Skift Take

We're having a moment. In the wake of the Florida school shooting, travel companies are abandoning the National Rifle Association and its assault rifle advocacy. History would tell us that no substantial reforms will come out of this. But perhaps student and corporate pressure will make things different this time.

In the wake of the mass shooting at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, airlines, hotels and car rental companies are jumping on the bandwagon — sometimes under pressure — and are eliminating discount programs for National Rifle Association members.

These travel companies include Delta, United, Hertz, Avis, Budget, Enterprise, National Alamo, Wyndham and Best Western.

Delta tweeted that it is requesting that the NRA remove Delta information from the NRA website as the airline is terminating discounted rates for NRA members through the airline’s group travel feature.

United likewise is asking the NRA to erase the airline’s information from the rife association’s website, and won’t be offering discounted flights to its annual meeting.

Enterprise announced that its three brands — Enterprise, Alamo and National — will cease offering discounts to NRA members effective March 26.

Hertz, too, is ending its NRA member discount plan March 26.

NRA members, effective March 26, would have to pay regular rates for Avis or Budget car rentals starting March 26.

Wyndham announced that it “is no longer affiliated with the NRA,” and Best Western did too.

The National Rifle Association opposes efforts to raise the age to 21, from 18, for the legal purchase of assault rifles, or any firearms, let alone the outright ban of assault rifles, as many people are calling for in the wake of the latest mass school shooting. The NRA has accused Democrats and the news media of seeking to exploit the shooting to take away Second Amendment rights to gun ownership. An NRA spokeswoman despicably condemned the mainstream news media for allegedly enjoying school shootings because of the ratings.

Twitter users have come down on both sides of issue on doing business with the NRA.

For example, actor and activist George Takei called on major corporations to follow in the footsteps of United and Delta to “cut ties with the NRA.”

There is a backlash, too, from customers who may boycott airlines and car rental companies that broke up with the NRA.

For example, Guy Benson, political editor of TownHall.com and a Fox News contributor, wondered whether United is “actively trying to chase away my business.”

Although additional travel companies will likely join in, the trend to sever links with the NRA is far from unanimous.

HotelPlanner, which powers an NRA discount website, indicated it would honor its commitment to the NRA, the Huffington Post reported.

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Tags: avis, best western, budget, cars, delta, enterprise, hotelplanner, hotels, nra, united airlines, wyndham

Photo credit: Travel companies are abandoning the assault-rifle advocate, the National Rifle Association. Bloomberg

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