Winning Olympic curling team denied upgrades by Delta

Delta Air Lines sparked a backlash on Twitter after declining to give upgrades to the gold-medal winning U.S. men's curling team on their flight today returning from the Olympics.

@Delta our Olympic #curling champions are flying home on Monday. Upgrades?!? 😃 #GoldMedalists @CoachPhill @TeamShuster
— USA Curling (@usacurl) February 24, 2018

Come on @Delta I think #DeltaOne is calling our name for the gold! 5 athletes and 2 coaches! #TeamUSA #Curling #Golden #Delta. https://t.co/L9iceLZ2sF
— Phill Drobnick (@CoachPhill) February 24, 2018

Hi, there. Congratulations, gold medal champions! We are honored to be your ride back home! While we don't have any upgrades to offer, we look forward to seeing you on board. Thanks for flying with us! *AJL
— Delta (@Delta) February 24, 2018

The curling team responded with a good-natured tweet.

Thank you for the well wishes and checking into it. I’m sure it’ll be a smooth ride home. @Delta @TeamShuster
— USA Curling (@usacurl) February 25, 2018

But some criticized Delta and said it missed a golden opportunity to win fans.

Why would you tweet that?!?!? Do you WANT people to hate you??? 🤬
— William Chappell (@willchappell) February 25, 2018

C'mon, Delta--if that doesn't merit an upgrade, what the heck does??
— Prof B has left the building (@BProfB) February 24, 2018

And it's clear that, for some, the move particularly stung when paired with Delta's decision the same day to end a discount for NRA members.

First you cut ties with NRA, then you don’t offer upgrades to the Men’s Curling Gold Medalists. I get it now. You hate America. Thanks for clarifying. #BoycottDelta 🇺🇸
— Sharon 🇺🇸🤓🇺🇸 (@Red4Liberty) February 24, 2018

Two years ago, Delta won accolades for stepping in at the eleventh hour to fly the Nigerian men's soccer team to Brazil in time for its first match in the 2016 Summer Olympics.

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