Delta Air Lines will furlough 1,941 of its pilots in October unless it can reach a cost-cutting agreement with the employees’ labor union, the airline said Monday. US airlines that accepted $25b in federal aid are prohibited from cutting jobs through Sept. 30. “We are six months into this pandemic and only 25% of our revenues have been recovered,” said John Laughter, Delta’s senior VP of flight operations in a memo to pilots. Laughter said the airline doesn’t expect a quick turnaround in demand. This summer, Delta warned 2,558 of its pilots about potential furloughs. The number was lowered by more than 1,800 pilots who took early retirement packages, but Laughter warned it is not enough to avoid the furloughs altogether. “With approximately 11,200 active pilots still on the roster following the September 1 [voluntary early retirement] departures, we are simply overstaffed, and we are faced with an incredibly difficult decision,” he wrote. Laughter said letters would be going out this week to pilots hired on or after July 17, 2017. Delta last month said remaining pilots could avoid furloughs altogether with a 15% cut to minimum pay. The Air Line Pilots Association, which represents Delta’s pilots, urged the company to come up with a solution. It previously proposed offering pilots voluntary time off with partial pay, but Delta and the union have so far failed to reach an agreement.<br/>
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Delta is preparing to issue new debt backed by its frequent-flyer program, the latest to use miles to help boost liquidity amid the Covid-19 pandemic. The airline is set to market new loans and bonds secured by its SkyMiles loyalty program after the US Labor Day holiday on Sept. 7, according to people with knowledge of the matter. The size of the deal and terms, including yield, are still being finalized and could change, said one of the people, asking not to be identified discussing a private matter. A spokesman for Atlanta-based Delta declined to comment. The deal would follow United’s issuance of $6.8bi in new borrowings secured by its MileagePlus program in June, a deal it upsized from $5b amid robust investor demand. The package of bonds and a loan was rated investment-grade by Moody’s Investors Service and Fitch Ratings despite the company’s overall junk rating.<br/>
Delta has doubled its staffing to handle revamped pre-flight "pit stops" for deeper cleaning and wants to ensure that tray tables and restroom door handles are germ-free with a new testing process, an executive said. Airlines' efforts to reassure travelers of their safety during the pandemic have spurred a behind-the-scenes scramble to complete the enhanced cleaning that they are promising without sacrificing turnaround times, a cornerstone of profitability, once more passengers take to the skies. "We've done quite a lot of change to our turn process," the head of Delta's new Global Cleanliness division Mike Medeiros said in an interview detailing the airline's strategy for "turns" -- the time a plane spends on the ground between flights. Depending on the aircraft's size, Delta is deploying at least eight pre-flight cabin cleaners, up from three to five previously, and has adopted a new "pit stop mentality" based on industrial engineering studies into the extra resources required for cleaning each plane type, he said. After cleaners spray with disinfectant and wipe down high-touch surfaces, a flight attendant and gate agent walk the cabin together to inspect. If the cabin is not up to par, they call back the cleaners. "Even if that means taking a delay to the flight," said Medeiros, who is among managers who receive daily cleanliness reports in their inbox based on customer surveys taken after every flight.<br/>