Air Travel Feels like a Roll of the DEI Dice for Americans
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Key Takeaways
- Recent aviation incidents both fatal and non-fatal are inflaming travel fears for Americans concerned with a growing pattern of safey issues.
- Many attribute recent crashes to poor safety decision-making, DEI initiatives, and a disregard for qualified crew members.
- People worry both about the increasing rate of incidents and their own fears about flying in the current aviation environment.
Our Methodology
Demographics
All Voters
Sample Size
4,500
Geographical Breakdown
National
Time Period
7 Days
MIG Reports leverages EyesOver technology, employing Advanced AI for precise analysis. This ensures unparalleled precision, setting a new standard. Find out more about the unique data pull for this article.
Recent tragic and dangerous aircraft incidents continue to pile fear on an already fraught air travel environment. In the past few weeks, A Delta Air Lines jet flipped upside down on a Toronto runway and a military helicopter took down a regional jet in D.C., causing public panic.
Many Americans blame commercial airline policies, DEI initiatives, insufficient pilot training, and poor military aircraft maintenance.
The Incidents
On February 17, 2025, Delta Flight 4819 from Minneapolis crash-landed at Toronto Pearson International Airport, flipping upside down in a snowy fireball. All 80 aboard survived, but 18 suffered injuries.
This harrowing scene followed just weeks after a military helicopter incident caused a midair collision with an American Airlines regional jet which claimed 67 lives. Another on January 31 incident included a medical jet crashing just after takeoff in Northeast Philadelphia, killing all six people on board. These events continue to erode public trust in air travel safety.
Unconfirmed - BUT since her Linkdin profile has been deleted this allegation is likely true.
— Aura Aurora 🇺🇸 (@Fight_the_Woke) February 20, 2025
Delta pilot of the Toronto crash is allegedly 26 year old female Kendal Swanson. pic.twitter.com/6BSonVthpt
Public Sentiment
MIG Reports data shows, in discussions of these incidents:
- 40% of comments grow increasingly alarmed and frustrated over recurring incidents, which many view as preventable.
- 30% express safety fears.
- 20% question airline and military focus on diversity over competence.
- 10% are mixed responses to why and how these incidents happened.
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Broader online chatter often shows emotions of outrage and anxiety directed at airlines and the military. The Toronto crash, with passengers “hanging like bats,” only sharpens this edge—survivors’ relief clashes with a nation’s growing unease. The involvement of commercial flights in these incidents only causes greater worry about air travel safety for average people.
Passengers on the Toronto flight recount chaos: cement and metal grinding, jet fuel pooling, and a surreal drop to the ceiling-turned-floor. Experts point to a hard landing—possibly pilot error or gear failure—exacerbated by brutal weather. But the public often focuses on pilot error and reports of DEI initiatives from the airline.
The plane crash in Toronto was a DEI obsessed ‘All female unmanned crew’ that was flying it & in control at the time. pic.twitter.com/GRpGPg7w8T
— Concerned Citizen (@BGatesIsaPyscho) February 19, 2025
Top Issues Driving Reactions
Safety and Maintenance Failures
Both the flipped plane incident and the helicopter collision cause travelers to worry about quality control and maintenance. Americans want to feel ensured their flights will be safe, demanding rigorous inspections and proper flight procedures both in the air and from air traffic control.
The reports of poor military aircraft maintenance also generate frustration about neglect while billions flow elsewhere into wasted government initiatives. Conservatives say decades of underfunding critical systems, from runways to rotors, while funding useless project for USAID is an issue.
Distrust in Government and Corporations
There are accusations that the “deep state” skims taxpayer dollars and airlines prioritize profit over people. Toronto’s aftermath—passengers crawling from wreckage while Delta touts crew heroism—fuels this fire.
Center-right observers say bureaucracies and woke corporations like Boeing dodge accountability, leaving voters to cover costs and risk their lives to travel. Trump’s DOGE cuts—$881 million in wasteful contracts—strike a chord for those who want accountability for federal spending.
Voters also discuss billions spent on Ukraine while military gear rusts and planes falter. They call for “America First” over foreign aid, decrying a government addicted to globalism, squandering billions while domestic safety is compromised.
Torching DEI
At least 65% of the discussions expresses negativity and dissatisfaction with DEI programs, linking them to recent aviation crashes. Many say pilot training and hiring and air traffic control staffing has been negatively impacted by DEI.
Travelers want a highly skilled crew, not identity quotas. Only 20% of the discussion mentions defense of DEI’s intent, but overall, Americans say merit and skill saves lives, not ideology or identity.
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Solutions
Many also discuss potential solutions to the safety crisis in aviation. They suggest things like:
- Aviation Oversight: Launch a DOGE-style audit of FAA and military budgets. Slash fluff—$4.7 trillion untraceable waste—and redirect it to maintenance.
- End DEI: 65% want to scrap DEI grants, saying both corporations and government agencies should ban DEI requirements.
- America First Funding: Halt foreign aid, reduce wasteful spending, and prioritize domestic issues like the airline industry.
- Accountability: Expose failures under the Biden admin regarding the regulatory environment for airlines and wasteful ideological spending.
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