Airlines

Delta and United scrap airfare discounts for NRA members

Key Points
  • Delta Air Lines tweeted that it will ask the NRA to take the discount information off its website.
  • The company joins car rental and insurance companies that have cut ties with the NRA.
  • The decision comes after 17 students were killed in a shooting in Parkland, Fla.
A pilot for Delta Airlines checks his watch.
Paul J. Richards | Getty Images

Delta Air Lines and United Airlines said they will scrap group airfare discounts for members of the National Rifle Association, joining a growing list of companies to end perks for the gun-rights group following the deadly mass shooting at a South Florida high school last week.

Delta and United were offering discounts of 2 percent and 10 percent off online fares for flights to the NRA's meeting in Dallas in June, according to the NRA's website.

Delta said that it will inform the NRA of its decision and will request that it remove the airline's information from its website. The airline emphasized in a tweet that it is not a sponsor of the NRA's event. United issued a similar statement.

Source: NRA website

"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," the airline told CNBC.

The NRA did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

@delta: 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.

Others that have ended discounts for NRA members this week include car rental companies Avis Budget Group and Hertz Global Holdings as well as insurance company Metlife.

The decision comes after 17 people were killed in a mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in southern Florida on Feb. 14. The outcry after the shooting has sparked public pressure on corporations who offer discounts to the NRA as well as asset managers who invest in gun manufacturers.