‘I drive a Tesla’: After Elon Musk said he’d lose his job, Delta CEO Ed Bastian says there’s ‘no tit for tat’ as airline unveils earnings miss

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian asserted that he has no personal feud with SpaceX founder Elon Musk, despite the tech mogul's prediction that he would lose his job. Bastian told CNBC's Phil LeBeau on Friday, "There's no tit for tat as far as I'm concerned. I drive a Tesla." He emphasized that Delta is a global leader in providing free and fast Wi-Fi, adding, "This nonsense about it being personal is not true at all.

The reality is, Delta is the global pioneer in launching free and fast Wi-Fi as the industry standard." When asked about Musk's assertion that he would lose his job, Bastian stated, "I don't pay any attention." The article reported on Delta's first missed earnings report in two years and its decision to cut its 2026 profit forecast.

The reason for the earnings miss was attributed to a surge in jet fuel prices following the Iran war, which caused Delta's adjusted fuel expense to rise 62% from a year earlier to $4.1 billion in the September quarter. Despite the increase in fuel costs, Delta posted record September-quarter revenue of $17.6 billion, a 16% increase, and a pre-tax profit of $1.5 billion, matching last year's figure.

Premium ticket revenue rose 18% to $6.8 billion, and loyalty revenue grew 18%, leading to American Express payments on track to exceed $9 billion for the year. Delta expects a 20% growth in revenue for the December quarter and earnings of $5.10 to $5.60 per share for the full year, alongside a $6 billion increase in fuel costs. The premium flyers, in particular, are the customers that Delta's rivals are targeting with Starlink.

The conflict with Musk began in March when Delta opted for Amazon Leo over Starlink for Wi-Fi installation on 500 aircraft, starting in 2028. Delta claimed that Leo offers lower prices and various services compared to Starlink. However, Musk alleged that Delta aimed to make Wi-Fi access painful, difficult, and expensive for customers by routing them through its own Delta Sync portal, thereby promoting Delta loyalty rather than Starlink service.

Delta dismissed Musk's claim as inaccurate. The dispute became personal in late September when Bastian reportedly told employees, "We do not want to be with Elon Musk. Trust me." While the alleged remarks have not been independently verified, Musk responded on X that Bastian "will lose his job" over the decision. In response, United Airlines launched a status-match offer for Delta flyers, and American Airlines invited customers "suddenly reconsidering" their airline loyalty to switch.

On Thursday, American Airlines announced it would install Starlink on its entire mainline fleet, more than 1,030 aircraft, starting in 2027. This left Delta as the only major U.S. carrier without Starlink. United, which signed with Starlink in 2024, plans to have it on its entire fleet by the end of 2027, before Delta can roll out Leo on a single aircraft.

Bastian did not confirm whether he made the reported remarks to employees during the interview on CNBC. He attributed the decision to business terms, stating, "Delta first talked with SpaceX six years ago and lent it planes for testing, he said. 'It was fabulous. They just weren't ready to scale when we were ready to go, and we had disagreements on the business model in terms of access to the customer.'

I won't get into any details." Until Leo is introduced, customers using Delta's current Hughes and Viasat systems will see meaningful improvements by the end of the year.