The airline industry — hammered by the coronavirus pandemic — has seen a recovery that’s been “quite choppy,” according to Delta CEO Ed Bastian, who insisted that passengers are slowly coming back. The COVID-19 outbreak is continuing its relentless spread, with the US setting new daily records in confirmed cases, raising fears about the willingness and ability of consumers to continue traveling. In the process, major air carriers like Delta are struggling to survive — having to lay off and furlough thousands of employees. “It's a couple year journey. Domestic is going to come back faster than international and [leisure travel] is going to come back faster than business,” Bastian said Monday. “But we're staying focused every single day and continue to see small signs, but encouraging signs, of light at the end of the tunnel,” he added. Amid soaring new infections worldwide, fears of new restrictions on public life are raising fears over the economy. However, Bastian insisted that air travel is a relatively safe mode of transmission. A recent study from the IATA showed just 44 people contracted COVID-19 out of more than 1.2b passengers who have flown globally this year. “We haven't had a single documented case of transmission aboard our aircraft, even though we’re flying one million per week,” Bastian said. He cited low risks of transmission given the filtration systems and sanitation measures employed by airlines, among other factors.<br/>