Airline Crews Say DEI Persists, Despite Safety Concerns and Trump Orders

Nearly a dozen aviation insiders, including a whistleblower who filed a federal complaint, asserted that diversity initiatives cause unneeded distractions.. For one veteran airline captain, a routine flight to Denver changed her view about aviation safety—but not because of an in-flight crisis. Rather, the captain heard a story that—for the first time in her decades-long career—made her uneasy about putting her loved ones on a plane. During a 2024 conversation, a flight instructor described unusual steps managers had taken to salvage the career of a young female trainee pilot. The instructor described an “egregious” example of the apparent relaxing of...