Delta Airlines probably has good intentions here, but they clearly don't know what they are talking about. I'm afraid that this ban isn't going to accomplish anything other than to make life more difficult for regular hunters.

http://www.wideopenspaces.com/break...-bans-shipment-certain-hunting-trophies/

Delta is the latest of almost ten airlines to ban transport of the big five. Lufthansa and British airways are two others.

wrote to Delta earlier this year when SAA said that they were banning imports of hunting trophies, and I wrote directly to the president of the company. I got an email back one of his assistants assuring me that Delta had no intention of banning shipments of legally hunted trophies and that that they considered hunters and important part of their clientel........unfortunately, I didn't bother to save the emails, or I would have posted them here. I figured "All right!!! Here is a a president with balls!!!! He isn't going to cave to a bunch of lying, misinforming bastards!"

What a crock!!!!.........guess his balls are made out of ping pong balls, the way they bounce back and forth on the subject.

I don't fly that often, but I do fly out of Detroit Metro when I do, and it's a Delta hub.......you can bet the next time I need to fly out for a conference or meeting, or vacation, I will be flying another airline. As long as I can afford to do so, I will pay extra to NOT fly Delta......I'm sure that they don't give a damn, but that's the only way I can make my disgust with these backstabbing bastards known....with my pocket book. See how long the anti's will support them when they start flying shipments of leather goods, medicines that have been made with animal research, meat products, etc., etc. Screw 'em!!!

Delta as a convenient way to get to Johannesburg, but there ARE other options, and I will be exploring them on my next trip................

I have been a Delta supporter for years on International flights, but they just lost my business. Have people lost their [bleep] minds??

Mike

Egad!

Last week, airlines including Air France, KLM, Iberia, IAG Cargo, Singapore Airlines and Qantas all signaled that they would ban the transport of hunting trophies; earlier this year, South African Airlines, Emirates, Lufthansa and British Airways pledged to refuse all big game trophies as cargo. According to reports, South African Airlines later lifted this ban.

Sure is a potent attack from an unexpected direction.

Birdwatcher

The more I think about this the less it makes sense. I could be wrong, but I would consider Delta as one of the main carriers of passengers and freight to Africa and back from the USA. The airlines count on filling those cargo holds with freight (which pays much better than passengers and luggage) to help make the trips profitable. Now granted, there probably aren't a lot of lions and rhino's transported each year, but they might get a real shock when it comes to elephant, leopard and buffalo.

Can they really be this stupid, or are they just doing this to jump on the band wagon? Unless there's something I'm missing here I don't see a lot of other air freight coming in from Africa, which will raise ticket prices and price many hunters out of the game. I wonder If they're really willing to take that chance?

Mike

When this whole 'Cecil' issue came up I was surprised to learn that thousands of people travel to Africa specifically to hunt every year.

But search up the total number of tourists in those same places and you'll get numbers adding up to the millions, two whole orders of magnitude greater. So even though the hunters are shipping home a lot, it still may be a pittance compared to their regular volume.

On top of that, I'm guessing the airlines have been targeted by the antis with threats of bad publicity.

Birdwatcher

I wouldn't fly Delta before, and certainly not now!

Get off your asses and write a letter or e mail to Delta. Be straight forward, accurate and civil.
It might help.
My letter was sent yesterday (e mail). I mentioned that I was formerly a platinum and gold on Delta for many years, they have flown me to three safaris and freighted my "legally" taken trophies home.
All of us pissing on each others boots will not help. There are not a lot of choices in air carriers.

I'll be doing this later today. What's misguided is the banning of all big game trophies. Not just animals that might be listed as endangered. That signals to me that the decision has nothing to do with conservation, but is a statement about hunting in general.

If they really cared about conservation, they'd donate to DSC and SCI.

United and American airlines just banned the shipment of "hunting trophies".

I'll email Delta today. Have tickets already purchased for next months moose hunt in Alaska. Wild-eyed social media is driving this lunacy. There are apparently few companies willing to make sound business decisions.

Richard Blumenthal and Corey Booker are demanding the airline commission shut down all shipping of trophies industry wide.

Despite all of the efforts of conservation and pro-hunt groups, the inevitable is only slowed down somewhat. The fight to preserve and protect our right to hunt is an essential one, but I fear it's one we are slowly losing, at least as far as the continent of Africa is concerned. The recent knee-jerk reactions of the airlines and the Zimbabwean government won't go away.

If you ever wanted to go, and have been putting it off, my advice is to GO NOW. If you wish to hunt dangerous game, other than Cape Buff, DO IT NOW. If there is a special trophy you would like to see in your trophy room, better be making plans to hunt it soon, if you want to bring it back to the US. If you want to hunt the big cats, the urgency to do it now is all the more important.

I believe the pendulum will eventually swing back towards some semblance of sanity, as some of these countries see the effects of the loss of hunter dollars and lack of game management. By then, the opportunity to hunt Africa may be too late for those of you who have wanted to go, but have never gone.

This is not meant to be 'gloom and doom', it's just reality. It's not about someone killing a Park lion, but such incidents just fuel the fire of the anti-hunting crowd. In the meantime, we need to support the efforts of those who are fighting to protect the opportunity to hunt on the African continent.

I've been there four times, but the last time, a year ago, was our final trip. The cost of travel, trophy fees, dip and ship, freight, customs, taxidermy, etc. continues to escalate. I'm very grateful for the opportunities I have had to hunt Africa, and I sincerely hope they will be there for others for awhile.

Screw the Airlines and ship them back by boat

My E-Mail response from Delta.

Dear Mr. Fox,

RE: Case Number 16935231

Thank you for your email to Delta. We are grateful for you taking the
time to share your thoughts with us.

Delta has banned the shipment of all lion, leopard, elephant, rhinoceros
and buffalo trophies worldwide as freight. Prior to this ban, Delta's
strict acceptance policy called for absolute compliance with all
government regulations regarding protected species. Delta will also
review the acceptance policies for other hunting trophies with the
appropriate government agencies and other organizations that support
legal shipments.

We value customer feedback and appreciate you taking the time to contact
us. We understand your feelings surrounding this issue, and we are
grateful you took the time to let us know how our actions have been
perceived. Your concerns have been reported to the appropriate
leadership for internal review.

We appreciate your selection of Delta and will always welcome the
opportunity to be of service.

Sincerely,

Nancy Smith
Online Customer Support Desk
http://www.delta.com

So basically, you got the same 'form letter' as everyone else......................

Yep, Computor generated shotgun blast.

I did receive a response from Delta. It was pretty much a "canned" letter. But they responded and said that the writer would pass it on to senior management.
I have talked to some friends who have and will nothing Africa some of them are diamond frequent flyers and they will write to Delta.

Email sent. Former Gold Medallion. Will now drive if possible.