Delta CEO Ed Bastian stated he doesn't have a community feud alongside the world's richest man.
"There's no tit-for-tat, as far as I'm concerned," he stated during a Friday discussion alongside CNBC whenever asked concerning Elon Musk's latest X insulting against the airline. "I'm a big fan of Starlink. I'm a fan of what Elon does. I run a Tesla. OK? So there's nothing. All this nonsense concerning being individual is not true at all."
The apparently one-sided battle appears to have started in March, whenever the transporter chose Amazon's Leo as its next-generation moon net provider complete SpaceX's Starlink. At the time, Musk made one post, alert the transporter "doesn't acknowledge how much this volition power them."
Musk has stepped up his criticisms of Bastian and Delta in the former two weeks following aviation-industry X account, JonNYC, posted unconfirmed quotes from Bastian, including a comment alert that, "We do not desire to be alongside Elon Musk. Trust me."
The identical day, Musk reposted an part alongside the unverified comments, saying that Bastian would "lose his job complete this."
Musk has posted multiple another times concerning Delta since the unconfirmed comment, making fun of the airline's net choice: "Best way to sandbox an AI is to put it on a Delta flight," he wrote in delayed September.
Bastian is not the archetypal transporter CEO to diagram Musk's ire. In January, Musk and Michael O'Leary, the CEO of the European prosperity transporter Ryanair, exchanged jabs on X since the business didn't instal Starlink on its planes complete what it stated were disbursal issues.
At the time, Musk polled X users, asking if he should buy RyanAir and discover person named Ryan to obtain complete as the chief boss. O'Leary, who has fashioned himself as an outspoken chief executive, launched a "great idiots" place sale in response.
Delta's Bastian is taking a extremely distinct tack.
"I don't pay any attention," he stated whenever asked concerning the feud on CNBC. "Everyone is entitled to their own opinion."
Delta didn't immediately react to a petition for comment from Business Insider.
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Ben Shimkus is a newsman for the Business News desk. He writes concerning cars, transportation, retail, and jobs. Ben's reporting has appeared in Rolling Stone, The Verge, Automotive News, USA Today, AutoBody News, LGBTQ Nation, TopSpeed, and Out Magazine. He's additionally held personnel penning positions at The U.S. Sun and the Daily Mail. He graduated from NYU alongside a Master's in reporting in 2024. Email Ben at [email protected] or communication him privately on Signal at bshimkus.41.
