FILE - In this Jan. 30, 2017, file photo, a Delta Air Lines flight takes off from Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Georgia lawmakers punished Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on Thursday, March 1, 2018, for its decision to cut business ties with the National Rifle Association in the wake of a shooting at a Florida high school that killed over a dozen people. A tax measure, which was stripped of a jet-fuel tax break, passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
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ATLANTA (AP) - The Latest on Georgia lawmakers' decision to punish Delta Air Lines for cutting ties with the National Rifle Association (all times local):
1:45 p.m.
A Delta Air Lines spokesman confirms only 13 members of the National Rifle Association bought discounted tickets using a perk later withdrawn by the airline following the school massacre in Florida.
Delta spokesman Trebor Banstetter said Friday the discounted fares had been available for a short time and were only for NRA members purchasing flights to the group's 2018 convention in Dallas.
Delta's decision last weekend to stop the discounted fares for the NRA triggered a showdown with pro-gun Republican lawmakers in Georgia. The legislature stripped a tax break on jet fuel from a broader tax bill Thursday after GOP Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle vowed to punish Delta for crossing the NRA.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian insisted Friday "we are not taking sides" in the gun debate.
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12:15 p.m.
The Georgia Republican who led the charge for pro-gun lawmakers to punish Delta Air Lines says they were defending the values of "ridiculed and belittled" conservatives.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle called Delta a "beloved bedrock" of Georgia's economy in an opinion piece published Friday by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. But he said Delta's decision to cut ties with the National Rifle Association sent a clear message to conservatives that "we find your views deplorable."
Cagle wrote: "We cannot continue to allow large companies to treat conservatives differently than other customers."
GOP Gov. Nathan Deal has blamed election-year posturing for the Delta controversy. Deal is term-limited and Cagle is a leading Republican candidate to succeed him.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian insisted Friday "we are not taking sides" in the gun debate.
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11:45 a.m.
Georgia's governor has signed into law a sweeping tax bill that Republican lawmakers amended to punish Delta Air Lines for cutting ties with the National Rifle Association.
GOP Gov. Nathan Deal tweeted Friday that he swiftly signed the measure so Georgia taxpayers could benefit as soon as they file 2017 tax returns. He made no mention of the Delta controversy.
Pro-gun Republicans in the state House and Senate voted Thursday to approve the broader tax measure after GOP lawmakers eliminated a proposed tax exemption on jet fuel. The prime beneficiary would have been Atlanta-based Delta, which angered lawmakers with its decision to end fare discounts to NRA members.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and other GOP lawmakers vowed to punish Delta by killing the tax break.
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10:15 a.m.
The CEO of Delta Air Lines says "we are not taking sides" in the national debate over guns despite the company's decision to cut ties with the National Rifle Association following the school massacre in Florida.
Delta released an internal memo Friday that CEO Ed Bastian sent employees after Georgia lawmakers voted to deny the Atlanta-based airline a tax break as punishment for crossing the NRA.
Bastian says: "Our objective in removing any implied affiliation with the NRA was to remove Delta from this debate."
The move backfired. The Republican-led Georgia legislature moved swiftly to eliminate a proposed tax exemption on jet fuel from a broader tax bill that passed Thursday.
State Sen. Michael Williams, a GOP candidate for governor, told "Fox & Friends" on Friday: "We had to send a message."
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1:25 a.m.
Delta Air Lines has been subjected to swift political retribution in its home state of Georgia for crossing the National Rifle Association.
Republicans in the Georgia legislature voted by wide margins Thursday to kill a jet fuel tax break that would have directly benefited Atlanta-based Delta. It happened five days after the airline said it would end discounted fares to NRA members in the wake of the Feb. 14 school massacre in Florida.
Georgia House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, told reporters he hoped Delta was "better at flying airplanes than making P.R. announcements."
The airline's decision outraged pro-gun lawmakers. GOP Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle vowed to fight back. Republicans made good on that promise with their votes Thursday.
Critics have warned the decision to punish Delta could damage Georgia's business-friendly reputation.
Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and Gov. Deal's chief of staff Chris Riley confer in the senate before the senate went into recess and the Rules Committee stripped the Delta tax cut from legislation. Gov. Nathan Deal and legislative leaders had hoped they could make a deal Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018, on the Delta fuel tax legislation - which also includes a state income tax rate cut.(Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Senator Steve Henson, D - Stone Mountain, speaks Thursday, March 1, 2018, in Atlanta, in opposition to HB 918. He said that while he supported portions of the bill, he thought the state should look to funding programs such as education. The Georgia Senate passed legislation to lower the state income tax rate now that the bill no longer includes a tax break for Delta. The House may take it up as well, giving it final approval and sending it to Gov. Nathan Deal, who has promised to sign it. Deal cleared the way for it Wednesday, agreeing to sign the measure without the Delta break he wanted. The governor said he will seek the Delta tax break in separate legislation (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Gov. Nathan Deal holds a press conference to address the jet fuel tax cut issue after the Senate Rules Committee stripped the Delta tax cut from legislation in Atlanta on Wednesday, Feb. 28, 2018. Deal is criticizing the "unbecoming squabble" that has engulfed the state Capitol since fellow Republicans threatened to punish Delta Air Lines for cutting business ties with the National Rifle Association. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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FILE- In this Jan. 30, 2017, file photo, bags sit on a belt at Delta Air Lines baggage claim in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Georgia lawmakers punished Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on Thursday, March 1, 2018, for its decision to cut business ties with the National Rifle Association in the wake of a shooting at a Florida high school that killed over a dozen people. A tax measure, which was stripped of a jet-fuel tax break, passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
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FILE- In this Oct. 13, 2016, file photo, passengers unload in front of a Delta Air Lines sign at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta. Georgia lawmakers punished Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on Thursday, March 1, 2018, for its decision to cut business ties with the National Rifle Association in the wake of a shooting at a Florida high school that killed over a dozen people. A tax measure, which was stripped of a jet-fuel tax break, passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
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FILE - In this Oct. 13, 2016, file photo, a Delta Air Lines jet sits at a gate at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport in Atlanta. Georgia lawmakers punished Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines on Thursday, March 1, 2018, for its decision to cut business ties with the National Rifle Association in the wake of a shooting at a Florida high school that killed over a dozen people. A tax measure, which was stripped of a jet-fuel tax break, passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10. (AP Photo/David Goldman, File)
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Senator Michael Williams, R - Cumming, speaks in support of the bill, which stripped a jet-fuel tax break, as the Georgia Senate approved a sweeping tax bill Thursday, March 1, 2018, in Atlanta that punishes Delta Air Lines for cutting business ties with the National Rifle Association. The measure passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10, with only Democrats opposed. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Senator P. K. Martin, R - Lawrenceville, presents HB 918, which stripped a jet-fuel tax break. The Georgia Senate approved a sweeping tax bill Thursday, March 1, 2018, in Atlanta that punishes Delta Air Lines for cutting business ties with the National Rifle Association. The measure passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10, with only Democrats opposed. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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Senator P. K. Martin, R - Lawrenceville, presents HB 918 which was stripped of a jet-fuel tax break. The Georgia Senate approved a sweeping tax bill Thursday, March 1, 2018, in Atlanta that punishes Delta Air Lines for cutting business ties with the National Rifle Association. The measure passed the GOP-dominated Senate 44-10, with only Democrats opposed. (Bob Andres/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)
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