Delta Air Lines treated so badly by 2015 state legislature – we all should worry (Atlanta: real estate, house)

[jeoff]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

I don't see it happening either. But the statement that Mr. Erhart made is borderline asinine.

Way past "borderline".

[Born 2 Roll]

Many conservative legislators got their hackles up in a wad over Delta CEO speaking out against RFRA (the Religious Freedom Restoration Act) because RFRA is supposed to be how the Georgia Republican Party pays back its political base in return for having to raise taxes for transportation.

The thinking by many Georgia legislative Republicans was that the political base of the GOP would not raise as much hell over the transportation tax increase if the RFRA were passed without an anti-discrimination amendment.

Though after seeing the huge public backlash that transpired against the Indiana RFRA over the course of the last weekend of March, the Georgia Legislature did not have the same appetite for passing an un-amended RFRA as they did before.

The RFRA will be back next year but likely with an anti-discrimination amendment attached to it and with Governor Nathan Deal guiding the process instead of the two far-right legislators that guided the process this legislative session (Senator Joshua McKoon of Columbus and Representative Sam Teasley of Marietta).

In any case, many conservative legislators were extremely upset with Richard Anderson's advocacy against the RFRA and wanted to send a message (no matter how misguided) to Anderson and other corporate CEO's to stay out of the legislature's affairs when it comes to red-meat legislation like RFRA....RFRA legislation which many legislators in the Republican supermajority see as absolutely necessary to placating a political base which is undoubtedly highly-agitated over the major tax increases that were passed into law during the just-ended legislative session.

[jsvh]

I am proud Atlanta companies have a history of standing up against racial discrimination in decades past and homosexual discrimination today. Good to know that some companies will stand up for what is right, even when the government gets it wrong.

After Martin Luther King, Jr. won the 1964 Nobel Peace Prize, plans for an interracial celebratory dinner in still-segregated Atlanta were not initially well supported by the city's business elite until Coca-Cola intervened.[24]

J. Paul Austin, the chairman and CEO of Coca-Cola, and Mayor Ivan Allen summoned key Atlanta business leaders to the Commerce Club's eighteenth floor dining room, where Austin told them flatly, 'It is embarrassing for Coca-Cola to be located in a city that refuses to honor its Nobel Prize winner. We are an international business. The Coca-Cola Co. does not need Atlanta. You all need to decide whether Atlanta needs the Coca-Cola Co.' Within two hours of the end of that meeting, every ticket to the dinner was sold.
—Andrew Young [25]

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?...y#Civil_rights

[SAAN]

Delta is going to pack up its bags and move to Cobb County where most of its ticket buyers live.

[sedimenjerry]

Originally Posted by red92s

Funny, I thought the same thing about the Braves. And the Thrashers. Don't discount the ability of another state to find hundreds of millions in corporate welfare to land a "big fish".

Oh good grief. The Braves aren't leaving the state. Aren't even leaving the metro area. And the Thrashers were always a garbage franchise in a difficult market for hockey (anywhere in the south). And it left the country to return a NHL team to Winnipeg after the old Jets moved to Arizona in the 90s.

[AcidSnake]

Business/Fiscal conservatives versus the Social/Cultural conservatives...always made for an interesting fight.

As far as I'm concerned?

The moderates who wanted their precious new cities in Fulton and Dekalb county...enabled goobers like Powder Springs State Rep. Earl Ehrhart to come around with the RFRA madness.

The moderates depended on the subtle bigotry of the goobers who love stickin' a knife to the urban crowd...to support those new cities.

The moderates actually thought that the conservative goobers when elected...would have the wisdom and forethought not to allow good ol' boy hillbilly politics to mess with Georgia's hardfought "New South" image. Wrong!

So here we are. Take that pro-city supporters!

Lay down with the dogs, and you're gonna get fleas.

Never fails, each and every time.
(Not directed at you, jsvh)

Originally Posted by jsvh

SaportaReport | Delta Air Lines treated so badly by 2015 state legislature – we all should worry

Really would be stupid to lose a Fortune 100 HQ and thousands of jobs just because the legislature wants revenge.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Caleb Longstreet

If Boeing were any indicator with their Texas move, Delta could be next. In fact, outside of having three major hubs, they could shift to something similar in Dallas? The fact remains, for business, Atlanta is 2 hours flight time, or less, from 80% of the US population. Fact, not fiction.

