For the record, I don’t care who’s landing my plane as long as it lands right side up.
A horrifying incident unfolded in Canada this week, when a Delta flight crashed as it landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, coming to rest upside down as passengers waited to be rescued.
Luckily all 80 passengers survived the crash, with only 18 injured.
The investigation is still ongoing into the crash, and no cause for the accident has been released, though video appears to show the plane’s landing gear collapse and cause the right wing to hit the ground before flipping the aircraft onto its back.
Naturally there were plenty of people both in the media and online who were quick to tie the crash to President Donald Trump’s government cuts, despite the fact that none of those cuts were to jobs that affect public safety – and, you know, the crash was in Canada, which isn’t in the United States (yet).
But elsewhere on the internet, others are questioning whether the airline was more focused on diversity than safety when it comes to their hiring practices.
The flight was operated by Endeavor Air, a regional airline that operates flight on behalf of Delta Airlines and is based out of the Minneapolis airport where the flight originated. And while scrolling through Endeavor Air’s social media, users were quick to point out that the airline seemed to put a lot of focus on hiring female flight crew.
The airline posted several tweets and TikToks bragging about “unmanned” flights (crews that had only women and no men), and also posted quite a few videos highlighting their all-female flight crews:
Buckle up ladies and gentlemen, your flight is unmanned today. #girlpower
: Caitlyn M., FO, CRJ-900 pic.twitter.com/vL7ec2P3fX
— Endeavor Air (@EndeavorAir) June 6, 2022
: Caitlyn M., FO, CRJ-900 Who run the world? Girls.
“When I have an ‘unmanned’ crew, I note it in my welcome announcement. Some parents even ask to take a photo to show their daughters. I’m so glad to show the next generation of girls what they can achieve.” – Capt. Pamela Nucifore, Mgr, Flight Standards pic.twitter.com/WMjyG7JlV2
— Endeavor Air (@EndeavorAir) March 30, 2021
We're committed to delivering more "unmanned" flights like these. As a proud partner of @WomenInAviation, we can inspire more girls to explore #AviationCareers. #IFlyEDV #STEM pic.twitter.com/DyvrTRG1s0
— Endeavor Air (@EndeavorAir) November 28, 2017
We absolutely love sharing crew photos like this one, an “unmanned flight” on @Delta 5008 @CVGairport to @LGAairport today, operated by CA Pamela, FO Linn, and FAs Shirin & Claudia. These #WomenInAviation are inspirations to us all! #IFlyEDV pic.twitter.com/EarWt93BMF
— Endeavor Air (@EndeavorAir) September 27, 2019
@endeavorair let’s do it
#clickorclique #endeavorair #iflyedv
@endeavorair who fly the world? Girls
#womenshistorymonth #womeninaviation
@endeavorair In honor of women’s history month
#womenshistorymonth #endeavorair #deltaairlines #pilottiktok #airlinepilot
@endeavorair Girl power
#endeavorair #delta #iflyedv #girlpower #umannedflight #fyp #travel
Now, based on the air traffic control audio, it doesn’t appear that the flight that crashed in Canada was “unmanned,” as a male voice can be heard on the radio. And the airline hasn’t released the identity of any of the crew involved, so we don’t know who was actually flying the plane. (Usually, one pilot is on the radio and the other is flying the plane).
But the posts from Endeavor Air have people online wondering whether the airline was too focused on diversity and inclusion and not on safety and competence:
Why am I not surprised that Endeavor, the company operating Delta Flight 4819, has a website packed to the gills with DEI signaling. pic.twitter.com/oJ1VUrnlsV
— Feathers McGraw (@rotatingconcept) February 18, 2025
Endeavor Air, who operated the Delta flight which crashed in Toronto says their most important priority is DEI https://t.co/G8X1CKTNjf pic.twitter.com/5K4Dqq9icJ
— Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) February 19, 2025
The plane that crashed in Toronto was flown by Endeavor Air. They brag about having “unmanned” flights and promoting diversity and inclusion in all aspects of what they do. pic.twitter.com/RJxR6YGtej
— Jessica
(@RealJessica05) February 19, 2025
(@RealJessica05) It’s clear where Endeavor Air’s priorities are at. Maybe if they focused more on qualifications and safety rather than “unmanned flights” and TikTok videos, their plane might not have crashed. pic.twitter.com/SWIc9rpBGw
— Irate Specialist ☩ (@iratespecialyst) February 19, 2025
Endeavor Air is the Delta-owned subsidiary that rolled a plane in Toronto, FYI.
I don't know about you, but I don't want trailblazers in my cockpit. I want to see your resume. https://t.co/BjfUlbHdcC
— Peachy Keenan (@KeenanPeachy) February 19, 2025
Delta has already pushed back on the criticism, with CEO Ed Bastian appearing on CBS Mornings today to defend the safety practices of the airline and its subsidiary:
“Our Endeavor crew performed heroically, but also as expected…
It was an experienced crew. There’s one level of safety at Delta, between our main line and our regional jets. All these pilots train for these conditions, they fly under all kinds of conditions at all the airports in which we operate, so there’s nothing specific with respect to experience that I’d look to.”
Obviously there’s nothing yet to indicate that the airline’s focus on diversity played any part on the plane crash, but at a time when DEI programs are under fire and many companies are scaling them back or eliminating them altogether, it’s not surprising that the airline’s previous posts promoting their focus on diversity are receiving renewed scrutiny.
The post Operator Of Plane That Flipped In Canada Criticized For Bragging About “Unmanned” All-Female Flight Crews first appeared on Whiskey Riff.