UPDATE: On Saturday morning, Delta announced it would terminate its contract with the NRA.

Delta and United, two of the world’s largest airlines, are in business with the NRA.

The airlines are providing discounts to NRA members to fly to the annual NRA convention, which is being held this May in Dallas. According to the NRA convention website, the NRA “contracted special flight discounts with United Airlines and Delta Airlines, specifically for members attending the NRA Annual Meetings & Exhibits.”

The NRA says special codes for flights to Dallas during the convention will provide members with discounts of two to 10 percent. Using the NRA codes provided, ThinkProgress was able to score a discount in excess of 10 percent for a sample round-trip flight from Miami to Dallas.


Local officials are less enthused than national airlines about NRA members descending on Dallas. Dwaine Caraway, mayor pro tem of Dallas, said Tuesday NRA members would be met with “marches and demonstrations.” He’s asked the NRA to consider holding the convention elsewhere.

About 80,000 people are expected to attend the gun lobby’s annual meeting, an event that offers members an exhibit hall filled with firearms and accessories, panels on self defense, and high-profile political speakers.

Delta and United’s ongoing business relationship with the NRA comes at a time of increased scrutiny for the organization, which vehemently opposes nearly all gun safety measures.

A spokesperson for Delta told ThinkProgress its contract with the NRA as “routine,” adding that “[a]ny group with more than ten people traveling from more than two departure cities, within a defined period, can qualify​ for a group discount (excluding weddings and family reunions). Delta has more than 2,000 such contracts in place.​”

United Airlines told ThinkProgress that it “does not have an affiliation with the NRA.” It’s arrangement to provide discounts for travel to the NRA conference resulted from its “standard meeting agreement process.”


In the week following the Parkland massacre that left 17 people at a high school dead, scores of companies have severed their business relationships with the NRA.

ThinkProgress reported last Tuesday that more than 20 companies were doing business with the gun lobby, offering a variety of incentives to members.

On Thursday, First National Bank of Omaha said it would stop issuing the NRA Visa card. It was followed in short order by Enterprise, National and Alamo rental car companies, which have the same corporate parent, and said they would stop offering discounts to NRA members. On Friday, the flood gates were open and the security software company Symantec, the home security company SimpliSafe, auto insurer MetLife, car rental companies Avis, Budget and Hertz, and moving companies Allied and North American Van lines all cut ties.

ThinkProgress is maintaining an updated list of companies that are continuing to do business with the NRA.

UPDATE: This article was updated with comments from Delta and United.