In a detailed and extended note to Delta Air Lines employees concerning vaccine penalties, CEO Ed Bastian went to great lengths to avoid one phrase, delta variant. Welcome to the consternation of running an airline with the same name…
Delta Dodge: The Term Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian Refuses To Use
With the delta variant accounting for 93.4 of new U.S. COVID-19 cases in July 2021, the term has become a household name. But Bastian refused to use it in his letter to employees, warning they would be fined $200 per month if they chose not to be inoculated.
“Over the past few weeks, the fight has changed with the rise of the B. 1.617.2 variant — a very aggressive form of the virus.”
We know B. 1.617.2 as the “delta” variant.
Later on his note, Bastian also referred to to the delta variant as “the most recent virus variants.”
A Delta spokesperson explained:
“The Delta family holds our brand close as part of our professionalism and all that we stand for. And while we haven’t seen any serious confusion out there as a result of the WHO naming convention, there’s also the catchy scientific name of the variant that deserves to have its profile lifted through all of this as well.”
According to The Washington Post, it was not Delta’s PR team that insisted upon this, but a collaborative effort:
“This was a natural decision from leaders and really everyone across Delta as the naming convention of all the covid variants arrived at the fourth one.”
On Twitter, Delta’s Chief Health Officer Harry Ting wryly noted that the B. 1.617.2 is so much easier to remember…
We prefer to call it the B.1.617.2 variant since that is so much more simple to say and remember…
— Henry Ting, MD MBA (@henrytingmd) June 30, 2021
Meanwhile, Bastian told CBS News:
“I don’t refer to the original variant name. If anything, I call it ‘the darn variant.”
Darn variant indeed…
CONCLUSION
Delta is going out of its way to avoid using the phrase “delta variant.”
In the meantime, Delta Air Lines should start selling Corona beer onboard. It could call it B. 1.617.2 beer.
@washingtonpost Delta Air Lines will require employees to be vaccinated or face weekly testing and a $200 monthly surcharge for health insurance.
You know what else he left out? The fact that those that have already had C19 will NOT benefit from the vaccine – per studies by Washington University and Cleveland Clinic. Mandating vaccine for those that will yield no benefit keeps others from getting that dose and also puts those with antibodies at risk to the side effects of the vaccine. Natural antibodies > vaccines has ALWAYS been more effective.
There is excess vaccine available so you can put that line to rest. Oh, and I recommend you take an immunology course.
They should follow the lead of ATL ground control and use Dixie.
Delta looks pretty childish about the whole delta thing. They should come to the realization that this will pass and deal with it in the present. Is pretending that the delta variant isn’t the delta variant a good look for Bastian and company?
This was really funny. Nice one, Matthew!
Hey Matt:
Speaking of vaccines, my Japanese SO (fluent) informed me about Japan suspending the use of about 1.63 million doses of Moderna due to contamination found in a batch of about 560,000 vials. We are both “vaxers” 2x vaccinated with Moderna and will get a booster before travelling to Italy since international studies show the vaccine effect is waning. Japan’s situation certainly raises a red flag on vaccine quality control and calls for auditing/sampling existing stockpiles of vaccine, especially before mandatory vaccinations for soldiers.
Is anyone in here old enough to remember when Delta employees (the “old Delta”) actually banded together and purchased a MD-80 for the carrier? How times have changed . . .
. . . sorry, it was a 767, dubbed “The Spirit of Delta.” That spirit id long gone.