WASHINGTON (AP) – The U.S. Postal Service says it lost $2.2 billion in the three months that ended in June as the beleaguered agency – hit hard by the coronavirus pandemic – piles up financial losses that officials warn could top $20 billion over two years.
“Our financial position is dire, stemming from substantial declines in mail volume, a broken business model and a management strategy that has not adequately addressed these issues,” Louis DeJoy, the new postmaster general, said Friday in his first public remarks since taking the job in June.
“Without dramatic change, there is no end in sight,” DeJoy told the postal board of governors at a meeting Friday.
While package deliveries to homebound Americans were up more than 50%, that was offset by continued declines in first-class and business mail, even as costs increased significantly to pay for personal protective equipment and replace workers who got sick or chose to stay home in fear of the virus, DeJoy said.
Without an intervention from Congress, the agency faces an impending cash flow crisis, he said. The Postal Service is seeking an infusion of at least $10 billion to cover operating losses as well as regulatory changes that would undo a congressional requirement that the agency pre-fund billions of dollars in retiree health benefits.