Delta, struggling with Omicron and storms, posts Q4 loss
Delta said Thursday that it lost $408m in the final three months of last year, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which emerged late in that period, interfered with holiday operations and pushed back the airline’s recovery. About 8,000 Delta employees — more than one in 10 — had called out sick in recent weeks, Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said on CNBC on Thursday. That, combined with bad storms, forced the airline and its peers to cancel tens of thousands of flights over the busy holiday travel period, with carriers only just beginning to recover in recent days. “While the rapidly spreading Omicron variant has significantly impacted staffing levels and disrupted travel across the industry, Delta’s operation has stabilized over the last week and returned to preholiday performance,” Bastian said. “We are confident in a strong spring and summer travel season with significant pent-up demand for consumer and business travel.” The Omicron variant has delayed the airline recovery by about 60 days, Mr. Bastian said. Delta alone scrubbed more than 2,000 flights over the two weeks starting on Christmas Day, the fourth-most flight cancellations among US airlines. Despite the airline’s difficult year, Delta said it would spend about $100m to distribute bonuses of $1,250 to each of its 75,000 employees. “It’s going to be our recognition and our gesture of thanks to you for the hard work and the sacrifice and the service you’ve made on behalf of our company and on behalf of our customers,” Mr. Bastian said in a video message to employees announcing the bonuses, which will be distributed on Feb 14.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2022-01-14/sky/delta-struggling-with-omicron-and-storms-posts-q4-loss
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Delta, struggling with Omicron and storms, posts Q4 loss
Delta said Thursday that it lost $408m in the final three months of last year, as the Omicron variant of the coronavirus, which emerged late in that period, interfered with holiday operations and pushed back the airline’s recovery. About 8,000 Delta employees — more than one in 10 — had called out sick in recent weeks, Delta’s chief executive, Ed Bastian, said on CNBC on Thursday. That, combined with bad storms, forced the airline and its peers to cancel tens of thousands of flights over the busy holiday travel period, with carriers only just beginning to recover in recent days. “While the rapidly spreading Omicron variant has significantly impacted staffing levels and disrupted travel across the industry, Delta’s operation has stabilized over the last week and returned to preholiday performance,” Bastian said. “We are confident in a strong spring and summer travel season with significant pent-up demand for consumer and business travel.” The Omicron variant has delayed the airline recovery by about 60 days, Mr. Bastian said. Delta alone scrubbed more than 2,000 flights over the two weeks starting on Christmas Day, the fourth-most flight cancellations among US airlines. Despite the airline’s difficult year, Delta said it would spend about $100m to distribute bonuses of $1,250 to each of its 75,000 employees. “It’s going to be our recognition and our gesture of thanks to you for the hard work and the sacrifice and the service you’ve made on behalf of our company and on behalf of our customers,” Mr. Bastian said in a video message to employees announcing the bonuses, which will be distributed on Feb 14.<br/>
