REUTERS/Mike Blake
Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian released an internal memo Friday in response to the Georgia state legislature denying the company and other carriers a $38 million jet-fuel tax break for cutting ties with the National Rifle Association. “We are supporters of the 2nd Amendment, just as we embrace the entire Constitution of the United States,” Bastian wrote to employees. He insisted the company’s “intent was to remain neutral.” “Our decision was not made for economic gain and our values are not for sale,” he added. “We are in the process of a review to end group discounts for any group of a politically divisive nature.” Bastian also reiterated Delta’s intent to stay based in Atlanta, and said the discount program provided to NRA members was not “implicitly endorsing the NRA.” This comes after Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who presided over the state senate vote, said that he would “stop any tax break that would benefit Atlanta-based Delta,” and tweeted, “Corporations cannot attack conservatives and expect us not to fight back.”