Both Delta Airlines and United Airlines announced Saturday morning on Twitter they were withdrawing from an agreement to provide discounted travel for National Rifle Association members attending the pro-gun group’s annual meeting. The move comes under pressure from a growing boycott movement that has led around a dozen major companies to withdraw from similar agreements.
Delta is reaching out to the NRA to let them know we will be ending their contract for discounted rates through our group travel program. We will be requesting that the NRA remove our information from their website.
— Delta (@Delta) February 24, 2018
United is notifying the NRA that we will no longer offer a discounted rate to their annual meeting and we are asking that the NRA remove our information from their website.
— United Airlines (@united) February 24, 2018
The Delta airfare discount, according to the NRA, ranged from 2% to 10%. Information about the discounts was still on the NRA convention website as of midmorning.
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Delta’s decision is particularly notable because the offer it is rescinding is part of a broader program available to meeting and convention organizers, which Delta previously defended as “a routine, publicly available pricing program... For group travel.” In other words, Delta is not simply canceling a special deal for NRA members. It is, in essence, blacklisting the NRA from a group discount available to most other major groups.
Delta and United join a growing list of major companies rescinding discounts or other offers for NRA members. Public pressure, organized on social media under the hashtag #boycottnra, is part of a larger backlash following a school shooting that left 17 dead in Parkland, Florida. Companies that have said they will drop agreements with the NRA now include the insurer MetLife, several car rental agencies, and credit-card issuer First National Bank.
Critics and activists argue that these discounts promote NRA membership, giving the organization more leverage to oppose even the moderate gun control policies, such as tougher background checks, that most Americans support.