Delta CEO Issues Clear Warning Ahead of 'Significant' Change

This week, United States President Donald Trump turned some heads around the country when he proposed a 10% cap on credit card interest rates for one year. However, while that might sound appealing to some, others do not think it's a good idea.

During a recent interview, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian made it very clear that he believes such a move would actually hurt the very people that the plan would be designed to help.

Interest Capped at 10%?

During an interview with reporters aboard Air Force One this week, Trump proposed the idea of a one-year cap on credit card interest rates at 10%.

"They've really abused the public," Trump told reporters, via Reuters. "I'm not going to let it happen."

Credit card rates have begun soaring since 2023. As of November 2025, the average rate was at 22.3%, according to the Federal Reserve, with many cards having terms well above that. A decade earlier, the credit card rate average was just 13.9%.

Trump told reporters he wants the cap to become effective on Jan. 20 and declared that lenders would be “in violation of the law” if they don’t cooperate by that date. However, it's not clear how Trump plans to enforce this, given his lack of authority on the matter.

"There is no obvious pathway for his administration to unilaterally impose an interest cap, and Congress has shown little interest in heeding his request," the New York Times points out.

Regardless, it's clear that this is something Trump is pushing for.

'Effects Are Pretty Significant'

Bastian, who has been Delta's CEO since 2016, believes that this idea is well-intentioned, but he thinks that it would actually hurt low-income consumers and banks because it would prevent some people from being able to receive credit at all.

“The knock-on effects are pretty significant when you think about what seems to be a good idea to help lower-income strata and bring some interest-rate relief,” Bastian said in a Wednesday interview on Bloomberg Television. “The reality is, it will eliminate their ability for credit and freeze up tremendous amounts of credit lines that the banks will not be able to afford.”

This change will also impact airlines as co-branded credit cards are a crucial source of revenue for carriers. In fact, one legislator even went as far as to call airlines “basically credit card companies that own some planes” when proposing some legislation to limit those types of credit cards.

Bastian, however, does not seem to think that the change would impact Delta as sharply, pointing out that Delta works with American Express Co. and primarily caters to higher-end customers.

“That’s not an income level that we’re focused on in our business,” Bastian said.