Blaze Knott Puts People First at Delta

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As the only girl in a family of boys, Blaze Knott grew up knowing how to stick to her guns and how to speak up for herself. If you ask her parents, they’d tell you that she came into the world like that. Now as senior corporate counsel of employment at Delta Air Lines, she brings that energy to her work.

“My parents always said I came out of the womb in a blaze of glory and that was my personality from the get-go,” Knott says. “So, I always knew that pursuing a career in law suited that.”

Her natural ability to advocate for herself and others drove her to the University of Miami School of Law and to work on commercial and business litigation at the start of her career in 2013. While Knott had dreamed of working the profession, her true legal passion came when she was faced with her first labor and employment case.  

“Early in my career, a gender discrimination case came in the door, and I had a chance to work on it,” she recalls. “That piqued my interest in employment law immediately. . . . It’s basically just people and people’s stories. You can never underestimate what people are going to do.”

After that, Knott started splitting her workload between her business and commercial litigation matters and her employment cases. By 2016, she wanted more of the latter and took a leap of faith, joining Littler Mendelson as a labor and employment litigation associate. There, she handled a wide variety of matters including Title VII, discrimination, harassment, ADA, ADEA, retaliation, and more. It was the perfect role for the self-proclaimed employment law nerd, who had a chance to work with a variety of clients in different industries on employment issues.

“A lot of businesspeople say the worst part of their job is dealing with employee or personnel matters but that’s the part I love: all the different ins and outs of people,” Knott says. “What makes them tick, what makes them motivated and engaged, what makes them leave, what makes them sue, what helps when they do so. It’s a good cross-section of science, social sciences, psychology, and the law.”

“[Employment law is] basically just people and people’s stories. You can never underestimate what people are going to do.”

Blaze Knott

In 2020, Knott joined Delta Air Lines as corporate employment counsel. While she never had dreams of working in-house, she was drawn to the role because of Delta’s industry leading reputation as an employer.

“As an employment law nerd, I had followed the things Delta had done such as being an award-winning workplace for employee engagement,” she says. “They were really like a tech company in terms of how they approached their employees, but they did it in a very different industry and while headquartered in the Southeast. So, we’re a bit of a unicorn in that respect in addition to our strong people-first culture.”

In her role, she prides herself on being a living example of Delta’s people-first values by being a relationship-driven leader.

“Everything comes out of relationships. Just like in private practice, it’s about how to best serve your clients when you’re in-house and getting to foster those relationships,” Knott says. “You need to understand what motivates your partners, what are they driving for, what are their strategy goals, and how can I be effective in furthering that.”

Knott began her tenure during the COVID-19 pandemic, which was devastating to the transportation world, but she was also able to fill it with many highlights. Right now, she is focused on employment law trends and helping the company have an optimal workforce amid a challenging macroeconomic environment.  

“You need to understand what motivates your partners, what are they driving for, what are their strategy goals, and how can I be effective in furthering that.”

Blaze Knott

Knott and her team are uniquely positioned to add value to those considerations by the nature of their work. But the company is also intentional about allowing its employees to be “stretch players,” which has given Knott the opportunity to explore different areas of the business and the law.

“We’re really encouraged to expand our knowledge base and to spread our wings,” she says. “Right now, I’m developing my skill set in other areas such as executive compensation, international employment, and employee privacy as well as various facets of HR. It’s my favorite thing about law: that it’s a license to learn.”

Knott’s tenure at Delta has also marked her journey as a parent. It’s one that has transformed her outlook on her work.

“We spend so much time at work, which is why it’s important to weigh that priority against the example you set for your children,” Knott says. “For me, I’m proud to be doing work that’s good for the world and for the community. And when I’m not at work, I strive to be present in whatever I’m doing and the time I spend with family.”

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