Delta hit with a sea of angry customers after it bans NRA discounts
- Delta announced it would be cutting ties with the NRA on Saturday.
- The company is now facing a backlash from pro-gun rights activists.
- On Monday, the Atlanta-based company was targeted by Republican lawmakers who blocked a bill that would have given Delta a roughly $40 million tax exemption.
Delta announced Saturday that it would be cutting ties with the NRA; Pro-gun rights activists are now boycotting the brand on Twitter.
The airline company said it would end discount programs for members of the NRA and requested to have their information removed from the organization's website in the wake of the school massacre last month in Parkland, Florida, which provoked a wave of anti-NRA boycott threats.
"Delta is reaching out to the National Rifle Association to let it know we will be ending its contract for discounted rates through our group travel program," the Atlanta-based airline said in a statement. "We will be requesting that the NRA remove our information from its website."
While gun-control activists have celebrated the news, not everyone is happy:
Twitter users are now calling for people to boycott the company.
Ed Bastian CEO of Delta sent a comment to employees Friday morning:
"I have heard from many of you over the last few days. Our people and our customers have a wide range of views on how to increase safety in our schools and public places, and we are not taking sides. Our objective in removing any implied affiliation with the NRA was to remove Delta from this debate," he wrote.
The Atlanta-based company has also experienced resistance to its decision from local Republican lawmakers. On Monday, GOP lawmakers in Georgia blocked a bill that would have given Delta a $40 million annual tax exemption, Business Insider reported. The Republican lawmakers described it as an affront to conservatives and said they would block the bill until the company reversed its decision.
Bastian commented on this in his note to employees:
"While Delta's intent was to remain neutral, some elected officials in Georgia tied our decision to a pending jet fuel tax exemption, threatening to eliminate it unless we reversed course. Our decision was not made for economic gain and our values are not for sale. We are in the process of a review to end group discounts for any group of a politically divisive nature," he wrote.
Some customers are now revolting against the city, claiming that these lawmakers acted undemocratically.
It has also sparked a debate around whether the actions of these lawmakers could now cost the state its position in the running to become home to Amazon's newest headquarters.
