Major Airline CEOs See Loyalty Program Doom Under Proposal (1)

The top executives of Delta Air Lines Inc. and United Airlines Holdings Inc. are warning that legislation pending in Congress would devastate popular loyalty programs.

The bipartisan proposal aims to save consumers money by forcing more competition in the lucrative credit card payments processing business. If enacted, it would result in “unbelievable” consumer backlash from its effect on rewards programs, Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in an interview.

“Those cards could no longer receive the funding to be able to invest in rewards-back opportunities,” he said in an interview. “It’s something that we’re watching, obviously.”

The processing payments ...