CEO DATELINE - Delta rejoins A4A, Purdue leaves PhRMA
CEO DATELINE - Delta rejoins A4A, Purdue leaves PhRMA
- December 18, 2019 |
-
Walt Williams
Consider joining CEO Update. Membership gives full access to the latest intelligence on association management, career advancement, compensation trends and networking events, as well as hundreds of listings for senior-level association jobs.
Delta Air Lines is rejoining Airlines for America after having left the airline industry trade group in 2015. At the same time, embattled pharmaceutical manufacturer Purdue Pharma acknowledged Tuesday it has ended its membership with Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America.
Delta left A4A four years ago, saying at the time that the $5 million in paid in annual dues "can be better used to invest in employees and products to further enhance the Delta experience." It also accused the association of failing to support the company on several key policy issues. Delta supported reforms to the Export-Import Bank and wanted the nation's air traffic control to be separated from the Federal Aviation Administration and put into a private organization—both positions A4A opposed.
In a joint statement with A4A Wednesday, Delta announced it was rejoining the association in 2020, although it didn't say whether the two sides had resolved their policy differences.
"We are committed to the future of commercial aviation and will work together with A4A to support priorities like promoting sustainability initiatives, fighting unnecessary passenger taxes and advocating for policies that enhance the travel experience," Delta CEO Ed Bastain said.
Delta will join Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Atlas Air Worldwide, FedEx Express, Hawaiian Airlines, JetBlue, Southwest, United, UPS and Air Canada as association members.
In contrast to Delta, Purdue didn't publicly announce its exit from PhRMA when it left the association in October. News of the departure was first reported by the news site Stat, which noted the company is inundated by lawsuits for its marketing of the painkiller OxyContin and is seeking to reduce its federal lobbying activity.
The news site also noted that PhRMA adopted new membership criteria in 2017 requiring companies to spend at least $200 million annually on research and development and it is unclear Purdue can meet the requirement.
A Purdue spokeswoman told Stat the decision "does not reflect any substantive disagreement with PhRMA." The association referred questions to the company. http://bit.ly/35zBI6L
MORE CEO DATELINE