Elon Musk Doubles Down on Delta, Says CEO Ed Bastian Will ‘Lose His Job’ Over Starlink Snub

Space Exploration Technologies Corp. (NASDAQ:SPCX) CEO Elon Musk criticized Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) CEO Ed Bastian, warning that the latter could lose his job for not choosing Starlink.

‘We Do Not Want to Be With Elon Musk’

On Tuesday, a post on X by user JonNYC shared comments reportedly made by Bastian during a company event. “We do not want to be with Elon Musk. Trust me,” Bastian reportedly said.

The user then said that the airline had tested with Starlink, referring to comments made during an earlier event. “If you know his reputation, it’s all true what they say about him,” Bastian reportedly said.

Delta Airlines did not immediately respond to Benzinga’s request for comment.

Delta
from a company event:

I'm putting the below in quotes as this is how it was sent to me.
HOWEVER, I do *NOT* know if the quotes within the quotes below are accurate.
And, the first factoid there ("DL will make about 70% of industry profits with about 20% market share")…

— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) September 29, 2026

Responding to the reported comments, Musk shared his take via a post on X as he responded to user Gary Leff. “He will lose his job over this,” Musk warned.

He will lose his job over this

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) September 30, 2026

Musk had earlier warned that Delta would lose customers by not offering Starlink on its aircraft, while rivals like United Airlines Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:UAL), as well as Alaska Air Group Inc. (NYSE:ALK) and more, were offering Starlink connectivity.

Earlier this year, Delta had announced it was opting for Amazon.com Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:AMZN) LEO satellite internet service over Starlink, with the airline confirming that the service will be rolled out to over 500 aircraft in its fleet starting in 2028.

Notably, Musk had confirmed that Delta had held talks with Starlink, but that the airline wanted to offer the service via its proprietary portal; something that Musk refused.

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