Delta said it will depart Airlines for America (A4A) next
year because the trade group has “failed to support Delta on several key issues.”
Those issues include the “growing harm of government-subsidized
carriers in the Middle East and the damage the Export-Import Bank does to U.S.
airlines,” Delta said. Also, A4A advocates for the privatization of the U.S.’s
air traffic control system, and Delta does not.
“We have been and will continue to be more effective as an
industry advocating for our customers and employees with a unified voice in
Washington, and we are committed to working with A4A to achieve reform at the
highest levels, including air traffic control,” said Doug Parker, chairman and
CEO of American Airlines and chairman of the A4A board of directors.
Nicholas Calio, A4A’s CEO, said Delta’s departure was not unexpected,
and suggested that the trade group is better off without Delta.
“As an association we work collaboratively in the best
interests of our members and the customers and communities they serve, and are
most effective advocating for the traveling and shipping public when we speak
with a unified industry voice,” Calio said.
Delta said that 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.”
A4A said that Delta intends to leave the association on
April 26.