GOP lawmakers have retaliated against Delta Air Lines for recently ending its discount for National Rifle Association members, but it turns out not many people even used the deal in the first place.
Only 13 tickets were sold under the deal, which provided a discount for NRA members traveling to the group’s annual convention in May, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday. A representative for the airline confirmed to HuffPost that the number was accurate, and said the deal was “a one-time group discount for this year’s convention.”
Delta announced it was ending the discount last month, after a gunman at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, killed 17 people and injured dozens more. Amid a wave of outcry led by student survivors of the shooting, Delta was one of several companies that cut ties with the NRA, which advocates against increased gun control.
This week, Georgia lawmakers punished Delta for dropping the deal. On Thursday, the state’s House and Senate passed a tax bill amended to remove a sales tax exemption for jet fuel. Since Delta is based in Atlanta, it would have benefited from the exemption.
Days before the vote, Georgia Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle (R) had accused the airline of “attacking conservatives,” tweeting that he would “kill any tax legislation that benefits @Delta unless the company changes its position and fully reinstates its relationship with @NRA.”
In a statement sent to Delta employees and obtained by HuffPost, CEO Ed Bastian said the company’s intent in ending the discount was to “remain neutral” in the debate over gun access and public safety. Bastian said the discount could have been seen as Delta endorsing the NRA, and the goal was to end that perception.
“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,” Bastian wrote. “Our objective in removing any implied affiliation with the NRA was to remove Delta from this debate.”