The retired pilot claimed the airline was trying to ‘silence’ her over comments she made about February’s Endeavor Air crash.
A Delta A220 at Paine Field. (Photo: AirlineGeeks | Katie Zera)
An attorney for Delta has served one of the carrier’s former pilots with a cease and desist letter over “false and defamatory” statements posted on social media about last month’s Endeavor Air crash.
According to a March 7 blog post by the retired Delta pilot, Karlene Petitt alleged that the airline was trying to “silence” her and published the letter from Delta attorney David Balser.
Balser’s letter, sent to Petitt on Feb. 27, demanded she stop making false statements regarding the experience of the captain on Delta Connection flight 4819, operated by Endeavor Air.
Following the crash in Toronto, Petitt posted several times on X questioning Delta’s training. In one post, she said the airline CEOs “should be fired.”
Endeavor Air CRJ-900 wreckage (Photo: TSB of Canada)
“Flight 4819 was involved in a single-aircraft accident at Toronto Pearson International Airport (YYZ) around 2:15 PM ET on Monday, February 17, 2025,” the cease and desist letter stated. “Since that date, you have published false and defamatory information related to Flight 4819’s Captain.”
The letter then lists several specific posts made by Petitt.
“These statements about the Flight 4819 Captain are false,” the letter stated. “As Delta stated on its website on February 20, 2025, ‘[a]ssertions that he failed training events are false’ and ‘[a]ssertions that he failed to flow into a pilot position at Delta Air Lines due to training failures are also false.’”
“These statements are defamatory and harmful to Delta’s reputation because they falsely allege that Delta knowingly allowed a captain with inadequate skill, deficient credentials, or insufficient training to pilot aircraft for Endeavor Air,” it continued. “Delta demands that you correct or clarify the false statements identified above … . To the extent you have made other similar false statements in other places of publication not identified herein, Delta further demands that you correct or clarify those statements as well.”
I challenge delta to produce his training records and tell us how many other have failed Deltas training and sent back. I have proof @delta executives lie …even in court!. Both ceos should be fired. #Accidentwaitingtohappen #safetyfirst https://t.co/GSn0zzmJbr
— Karlene Petitt (@KarlenePetitt) February 21, 2025
Additionally, the cease and desist demanded that Petitt retain all documents and other materials related to her discussion of Flight 4819 “in anticipation of potential litigation.”
Delta has disputed disinformation concerning the qualifications of both pilots involved in the Endeavor Air crash.
“Assertions that [the pilot] failed training events are false. Assertions that he failed to flow into a pilot position at Delta Air Lines due to training failures are also false,” the carrier said in a news release.
AirlineGeeks reached out to Delta’s attorney for comment.
This isn’t Petitt’s first time tangling with Delta’s legal department.
While still a pilot at Delta, Petitt sued the airline for retaliation in 2016 after she raised safety issues about its flight operations. In 2022, a Department of Labor administrative law judge approved a settlement between the two parties.
According to her LinkedIn profile, she later retired from the airline in January 2023.
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