Delta has left the building…or at least the lobby. They’ve announced they are quitting Airlines for America, the lobbying organization that speaks for many of America’s carriers, including the Big 3 legacy carriers.
The splitting issue is air traffic control. A4A, as it calls itself, has been a loud voice calling for the privatization as well as modernization of the federally owned-and-operated system. Delta disagrees, and says that a change like that could get in the way of efforts to improve aviation.
Kate Modolo, Delta spokesperson, said “The $5 million that Delta pays in annual dues to A4A can be better used to invest in employees and products to further enhance the Delta experience, and to support what we believe is a more efficient way of communicating in Washington on issues that are important to Delta customers and employees.”
Through the past year, one of A4A’s biggest lobbying campaigns, with Delta in the lead, has been for an investigation of competition and possible unfair subsidies involving the three big Persian Gulf-based airlines. That investigation is ongoing.
