President Donald Trump suggested Delta is making changes to its communications and naming policies that he viewed as favorable to his Make America Great Again political movement.
In a post on Truth Social, Trump shared a picture of what appeared to be a Delta manual listing two “revision highlights” – changing the Gulf of Mexico to the “Gulf of America” and modifying “Notice to Air Mission” to read “Notice to Airmen.”
The president famously directed all federal agencies to refer to the Gulf of Mexico as the Gulf of America in a January executive order.
Trump indicated that a Delta pilot made him aware of the change. The full caption, with errors included, reads:
“From a Delta Captain: ‘I thought you would get a kick out of this. Delta’s official memo to employees. Big changes Gulf of Mexico to Gulf of America. And the liberals thought Notice to Airman was racist to they changed it to Notice to Air Missions. Delta just changed it back to Notice to Airman. I think they are finally embracing MAGA.’”
It was not clear when or how the pilot told the president about the revisions, or even if the pilot communicated them to Trump directly.
Delta said Friday that it “updated our pilot manuals in compliance with an FAA mandate,” and deferred further questions to the FAA.
The FAA replaced “Notice to Airmen” with the gender-neutral “Notice to Air Missions” in 2021 under then-President Joe Biden as a show of inclusivity and modernization. The Trump administration instructed the agency to switch back to “Notice to Airmen” in February.