That ALONE creates a rather larger barrier to exit but, like with all tax incentives, probably depends on which state is pulling their pants down the most with tax deferrals and other goodies to make the deal happen. Texas has that mindset and so do a few other states.

Never say never but, it would be hard. If Georgia is willing to stick us for 1 Billion in road improvements, how hard to you suppose it is for them to drop the gavel on say, $400 million in tax deferments/credits/whatever to stay?

It may employ 33,000 but, but quite a few of them are senior, wouldn't be able to move and thus, a great opportunity to save on labor presents itself??? Delta has a fairly significant aging problem. A lot of senior folks working there 20-30 years. Good for them, bad for the balance sheet and if any industry knows about cheapening labor and costs, its the airlines.

Delta is noooooooo exception. I would think the board stays awake at night trying to figure ever creative ways to dump seniority. It's easier than raising your top line and their bonuses probably all but assure I'm right? Take say, 5,000 of the most senior and replace them with "se habla" and voila, stock jumps, senior managers bail and we start all over.....just a matter of time.

Great airline with great problems. The shine could easily get knocked off their cover if they don't do something in the near future. Georgia is in a quandary when it comes to attracting LARGE businesses here....I'm talking like 5,000 plus jobs just for the state.....we need more of "that"....shame we couldn't have figured out a way to lure Boeing or some other huge major mega manufacturer of competitive goods. Good job with Kia and Hyundai but, we need lots and lots of these/those jobs to help pick up the state's changing economy.

Shame to see her go but, it is possible.

Delta used to have a hub in Dallas. They got whipped by American and Southwest and abandoned it. They like being alone in Atlanta. Moving their major hub would involve totally redoing their route network. Atlanta is a great location for a hub, so moving would probably cost them a lot of money in operations. Atlanta has some of the highest fares in the country because Delta so dominates. They aren't going anywhere.

[bu2]

Originally Posted by Born 2 Roll

Many conservative legislators got their hackles up in a wad over Delta CEO speaking out against RFRA (the Religious Freedom Restoration Act) because RFRA is supposed to be how the Georgia Republican Party pays back its political base in return for having to raise taxes for transportation.

The thinking by many Georgia legislative Republicans was that the political base of the GOP would not raise as much hell over the transportation tax increase if the RFRA were passed without an anti-discrimination amendment.

Though after seeing the huge public backlash that transpired against the Indiana RFRA over the course of the last weekend of March, the Georgia Legislature did not have the same appetite for passing an un-amended RFRA as they did before.

The RFRA will be back next year but likely with an anti-discrimination amendment attached to it and with Governor Nathan Deal guiding the process instead of the two far-right legislators that guided the process this legislative session (Senator Joshua McKoon of Columbus and Representative Sam Teasley of Marietta).

In any case, many conservative legislators were extremely upset with Richard Anderson's advocacy against the RFRA and wanted to send a message (no matter how misguided) to Anderson and other corporate CEO's to stay out of the legislature's affairs when it comes to red-meat legislation like RFRA....RFRA legislation which many legislators in the Republican supermajority see as absolutely necessary to placating a political base which is undoubtedly highly-agitated over the major tax increases that were passed into law during the just-ended legislative session.

I wonder if their financing of the opposition to the Paulding airport ticked off some legislators. And Delta has a sweetheart deal at the airport as well in addition to that fuel tax. Anderson comes across as pretty pushy and arrogant.

[afdinatl]

No big deal. They will just increase ticket prices by $1 or $2

[jsvh]

A hub and a HQ are two different things. For example Delta is building a new hub in Seattle. Memphis used to be a Delta hub up until a few years ago. Delta is also building up New York into a major hub. Even if they want to have their HQ where they have a hub they have lots of options.

AcidSnake, I think there is truth in being cautious of aligning with radicals and "making a deal with the devil" on either extreme but I am not quite sure I see the link to the new cities movement here. Maybe some link to the transportation bill.