recent times, all the discussion around Delta’s flag pins has centered around a small number of employees wearing Palestinian flags. This put Delta in a tough spot, and the airline chose to address this in the most “delicate” way possible, by just eliminating the flag pin concept altogether.

What do you make of Delta updating its flag pin policy?