The Memphis City Council made a move Tuesday to encourage Delta Airlines to increase its presence in Memphis, specifically by re-establishing its hub here.

After Delta discontinued its discount for members of the National Rifle Association, Georgia legislators denied Delta a $50 million sales tax exemption on jet fuel.

But, Chairman Berlin Boyd’s message to Delta is that Memphis โ€œunderstands the need for businesses to be autonomous when making decisionsโ€ and that here those decisions can be made without the โ€œtype of interferenceโ€ that Delta faces by the Georgia lawmakers.

Members of the councilโ€™s executive committee are sponsoring the message that will be overnighted to Delta officials.

โ€œThe city of Memphis needs to get aggressive,โ€ Boyd said. โ€œWe are definitely open for business.โ€