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Delta Faces Backlash After Directing Flight Attendants Who Test Positive For Virus Not To Tell Fellow Crew Members Or Post Anything On Social Media
13 April
NurPhoto / Contributor / Getty Images
Delta is seeing major puahback about an email sent to more than 25,000 members of their crew asking them to "Please refrain from notifying other crew members," if they test positive for the virus.
<p>Flight Attendants are pushing back against the policy, with one anonymous flight attendant telling <em><a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/delta-coronavirus-flight-attendants_n_5e908793c5b6260471e0c37e" target="_blank">HuffPost</a></em> that they felt the policy infringed on crew members' freedom of speech. </p><p>The flight attendant, who wished to remain anonymous out of fear of losing their job, told <em>HuffPost</em>:</p><blockquote><em>"Employees have freedom of speech about their health. No employer can take that away. We have a responsibility to take care of ourselves, our coworkers and everyone we come in contact with." </em></blockquote><p>The email from Delta told employees:</p><blockquote><em>"Please refrain from notifying other crew members on your own. Once you have completed the reporting procedures listed above, leaders will follow the established process to notify any impacted flight attendants." </em></blockquote><p>This might seem reasonable at first glance, but the letter also cautioned employees against sharing health information via social media. </p><p><div id="action_button_container"></div></p><blockquote><em>"Please do not post on social media (including SkyHub) about your health status."</em></blockquote><p><em></em><span style="background-color: initial;">An update soon followed on Delta's employee intranet, trying to clear up the company's message. </span></p><blockquote><span style="background-color: initial;"><em>"we take the responsibility of notifying all of our Delta people seriously and have a strong protocol in place to ensure we get in touch with anyone potentially exposed to provide support." </em></span></blockquote><p><span style="background-color: initial;">Spokesperson for Delta, Morgan Durant, told </span><em>HuffPost</em><span style="background-color: initial;"> that Delta didn't intend to </span><span style="background-color: initial;">"</span><span style="background-color: initial;">cause confusion among flight attendants on this." He further stated that the company has no plans to penalize anyone who fails to comply with the policy. </span></p><p><div id="c7da91bc-8e44-492f-b7fd-c382c0e55bda"></div></p><p><strong>Twitter users were also highly critical of Delta's move toward secrecy about diagnoses in a time when knowing you may have been exposed is so important. </strong><br></p><p><div data-conversation-spotlight=""></div></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="373f9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e8fc4bb155c3fa1f6928d5d0f72b5f84"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1249495728810070016" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@People4Bernie That might be illegal. If it isn’t, oh boy, it oughtabe</div> — 😷SilleryRouge😷 (@😷SilleryRouge😷)<a href="https://twitter.com/RougeSillery/statuses/1249495728810070016">1586737970.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="a44fb" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="32cd49c19331be8e1cf5aaa544066e41"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1249498582606057473" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@People4Bernie @solon594bce Since when do corporations have rights over people's personal information and what they… https://t.co/2bH53Z3Jxu</div> — Zinnia (@Zinnia)<a href="https://twitter.com/Zinnia1111/statuses/1249498582606057473">1586738651.0</a></blockquote></div>
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</p><div id="c12a2" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="c87ec6ae41c739576390e85a37c787d1"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1249489121770262533" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">@People4Bernie So they’re supposed to pretend everything is hunky dory while you could be possibly dying??</div> — Jay Green (@Jay Green)<a href="https://twitter.com/GreenMossOnTree/statuses/1249489121770262533">1586736395.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>This is far from the only recent virus-related scandal to come from Delta in the past few weeks. A <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/delta-coronavirus-pilots-union_n_5e879008c5b6332cecbb06e7" target="_blank">leaked video</a> seemed to indicate that Delta executives had told pilots to withhold information about being sick from fellow flight crew members. </p><p>Since that video was leaked, the number of pilots who have tested positive for the virus has increased to 57, according to the website of the <a href="https://www.alpa.org/DAL" target="_blank">pilot's union</a>.</p><p>The country's largest flight attendants' union, AFA-CWA, has recently called for an <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/airlines-coronavirus-halt-travel_n_5e8b6084c5b6cc1e4779ab67" target="_blank">end to all leisure travel</a> as risk to flight crews rises.</p><p>AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson called for a coordinated effort from all involved parties to minimize risk to travelers and flight crews alike. </p><blockquote><em>"We're calling on a coordinated government response, we're calling on all our airlines, and we're also calling for leadership from DOT and FAA on advising the public that we do not need any leisure travel right now."</em></blockquote><p>It may be true that nobody knows precisely how to fix the public health crisis the world is currently facing, but secrecy about who may have been exposed to the virus is far from the current recommendations from medical experts People can't self-isolate to protect others if they, themselves, don't know that they have been exposed. </p>
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