United Airlines was roasted on social media after vowing that 50% of the company’s pilots will be women or people of color over the next decade.
“No. Your pilots should reflect the absolute best of the best, no matter their race or gender. Nobody is so committed to ‘diversity’ that they’d willingly choose to board a plane piloted by someone who got the job through affirmative action,” conservative commentator Matt Walsh tweeted on Tuesday.
No. Your pilots should reflect the absolute best of the best, no matter their race or gender. Nobody is so committed to “diversity” that they’d willingly choose to board a plane piloted by someone who got the job through affirmative action. https://t.co/RRa1vh5gVc
— Matt Walsh (@MattWalshBlog) April 7, 2021
His comment came in response to United Airlines’s announcement that said: “Our flight deck should reflect the diverse group of people on board our planes every day. That’s why we plan for 50% of the 5,000 pilots we train in the next decade to be women or people of color. Learn more and apply now.”
Our flight deck should reflect the diverse group of people on board our planes every day. That’s why we plan for 50% of the 5,000 pilots we train in the next decade to be women or people of color. Learn more and apply now: https://t.co/VbOFvFOksB pic.twitter.com/r0ScH6MQAJ
— United Airlines (@united) April 6, 2021
Others joined Walsh in lampooning the airline for filling racial and gender quotas and for what they characterized as not prioritizing hiring the most deserving pilots.
“Heroes! Next, please hire blind pilots. I always thought it were disgusting that I’ve never seen a blind pilot,” Gad Saad tweeted.
Heroes! Next, please hire blind pilots. I always thought it were disgusting that I’ve never seen a blind pilot. The ableism made me feel unsafe on your flights. We must hire pilots based on irrelevant immutable traits to achieve true equitable safety.https://t.co/FgIwls9eic https://t.co/ssqiQEwdbE
— Gad Saad (@GadSaad) April 7, 2021
What about LGBTQIA++? If my pilot isn’t a transgender pansexual bisexual I’m not flying. https://t.co/xx7Q94RszN
— Allie Beth Stuckey (@conservmillen) April 7, 2021
The ratio on this thing ? https://t.co/MWjRhxs79N
— Rita Panahi (@RitaPanahi) April 7, 2021
United got a $5 billion dollar bailout last year… what’s the first things they did:
– laid off or cut the hours for over 15,000 employees
– discriminate against white men https://t.co/K40Q4Hn2Rd— Ryan James Girdusky (@RyanGirdusky) April 7, 2021
Never flying on an airline that prioritizes identity politics over ability when choosing its pilots https://t.co/Bfv2NnX3UA
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 7, 2021
How about you just hire the best pilots to fly hundreds of people at a time through the sky at hundreds of miles per hour? https://t.co/2XqcHCBWlq
— Michael Knowles (@michaeljknowles) April 7, 2021
When will the blind, deaf, and amputee communities finally be represented on the flight deck? A lot of people live to 100, when will they see themselves represented here, bigots? https://t.co/Vcquj8kqfn
— Derek Hunter (@derekahunter) April 7, 2021
The reactions come after United Airlines slammed voting integrity bills and laws, such as the newly passed law in Georgia, as “legislation that infringes on the right to vote.”
“Some have questioned the integrity of the nation’s election systems and are using it to justify stricter voting procedures, even though numerous studies have found zero credible evidence of widespread fraud in U.S. elections,” the company’s Monday statement said.
“Legislation that infringes on the right to vote of fellow Americans is wrong. We believe that leaders in both parties should work to protect the rights of eligible voters by making it easier and more convenient for them to cast a ballot and have it counted,” it added.
A handful of Republican states, including Texas, Arizona, and Florida, are considering bills similar to Georgia’s recent legislation that would tighten how people vote, including prohibiting drive-thru voting and forbidding local election officials from encouraging voters to use mail-in applications, among other actions.
Former President Donald Trump recently slammed corporations that spoke out against Georgia’s voting integrity bill, calling for a boycott of companies such as Coca-Cola, Merck, and MLB.
“For years the Radical Left Democrats have played dirty by boycotting products when anything from that company is done or stated in any way that offends them,” he wrote in a statement on Saturday. “Now they are going big time with WOKE CANCEL CULTURE and our sacred elections. It is finally time for Republicans and Conservatives to fight back — we have more people than they do — by far! Boycott Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, Delta Airlines, JPMorgan Chase, ViacomCBS, Citigroup, Cisco, UPS, and Merck. Don’t go back to their products until they relent.”
United Airlines did not immediately respond to the Washington Examiner’s request for comment on the pushback it has received over its diversity goals.
