Barrett Evans, who works as the Chief Learning Officer at Ford Motor Company, sparked an online backlash after taking to social media to blast a fellow passenger onboard his flight to San Diego.
Evans saw that passenger watching Fox News on the plane’s seatback entertainment screen. Then, while they deplaned, he saw the elderly man and his wife using airline-provided wheelchair assistance to their connecting gate.
- ‘Love to see you supporting DEI’ he told the man.
- ‘Not me!’ the elderly passenger replied.
- ‘Yes – you. That wheelchair, and the human pushing it, are provided at no direct cost to you—rather by a subsidized cost attributed to every passenger in this airport. Provided to level the playing field—for you.’ he replied.
In a follow-up, he argued that wheelchair assistance was an example of DEI in action ensures equitable access for those who require assistance, regardless of their ability to pay. (Although, in fact, there’s very much a tipping expectation for the low-paid wheelchair assistance contract workers.)
wtf is a Chief Learning Officer https://t.co/B78A6rj9cf
— Oilfield Rando (@Oilfield_Rando) April 14, 2025
Evans has made his Threads account private.
One Mile at a Time says he agrees with the point being made but doesn’t think sharing snark on a plane is the right time for it. He says that the Ford exec “actually made the point really well” but that he shouldn’t have gotten on a soapbox over someone watching Fox News inflight.
I’d say that a DEI advocate going after a wheelchair passenger is… something. And going after them because of what they suppose to be that individual’s ideas evinces a real lack of respect for diversity (of thought) as well as offering a poor example by making assumptions about another person based on their appearance (that they’re watching a specific news channel).
Contra Lucky, I don’t think he makes the point well at all because wheelchair accommodations have little to do with DEI. This is something governed by the The Air Carrier Access Act (49 U.S.C. § 41705) of 1986. Disability accommodation may be consonant with but is not the same as DEI, and there’s no reason why support for it requires support for a broader agenda surrounding race, gender identity, sexuality, and ethnicity. And in any case, the former long predates the latter.
Live and Let’s Fly on the other hand characterizes the rant as mean-spirited, and I’d suggest hardly inclusive.
The Chief Learning Officer of a major global corporation is out of their depth here and displaying exceptionally poor judgment taking on an elderly passenger in need of wheelchair assistance and putting him on blast on the internet – and that he might consider doing additional learning himself about the relevant issues before someone decides he’s unqualified for his current role. I also suspect that many Fox News viewers buy Ford trucks? At least they used to.