Delta Air Lines lost $408 million in the final quarter of 2021, dragged down by a Covid-19 surge that rocked the airline in December, and the carrier predicted Thursday that it will suffer one more quarterly loss before travel perks up in spring and summer.
Summary
- CEO Ed Bastian said 8,000 employees have contracted Covid-19 over the last four weeks.
- Earlier this week, United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby sent a letter to employees saying that 3,000 employees had tested positive for Covid-19.
- Delta expects to lose money in January and February and for the first quarter as a whole.
- The airline expects first-quarter revenue to be 72 percent to 74 percent of pre-pandemic levels — about the same as the fourth quarter.
- The union accuses Delta of pressuring employees to return to work too soon after contracting the virus.