Planes belonging to Delta Air Lines sitting idle at Kansas City International Airport earlier this month (JAMIE SQUIRE)

New York (AFP) – Delta Air Lines suffered huge losses in the latest quarter and announced additional cost-cutting measures Wednesday as coronavirus shutdowns have devastated air travel.

The company emphasized steps it is taking to boost liquidity amid a heavy cash-burn as it continues to fly sparsely-populated flights even with much of the global plane fleet grounded.

Delta and other airlines received funds from the US Treasury as part of the $2 trillion US relief legislation approved last month as the virus forced much of the economy on lockdown.

Even with that support, the carrier said it will slash expenses in June by 50 percent, which will reduce its daily cash-burn from $100 million at the end of March to $50 million by the end of June.

Delta, the first of the large US carriers to report results, lost $534 million in the first quarter, compared with profits of $730 million in the same period a year ago. Revenues fell 18 percent to $8.6 billion.

“These are truly unprecedented times for all of us, including the airline industry,” Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said in a statement. 

“Government travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders have been effective in slowing the spread of the virus, but have also severely impacted near-term demand for air travel, reducing our expected June quarter revenues by 90 percent, compared to a year ago.”

Delta has parked 650 aircraft and more than a third of the airline’s global staff, some 37,000 employees, have taken unpaid leave.

The company said preserving cash and enhancing liquidity was its “top financial priority.” Steps have included drawing down $3 billion from bank credit facilities and cutting capital spending by more than $3 billion.

The US Treasury provided Delta with $5.4 billion in federal funds for payroll support in exchange for warrants to purchase more than 6.5 million shares of Delta stock.

Under the federal “Cares Act,” Delta is also eligible for another $4.6 billion in secured loans from the US Treasury.

The airline’s share price rose 2.9 percent to $23.71 in pre-market trading.

Disclaimer: Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.