DELTA’s Effort to Silence Me

You can’t un-ring that bell

On May 1, 2019, the final day of my first trial, Honorable Judge Morris told Delta, “If you really want this out there, I would think long and hard about this.” He told them they could “not un-ring that bell.” He also said, “You all have to make a business decision if you want all this laundry out there.” Now, here we go again. This time I am voicing the same safety concerns to the same individual, Captain James Graham, who is now the CEO of Endeavor Airlines, and Delta is once again trying to silence me. This time with legal action of defamation against me. They are threatening to take me to court.

Taking One for the Team

I battled Delta for seven years because of my concern for operational practices to include substandard training. I did that for employee and passenger safety. I even gave up my career to ensure I could not be silenced by social media policies. And here we go again. What I learned in the legal process is that during trial we get discovery.

With a lawsuit, I can legally subpoena the CVR, FDR, depose both pilots, depose all Delta’s instructors, request names and records of all those who flowed up to Delta and were sent back, and can even request all training documents. This might be the only way there will be any transparency as to why this accident happened. Therefore, for those few who said they hoped I would get sued, this might be the only way for full transparency to improve aviation safety.

My publications were motivated by my concerns with respect to the welfare of the pilot community, passenger and aviation safety overall. Every publication on my blog is based on what I understand to be the truth with information received from both Endeavor and Delta pilots alike. I did not make anything up, I did my due diligence. Moreover, far from having acted in reckless disregard of the truth, the statements that Delta alleges to be defamatory were based on statements received from employees in the know. I simply am aware of Delta’s ability to hide the truth, violate federal regulations, retaliate against someone who speaks out, withhold information and lie in court. These facts, I know to be true.

Despite this lawsuit, of which will enable me to find the details that Delta refuses to share in the form of discovery, I am clarifying the four points per attorney Balser’s request. He asked me to, so out of respect for the process here you go.

Legal Challenge:

Delta’s attorney addressed four statements on my post and stated, “Delta demands that you correct or clarify the false statements identified above as required by RCW § 7.96.070.” You can read the entire demand letter here.

Four Points in the Demand Letter

On February 19, 2025, you posted on X that the Captain “on this flight FAILED training as a @Delta FO & CEO Graham returned him to Endeavor as a [captain].” 

Clarification: “Failure” in my experience includes when a pilot is offered to not take the checkride due to poor performance, and/or offered a deal because they believe he won’t pass. CEO Graham more than likely did not personally return him to Endeavor, but as the CEO he is fully responsible for that process.

On February 20, 2025, in response to an X user who wrote “Delta and Endeavor are saying the assertions the Captain failed to become an FO after his flow are false. Are they lying? What say you?”, you responded: “Nope. They skewed it he simply resigned. He failed. There have been a few.” 

Clarification: I’m uncertain which part needs clarification. The process is if the pilot is unable to pass training, Delta provides the option to resign, keep the record clean and allows the pilot to continue in his original position at Endeavor. Yes, there have been many that have returned, as multiple sources have identified. I even have a recording from a pilot in another case where the Delta regional director is telling the pilot if they resign instead of being terminated, their PRIA record won’t reflect the pending termination and reasons why.

On February 20, 2025, in response to a comment on your blog post titled “Miracle in Toronto,” see https://karlenepetitt.com/miracle-in-toronto/, you wrote: “This captain was terminated from Delta in 2022 because he failed training as a first officer, and was sent back to Endeavor. This is a deep concern.” 

Clarification: That date was reported as a result of a text message received from a Delta Captain. However, to clarify… that 2022 date may be inaccurate as a result of another email and seniority list, as identified below. To my knowledge, and no objection from Delta, he did attend Delta first officer training. Delta refuses to deny that fact. To clarify “This is a deep concern” I will clarify the meaning of deep. “This is a grave concern.”

On February 21, 2025, in your blog post titled “Pilots Be Known,” see https://karlenepetitt.com/pilots-be-known/, you wrote that the Captain “flowed up from Endeavor to Delta in 2022, but he was unable to pass his first officer training.” You further wrote: “He failed, so they sent him back to Endeavor. Not to start over. Not to get retrained. Not to gain experience. But he stepped back into his old position as a captain.” 

Clarification: To my knowledge, based upon the information from an endeavor pilot, he did flow up. When a pilot flows from captain at Endeavor they start as a first officer at Delta. Date is clarified below. Delta refused to clarify the date. My understanding there is no “additional” training beyond regulatory currency for any pilot whether or not they cannot pass Delta training. The information that he was a simulator instructor surprises me greatly because if he was a qualified instructor he should have been able to talk that first officer into her landing with success, or known enough take control. That cockpit voice recorder is going to be priceless when we go to our defamation trial.

