Atlanta • After Delta Air Lines withstood swift political retribution in its home state of Georgia for cutting ties with the National Rifle Association, the airline’s chief executive insisted Friday “we are not taking sides” in the national debate over guns.
Atlanta-based Delta released an internal memo CEO Ed Bastian sent to employees as GOP Gov. Nathan Deal swiftly signed into law a broad tax bill Republican lawmakers amended to kill a proposed tax break on jet fuel that would have saved Delta millions of dollars.
The move backfired. Republican Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, who is running for governor, tweeted that conservatives would “fight back” against a perceived corporate attack on their pro-gun values.