Support for Delta Air Lines, which ended a discount program with the National Rifle Association earlier this year, has grown in the aftermath despite conservative criticism, according to the company’s chief executive officer.
Following a Florida high school shooting in February that resulted in the death of 17 students and faculty, Delta said it would no longer offer NRA members reduced fares, a decision that CEO Ed Bastian said was driven by the gun lobby’s “divisive commentary and rhetoric.”
The move sparked outrage among conservatives who argued that, among other things, the company was caving to pressure from Democrats. It also spurred backlash from the Georgia state legislature: Republican lawmakers struck down a proposal to provide a fuel tax break that would have saved the Atlanta-based company $44 billion a year.
“We’re not going to change our values based on having money held over our head,” Bastian said at a National Press Club event on Wednesday.
In the aftermath of that decision, Delta received “many, many more positive comments than negative expressions,” Bastian said. “I’m sure we made a lot of fans around that.”
The carrier is one of a slew of companies that changed its policies after the fatal shooting in Florida, an event that mobilized a new wave of student activists, some of whom met with President Trump.
Dick’s Sporting Goods, for instance, raised the minimum age for firearm purchases to 21 and rebuffed a conservative shareholder’s complaints at a recent shareholder meeting, even after he threatened an NRA boycott.
“We, as a company and a board, stand by our decision,” Stack responded. “We will not be changing our position.”