My Request:

I told Delta’s attorney, Mr. Balser, that I would confer with my sources from both Endeavor and Delta and would review my writing to ensure it was accurate. If not, I would be the first to clarify per his request. I expressed my intent has never been to make somebody look bad (Delta), I am simply concerned for the safety of our traveling public. I then specifically requested for him to clarify if Delta refuted that when pilots flow up to Delta and don’t pass training if they are returned to their captain position. I asked for a simple clarification regarding Captain Henneman, if Delta was asserting that he never participated in PSP, or that he never participated in the flow up process.

Delta’s response:

“Delta is unable to provide additional specific training information regarding the Flight 4819 Captain because the release of such information is not authorized while the Transportation Safety Board of Canada is investigating Flight 4819.

Delta publicly confirmed the falsity of those statements on February 20, 2025, when, with the advance review and approval of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, it published on its website that “[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.” 

Delta’s attorney issued another response for further clarification. Read here.

My Response:

I challenged Delta’s prohibition by the statement that the airline is not authorized to tell the public the truth. I requested once again clarification and provided them an email I had received. I even expressed my concern for the lack of honesty of Delta executives that I dealt with and their statement is more of what they did not state, verses what they did. That email was five days ago without response from the Delta attorney.

EMAIL FROM ENDEAVOR PILOT

“Hi Karlene,

I was an FCF Test Pilot and have many flights putting the CR9 to its paces (250 knots at 5,000- and 60-degree banks hand flying; 300 knots and 60 degree banks both direction hand flying, etc.)

Many times, I took controls away from pilots who were just about to dig a hole at the RWY Threshold.

Even took controls from a pilot who introduced himself as: “I’m Trevor, I was a C-5 Commander.”  I kid you not.  He said that verbatim.  I took controls away from him at 100’ AGL on an Approach to RWY 36 Center at CLT when he pulled the power back and began to flare.  OMG.  Unbelievable.  He’s also the guy who had zero Situational Awareness on the ground in CLT…earlier, he had told the Tug Driver at JFK that ‘you are clear to push’, when I still had the parking brake on.  Oh the stories of incompetent pilots and incidents at EDV I could tell you.

You’re absolutely correct in your observation of this horrid Approach and pancaking the plane on the Runway.  Winds and crosswinds were negligible.  CR9 cuts through crosswind like hot knife through butter; it’s an amazing plane to land in crosswind.  However, one must have good flight skills.  I saw 20-year captains who couldn’t land this plane if their lives dependent on it.

The captain on this is James Henneman.  He was born on May 5, 1975.  This makes him almost 50 years old.  There are reports that he went to Delta and failed training…and Delta returned him to Endeavor (many came back).  Based on the Seniority List I have, he’s four months junior to me…and should have gone through the SSP (Streamlined Selection Process) in about March-May 2015 timeline.  If he didn’t make it through the SSP interview, he should have gone through the flow-through to Delta about five years ago. 

There’s no way he ‘did not do the SSP or ‘Flow-through’.

Delta has denounced that he failed training at Delta!

Note: they don’t say he was ‘never’ at Delta.

If he did not fail training, then why was he returned to Endeavor?

He’s also a SIM instructor.  Some says he’s LCA as well. 

In my 2018 seniority list, he’s listed as FTI. (Flight Training instructor)

So, Delta, and Jim Graham/Ed Bastian types are already in a serious ‘damage control’ mode.  It would be a massive give away to suing passengers and their attorneys that James failed training at Delta and was returned to “Fly Delta Passengers!!!”

That’s one of the worst approaches I’ve ever seen in a CR9.  CR9 flare is a beautiful thing to watch.  These two pancaked the plane on the tarmac…essentially, there were no pilots in the flight deck.  I’m aware if the FO, or captain, does something unrecoverable very close to the runway and there’s not enough time for the other pilot react, but this was a very bad Approach with a very high descent rate for the last 50-100 feet…and James – if he was competent, which he is NOT – should have taken control of the plane.  Based on what I’ve known about James at EDV, he went to teach in the SIM because, like (REDACTED), he was afraid to fly in ‘weather’. 

Regardless, he’s the captain, and he had plenty of time to ‘take control’ of the situation.”

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SSP and FLOW UP

There’s a difference between the SSP, Streamline Selection Process. and the normal Flow-through process. Flow through started a few years ago, after SSP ended. SSP required an oral interview with two Delta captains and an HR representative. With the Flow-through process, there is no interview, and Endeavor pilots simply get a class date with Delta. Meaning they start training.

So, if Henneman went to Delta through the SSP, (around 2015) they may not have selected him. However, failing an SSP would not have prohibited him from the automatic flow through process, of which he would go to training. Therefore, if he returned to Endeavor after a flow through, then his training was not a success because he is back at Endeavor. I know of a pilot who failed the SSP but flowed up and is now a B737 captain.

The overall clarification if he was interviewed and turned down under SSP, or if he flowed through and did not make it, or if “both” happened, can only be verified by Delta. Therefore, it’s difficult for me to correct or clarify because when I asked Mr. Balser this specific question, he refuse to answer. Therefore, discovery will produce this truth.

