Delta to end sponsorship of Atlanta's Fox over rival airline

ATLANTA (AP) Delta Air Lines will not continue its sponsorship of Atlanta's Fox Theatre after a rival airline rented the facility for an event.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution (on-ajc.com/1WBI7XN) reports that Qatar Airways expects to start service in Atlanta on June 1, and held a Tuesday event at the Fox to celebrate the launch of the new flights.

Delta's chief legal officer Peter Carter said the Atlanta-based airline was ``very surprised and disappointed'' when executives learned the Fox would be hosting the Qatar event, which featured singer Jennifer Lopez.

Carter is quoted by the newspaper as saying ``we won't be supporting the Fox going forward.''

The Fox said in a statement that it was disheartened to learn Delta chose to penalize the theater for its decision to rent the venue to another airline.