“For everyone at Endeavor Air and Delta, nothing is more important than the safety of our customers and our people,” says Durrant.
Authorities have not released the cockpit crew identity. Delta says the captain, hired in October 2007, works as the employed captain in pilot training and flight safety roles.
The first mate completed flight training in April after being hired in January 2024, and has since flew for effort, exceeding the mandatory federal minimum standards.
Before the crash, the first mate had over 1,422 hours of total flight time experience. Of these, 419 were spent on the CRJ-900, the most common plane in the Air's fleet. According to the report, she was the fifth day of her five-day work cycle, flying from Cleveland, Ohio to MSP to start the day.
She conducted three round-trip flights at Toronto Pearson 30 days before the crash.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian defended the company's pilots, saying that there was “one level of safety in the Delta” among the mainline and local pilots.
