Delta CE-designate: Zika has not impacted flight bookings

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/>