Delta Air Lines lost $5.7 billion during a brutal three-month stretch in which the coronavirus pandemic brought travel to a near standstill, and any hoped-for recovery has been smothered by a resurgence of infected Americans.
“Growth has stalled,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. “It was growing at a pretty nice clip through June. The virus, unfortunately, was also growing.”
Bastian said it will take more than two years for the airline to make “sustainable” recovery.
Delta, the largest airline operating at Chattanooga’s Lovell Field, is the first U.S. airline to report financial results for the May-through-June quarter, and the numbers were ugly.
Passengers boarding Delta planes tumbled 93% from a year earlier, revenue plummeted 88%, and the company’s losses were worse than anticipated.