“Growth has stalled” as surge in infections hits Delta Airlines after losing $5.7 billion in the second quarter

FILE - In this April 21, 2020, file photo, a lone person works at the Delta airlines check-in desk at McCarran International airport in Las Vegas. Delta Air Lines says it lost $5.7 billion in the second quarter, as the coronavirus pandemic caused air travel to collapse. The company reported financial results on Tuesday, July 14. A hoped-for travel recovery that began slowly in mid-April has been delayed by a resurgence in infections, especially in the South and West. (AP Photo/John Locher, File)

By David Koenig / AP Airlines Writer July 14, 2020 4 min read

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.