While there are legitimate arguments to be made both for and against Delta Airlines for announcing it is ending its discount program for members of the National Rifle Association (NRA), a bit of an “ick” factor was added to the story Monday when the Georgia lieutenant governor and others sounded as if they would hold the airline for ransom unless it changed its mind on the NRA decision.
Over the weekend, following last week’s Florida high school shooting that left 17 dead, the airline said it would cut ties with the NRA. It is one of more than a dozen companies to do so since the incident.
On the whole, we think it’s a ridiculous decision for any company to make retribution against an organization that had no role whatsoever in the shooting. It is a decision, instead, that only kowtows to the flawed, left-wing storyline to blame guns, a gun-rights organization and Republicans who support gun-rights laws for the carnage instead of the personal baggage that made the shooter do what he did.
On the other hand, Delta is allowed to make business decisions it believes are best for the airline. Evidently, its management calculated that it would take more grief for its connections to the NRA than it would lose business by cutting those ties. That may or may not turn out to be the case.
But its statement on the move sounded defensive.