Delta to re-join US lobby group A4A 4 years after policy-driven breakup

Delta Air Lines intends to resume its membership with A4A in 2020, more than 4 years after the carrier ditched the trade group amid policy disputes. Delta stepped away from A4A in Oct 2015, saying the US$5m it paid in annual dues would be best used to invest in the company. At the time, Delta was the lone US major airline opposed to A4A’s promotion of a plan to strip air traffic control from the FAA and place it under a private organisation. Delta reversed its position in 2017, supporting a privatisation effort led by president Donald Trump. ATC privatisation has so far failed. Delta also attributed its 2015 departure to A4A’s failure to back a campaign by Delta, American Airlines and United Airlines to convince the US govt to curtail expansion in the USA by Etihad Airways, Emirates Airlines and Qatar Airways. <br/>