Airlines Suspend Employees Over Social Media Posts Following Charlie Kirk’s Death
Delta Air Lines, american Airlines, and United Airlines have suspended employees following social media posts deemed inappropriate in the wake of the death of conservative activist Charlie Kirk last week.
Delta CEO ed Bastian announced the suspensions in an internal memorandum shared with CNN, stating, “We were informed about Delta employees whose content on social networks, related to the recent murder of activist Charlie Kirk, went far beyond healthy and respectful debate.” Bastian added, “These posts on social networks contrast strongly with our values and our social media policy, and these employees have been suspended while awaiting an inquiry.”
American Airlines confirmed that employees who posted messages “promoting such violence on social networks were instantly removed from service” in a statement.
The actions come amid increasing pressure, following calls from figures within the Trump administration-including transport secretary Sean Duffy, who stated on Saturday (13) that such behavior is “repulsive and they should be fired”-for companies to terminate employees who appeared to celebrate Kirk’s murder. Duffy argued that companies responsible for public safety ”cannot tolerate this behavior.”
United Airlines also issued a memo to pilots reiterating the company’s social media policy. On Sunday (14), the airline confirmed to CNN that it had suspended employees in recent days.
“We make it clear to our customers and employees that there is zero tolerance for violence with political motivation or any attempt to justify it,” United Airlines said in a statement.
