How CEO Ed Bastian Is Transforming DEI at Delta Air Lines

02/12/25 • 30 min

In December 2020, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian and his leadership team were deciding whether or not to commit to recruiting, hiring, training, and advancing one million Black Americans into stable, well-paid jobs over the next decade, as part of the OneTen coalition. But if Delta joined, Bastian faced a key challenge: how could he make the airline truly inclusive and create systemically equal access to career opportunities?

In this episode from 2023, Harvard Business School professor Linda Hill explains how Bastian shifted Delta’s talent architecture to prioritize skills over four-year degrees and how he created new apprenticeship programs to recruit entry-level employees.

Hill studied Bastian’s efforts to transform Delta for a case study. She also explains why Bastian prioritized front-line employees for internal promotions, instead of recruiting new talent externally.

Key episode topics include: leadership, hiring and recruitment, diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility, airline industry, talent, recruiting, career.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines (2023)

· Find more episodes of Cold Call

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Key episode topics include: leadership, hiring and recruitment, diversity and inclusion, corporate social responsibility, airline industry, talent, recruiting, career.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original Cold Call episode: Building a More Equitable Culture at Delta Air Lines (2023)

· Find more episodes of Cold Call

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org

Previous Episode

How to Give Your Team the Feedback They Actually Need

How does critical feedback affect your team’s success? Researchers Marcus Buckingham and Ashley Goodall argue that many managers invest too much energy in correcting weaknesses. Instead, they encourage leaders to focus on developing employees’ strengths.

Buckingham and Goodall are the authors of the book, Nine Lies About Work: A Freethinking Leader’s Guide to the Real World and the HBR article “The Feedback Fallacy” In this episode, they explain how to lead more effective conversations about performance by focusing on what your team members do best.

Key episode topics include leadership, giving feedback, managing people, performance indicators.

HBR On Leadership curates the best case studies and conversations with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

· Listen to the original HBR IdeaCast episode: What Managers Get Wrong About Feedback (2019)

· Find more episodes of HBR IdeaCast.

· Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.

Next Episode

How to Develop Your Executive Presence

If you’re a leader or aspire to be one, you’ve probably thought about how you project confidence and competence—or, what some call your executive presence. It’s as much a vibe you give off as it is a skill you can develop. And it’s important to exhibit if you want to assure others you’re ready to lead.

Megan Bock, the COO of an insurance technology company, has mastered executive presence. And Laura Sicola is a cognitive linguist who coaches executives. In this episode, Bock and Sciola discuss the key elements of executive presence and offer advice to a listener who's trying to develop it while working remotely.

Key episode topics include: public speaking, leadership qualities, gender, personal growth, remote work, leadership

HBR On Leadership curates the best conversations and case studies with the world’s top business and management experts, to help you unlock the best in those around you. New episodes every week.

Listen to the original Women at Work episode: The Essentials: Executive Presence
Find more episodes of Women at Work
Discover 100 years of Harvard Business Review articles, case studies, podcasts, and more at HBR.org.