Shoring up international operations is Delta Air Lines' biggest challenge and opportunity, incoming CE Ed Bastian said. The affordability of plane tickets overseas is the main reason behind a decline in operations abroad, Bastian said Thursday, a day after he was named to succeed Richard Anderson as CE. The airline has said a strong dollar is weighing on results. Passenger revenue from international markets fell 6% last year, while US sales excluding those from regional affiliates rose about 5%. Improving foreign operations is just one challenge Bastian faces. Bastian also must reach out to Delta’s front-line employees, who were loyal to Anderson. The carrier has said that a pilot-union proposal that includes a 40% raise over 3 years is unreasonable, raising the possibility that contract talks with its aviators may drag on. <br/>
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The rapidly spreading Zika virus has not impacted bookings on Delta Air Lines to Latin America and the Caribbean, its president and CE-designate said Thursday, but added that customers' future plans were tough to predict. "Candidly, it would be hard to see much change," given that Delta's unit revenue to Brazil has already fallen sharply because of the country's economic slowdown, said Ed Bastian. "We have not seen it in terms of passenger refund or change requests," he said. On the impact of the virus on future travel patterns, Bastian said, "It's hard to know as people look out and build their future plans if they're going to change (where they're) going" because of Zika. Bastian's comments echoed statements from other top travel companies that it is too early to tell if the virus is affecting bookings. <br/>
Spanish authorities evacuated all passengers and crew from a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight bound for Riyadh at Madrid's Barajas airport after a bomb threat. The Saudia flight was grounded before take-off after the pilot noticed a note with a bomb threat on-board, Spain's interior minister, Jose Fernandez Diaz, said. A spokesman for Saudia said the threat was a false alarm and the airline was taking all the necessary precautionary formalities. "It's just another hoax that all airlines are subjected to," he said. Spain's airport operator said they had downgraded the alarm from general to local, meaning the alert would not affect other flights and the airport would continue operating as normal. El Pais newspaper said the note, with "bomb threat" written in English, was attached to a baggage compartment in the plane with a knife. <br/>