As far as the SSP process, I do not necessarily believe that to be a metric for a qualified pilot. These were subjective interviews by those who believed they are better than commuter pilots. Therefore, anyone denied only by the SSP does not measure performance. Training does. However, the greatest concern is if Endeavor trains to proficiency or competency, and were there warnings at Endeavor that something like this was going to happen? I’m told yes. Stand by.

EMAIL FROM DELTA INSTRUCTOR PILOT CHECK AIRMAN

RE: Endeavor Air Lines Captain as a new hire student.

All the new hire students that I have worked with were outstanding except for one. He was a flow pilot from Endeavor Air Lines.

This gentleman could not do basic flying. He struggled with flying instrument approaches and his landings were border line unsafe. I was not his first instructor as he had several full flight simulator rides before I worked with him. He had repeated a previous lesson. I did not recommend him for the next lesson. He would have to repeat the lesson that I had just taught.

In all my years of teaching and giving check rides, I have never had a student this bad. He failed to progress through the program after numerous attempts and was subsequently sent back to Endeavor Air Lines. I have trouble believing that he was a Captain for Endeavor Airlines.

PLEASE NOTE: I do not believe that the captain in the previous paragraph is Captain Henneman. Delta’s attorney assures that this is not the same pilot but perhaps another…

TEXT FROM DELTA CAPTAIN UNION REPRESENTATIVE

Defamation

What you will not read in Delta’s threat of a lawsuit letter is any challenge to my statements on Miracle in Toronto regarding the truth about Captain Graham perjuring himself in court, or violating federal regulations. There is no challenge to Delta coming within seconds of impacting the ground because the pilots pushed the wrong button and lacked situational awareness, that a management pilot declared an emergency because he feared his hand flying skills without an autopilot, and flew into restricted airspace, or that the FAA sanitized Delta’s record of violation.

The best defense for defamation is the truth. And I would hope that in this lawsuit the discovery would prove what everyone said is wrong, and Endeavor has quality training. I would hope that this was a fluke that two pilots on the same plane who had difficulty landing and we will not see another similar event. I would like it also to be an illusion that pilots who cannot make it through Delta training are sent back to fly as Captains. However, based upon my interviews, this is probably not the case with any of this. But that’s why we go to trial, to elicit the truth. With that truth we can hopefully improve aviation safety. I am really looking forward to hear what is on the CVR (cockpit voice recorder) and see what’s on the FDR (Flight Data Recorder).

Retaliation

There are many false statements on the internet regarding this event. There are even videos asserting much of what I also reported. I have reached out to these individuals and asked if they were contacted by Delta with a threat of a lawsuit. Not one person told me they had heard anything from Delta. Therefore, I believe Delta has singled me out. With that said, did you know that it’s illegal to retaliate against anyone who testifies, intends to testify, or has filed an AIR21 claim against a company?

You might want to get this book, AIR21 Delta’s Debacle, Legal Lessons Learned and Shared, to learn your legal rights as well.

I believe that Delta has singled me out because of my AIR21 action against them and therefore they are threatening me with a lawsuit. Should I file an AIR21? This might be another way to illicit the truth of what’s happening at Endeavor by discovery through and AIR21 complaint. I have only 90 days to decide.

Interesting Fact:

Delta’s Labor Relations attorney, Christopher Puckett, who was the other party with Captain Graham and over extended his hand in illegal actions against me had only worked for Delta since 2012, so he had been on Delta property for three years at the time of my action. And, having graduated from Emory University in 2005, he had worked for the law firm King & Spalding for three years either directly after graduation or just before he joined Delta. King and Spalding is the law firm Delta engaged for this action. I have so many comments about this connection. But you might have to read the non-fiction book to understand that (coming soon).

If you are interested in reading deposition testimony and trial testimony of these key players to include Delta’s CEO, Ed Bastian, Endeavor’s CEO, Jim Graham, and our former FAA administrator, Steve Dickson, and even the Labor’s relation attorney, Chris Puckett, or Dr. Faulkner and Dr. Altman, plus the pass travel lady, Kelly Nabors, and my key witnesses, read my novels:

Flight For Discovery and Flight For Justice. Ed is depicted as Walter Croft, Jim is depicted as Captain Rich Clark, and Steve Dickson is George Wyatt. The others are self explanatory. Note: that every deposition question and answer, and ever trial questions and answers are verbatim. However, I had to create a sinister plot because nobody would believe these executives did what they did for power, money, and ego, passenger safety be damned.

Order those books today, and you’ll receive an entry to win the car. Drawing held on August 31st, 2025. The only way to create change, because laws don’t seem to work for the fix, is to let the public know what is happening. Public awareness and demand is powerful to create a safer environment.

ASAP

Did these pilots write their ASAP report?