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Home  >  Delta Air Lines  >  Delta Air Lines CEO Meets Pope Francis
Delta Air Lines

Delta Air Lines CEO Meets Pope Francis

Matthew Klint Posted onMay 30, 2022May 30, 2022 14 Comments

Pope Francis Delta CEO Ed Bastian

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian recently met with Pope Francis at the Vatican, presenting the Pontiff with a Roman cross cut from a Delta engine blade and a generous six-digit financial gift to a papal charity.

Pope Francis Holds Vatican Meeting With Delta CEO Ed Bastian

Bastian was educated in Roman Catholic schools and later attended the Franciscan-run St. Bonaventure University in New York. Earlier this month, Bastian ended his commencement address remarks at the University of Georgia with the Prayer of St. Francis of Assisi:

Lord, make me an instrument of your peace:
where there is hatred, let me sow love;
where there is injury, pardon;
where there is doubt, faith;
where there is despair, hope;
where there is darkness, light;
where there is sadness, joy.

O divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek
to be consoled as to console,
to be understood as to understand,
to be loved as to love.
For it is in giving that we receive,
it is in pardoning that we are pardoned,
and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life.
Amen.

Just five days later, he was granted an audience with the pope who was named after St. Francis of Assisi. The meeting was arranged by Father Jim Sichko, who is part of the Diocese of Lexington, Kentucky and a very frequent Delta flyer.

During a 2021 meeting with Bastian, Fr. Sichko asked for a new deicing truck for Lexington Airport (LEX), wanted Bastian to try his mother’s spaghetti sauce, and asked to speak to Bastian about Pope Francis’ “missionaries of mercy” (a special group of priests from around the world whom aim to spread mercy, forgiveness and reconciliation).

Delta Air Lines became the official carrier of the Missionaries of Mercy, with Delta picking up the tab to fly 100 USA-based priests to the Vatican for their next meeting with the Pope. Bastian also “made a call” to get the deicing truck to LEX and ended up buying a case of spaghetti sauce.

It was Fr. Sichko who arranged the meeting between Bastian and Pope Francis, which took place on May 18, 2022 at the Vatican. Bastian presented Pope Francis with three gifts:

  • Roman cross constructed from a Delta engine
  • Delta’s environmental sustainability report translated into Spanish
    • 1,000 trees have been planted in Francis’ name
  • A $100,000 gift for Papal charities

Heralding Pope Francis, Bastian told the National Catholic Reporter:

“We live in a world that’s challenged. We have a lot of divisions and COVID-19 added to the isolation, the fear and the angst…”

One solution, per Bastian, are the words of St. Francis of Assisi, which transcend other faith traditions.

“Give and you will receive.”

As for the Pope, Bastian had glowing words:

“He’s an inspiration and someone you want to lift up.”

CONCLUSION

Delta CEO Ed Bastian met with the Bishop of Rome at the Vatican, exchanging kind words and presenting Pope Francis with a trio of gifts. I wonder if he asked the Pontiff to pray for a miracle concerning to Delta’s recent operational difficulties…

image: Father Jim Sichko

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About Author

Matthew Klint

Matthew is an avid traveler who calls Los Angeles home. Each year he travels more than 200,000 miles by air and has visited more than 135 countries. Working both in the aviation industry and as a travel consultant, Matthew has been featured in major media outlets around the world and uses his Live and Let's Fly blog to share the latest news in the airline industry, commentary on frequent flyer programs, and detailed reports of his worldwide travel.

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14 Comments

  1. Adams9802 Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 10:33 am

    Gross. The Catholic Church is a disgusting organization that should be destroyed and burned to the ground.

  2. Koggerj Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 10:43 am

    Ed Bastian supports the killing of babies (abortion) and sexual degeneracy. People like him can’t call themselves Christian.

    • Sam Reply
      May 30, 2022 at 10:56 am

      You decide who can or can’t call themselves Christians? Based on what?? Your interpretation of a book & personal beliefs??? More religious hypocrisy.
      We need 10 Hail Marys for your repentance.

  3. Chris Peters Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 11:16 am

    I don’t like how this website has turned into a Delta fanboy club. Way too much Delta content. Literally posted 10 times about the Detroit sky clubs last month, nobody cares about Delta, especially in a city as miserable as Detroit.

    I miss the days where this was primarily a United blog with a bit of American mixed in. AKA when Matthew had 1K (which I think he still has but says he wants to lose?) on UA and EP on AA.

    I don’t care about Ed Bastian praying, why don’t we talk about all the mistakes his team had made in the past 3 years.

    Bring back the United coverage please! In the last few weeks, many things have happened, such as the restart of tons of international routes, announcements for resumption of Pacific flights such as HND from SFO and LAX, the return of the 777 PW, changes to domestic first class catering. These are just some of the headlines that have happened in the last few weeks at UA but sadly this site hasn’t covered like it would have in the past!

    Dare I say it – Make Live and Let’s Fly Great Again!

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 30, 2022 at 2:36 pm

      I’m confused. You just praised me earlier today for “attacking” Delta. In fact, I write many more stories on United than on American or Delta. I’m not anti- or pro- any airline. Instead, I just write about what catches my interest.

  4. Christian Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 12:00 pm

    When I saw the headline I figured that Bastian had decided to head to the highest religious authority he could find to beg for forgiveness for his numerous moral shortcomings. My mistake.

  5. ffi Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 12:34 pm

    Is he giving his money or money from Delta – if it was his, then it is worth a post – otherwise it is just free PR for DL

  6. John C. Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 2:45 pm

    Why is Ed Bastian in Italy visiting the Pope? He should be in Atlanta trying to straightening out Delta”s continuing melt downs.

    • Matthew Klint Reply
      May 30, 2022 at 2:50 pm

      His visit was the week before last, but it seems to have just been made public today.

  7. Random gawande Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 4:38 pm

    I feel sorry for religious people, especially those don’t realize that most leaders, politicians, celebrities use religion as cover for moral, ethical failings. Amd religious leaders provide that cover for a fee.

    Selling god to Johns for a fee. What does that make religious leaders?

  8. Non-Catholic Reply
    May 30, 2022 at 6:07 pm

    Another reason not to fly Delta, especially if you’re not a supporter of the Pope/Catholic Church. Many people don’t want any of their money going to the Pope/Catholic Church. It’s doubtful he also gave $100,000 to dozens of other religions.

  9. Mr. Marcus Reply
    May 31, 2022 at 8:49 am

    He gave him a cross? I’m sure the pope and the church will treasure this gift. Rumor has it that the loose translation of what the pope said upon receiving it was “Tito, put this with the others”

    I guess Bastian had never been to the vatican before. It turns out, they’ve got lots of crosses. In fact they’ve got lots of basically any valuable material thing. This is like meeting Bill Gates and giving him a $50 bill.

    • Christian Reply
      May 31, 2022 at 3:12 pm

      LOL

  10. Harry Meadows Reply
    May 31, 2022 at 1:42 pm

    Mistake.

    Presumably, similar amounts are to be given to Humanist, Islamic, Hindu, Anti-theist and Scientologist organizations? The thetan overlords are equally bad with money so could also use Delta’s.

    Delta cannot be seen to be favoring one religion over another, or those of no religion. Ed Bastion’s misguided action will likely be regretted.

    I would be appalled to be a Delta employee.

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