Planes belonging to Delta Air Lines sitting idle at Kansas City International Airport earlier this month (JAMIE SQUIRE)<\/i><\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
“These are truly unprecedented times for all of us, including the airline industry,” Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian said in a statement. <\/p>\n
“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.”<\/p>\n
Delta has parked 650 aircraft and more than a third of the airline’s global staff, some 37,000 employees, have taken unpaid leave.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Under the federal “Cares Act,” Delta is also eligible for another $4.6 billion in secured loans from the US Treasury.<\/p>\n
The airline’s share price rose 2.9 percent to $23.71 in pre-market trading.<\/p>\n
Disclaimer:<\/b> Validity of the above story is for 7 Days from original date of publishing. Source: AFP.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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…<\/p>\n