(Opinion) Recently, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin made some mostly irrelevant headlines by suggesting Delta Air Lines could consider the Magic City as a home after the Georgia legislature voted to punish the airline for cutting ties with the National Rifle Association by eliminating a fuel tax break.
Delta has not shown any desire to leave Atlanta, where it has been headquartered since 1941. But given this punitive measure by Republicans in the Georgia State House, it has given an opening to other civic leaders to make overtures that one of the world’s largest airlines should relocate to their cities and states.
Hey @Delta. It’s me again. Birmingham is open for business. ? me. #BHM https://t.co/YeyEXULAXp
— Randall Woodfin (@WoodfinForBham) March 1, 2018
Perhaps some of these places could feasibly make a play for Delta’s corporate headquarters, but the vote in Georgia was about a fuel tax, not some corporate real estate issue.
If you’re basing it on fuel tax incentives, the logical play would be to lure the massive amount of air traffic that comes in and out of Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport away to another airport.
The problem for those courting Delta is they don’t have facilities required to serve as a hub for Delta. Anyone who has flown Delta in the last 30 years has undoubtedly had a layover in Atlanta and has had to maneuver between the T, A, B, C, D, E and now F concourses.
Delta is in Atlanta because Atlanta’s airport may be the only place in the southeastern United States that had the infrastructure to facilitate Delta’s needs.
Birmingham already missed its chance
The one exception that might could get a share of Atlanta’s air traffic would be Memphis, which for years was a Northwest Airlines hub. After Northwest merged with Delta in 2010, Delta de-hubbed Memphis and moved most of those routes to Atlanta.
Birmingham already had its shot at Delta.
As legend has it, Birmingham raised its fuel tax in the 1940s at a time when Delta was looking for a southern hub. That combined with Birmingham’s location in the Central Time Zone was the supposed reason Delta opted for Atlanta over Birmingham.
Many say that is the reason why Atlanta is the booming metropolis it is today and Birmingham lags behind.
Left-of-center employees now guiding Delta’s corporate governance
Airline employees have always had an ideological bent. The union presence among pilots and flight attendants makes for a natural Democrat-voting constituency.
In recent years, that seems to have guided Delta Air Lines and had led to it taking very public positions on policy. Its decision to end a relationship with the National Rifle Association is not the first instance of this.
A quick scan of Delta’s Twitter feed shows the company’s embrace of left-wing tropes like the importance of diversity, Earth Day and highlights from LGBTQ pride events all over the world.
We’re honored @GPTW_US & @FortuneMagazine have named Delta as a 2017 #BestWorkplaces for Diversity for the 2nd year in a row. #DeltaProud
— Delta (@Delta) December 5, 2017
#PrideInFlight means an equal workplace for everyone. We’re honored to receive a perfect score for the 2nd year in a row from the @HRC. https://t.co/9trL256Zmn
— Delta (@Delta) November 9, 2017
The smallest thing can help others keep climbing. #MakeADifferenceDay pic.twitter.com/zTgq7Qtf7A
— Delta (@Delta) October 28, 2017
Love is in the air. #Pride2017 #PrideInFlight pic.twitter.com/kNZAEqj5hM
— Delta (@Delta) June 19, 2017
Happy #EarthDay to all you world-shapers! Help us care for the planet by offsetting carbon emissions when you fly: https://t.co/M9zTRqv0Vw pic.twitter.com/7PX1LIvUuX
— Delta (@Delta) April 22, 2017
We’re honored to receive a perfect score of 100% on @HRC‘s 2017 Corporate Equality Index. #WhoWeAre https://t.co/v4BfRj4hZF pic.twitter.com/rf8pWcLvbm
— Delta (@Delta) December 5, 2016
Delta is a private company and is free to take whatever positions it wants as a company on issues. But one has to ask how it is in the airline’s and its stockholders’ best interest to do so if that position might be off-putting to some customers.
That’s especially true for Delta Air Lines, which is the primary airline in the southeastern United States, a part of the country that tends to adopt the conservative side of a lot of hot-button issues.
It was only a matter of time before a company with a liberal streak running through its corporate governance structure made waves in a conservative Republican-voting state.
That being said — if the Georgia legislature isn’t going to allow Delta to slide on the NRA thing, what makes Mayor Woodfin think the Alabama legislature will be any different?
There are 99 economic opportunities for Birmingham and its promising new mayor to pursue and making the Magic City Delta Air Lines’ new hub ain’t one.
Jeff Poor is a graduate of Auburn University and works as the editor of Breitbart TV. Follow Jeff on Twitter @jeff_poor.
