Delta’s CEO announced thousands of employees have gotten sick with COVID-19 over the last month, which combined with winter storms have led to more than 2,200 canceled flights since Dec. 24, The Associated Press reported.
Ed Bastian, the airline’s CEO, said approximately 8,000 of its 75,000 employees have tested positive for COVID-19 in the last four weeks, CNBC reported. Last week, we reported when Scott Kirby, the CEO of United Airlines, said 3,000 of his employees had tested positive for COVID-19.
In an interview with CNBC, Bastian said the Delta employees who tested positive had “no significant health issues.”
Delta lost $408 million in the final quarter of 2021, which it blamed on the surge in COVID-19 cases, the AP reported.
While cancellations have been slowing, the run of cancellations cost the airline $75 million and is now expected to push the airline’s recovery back, the AP reported. In an interview with the AP, Bastian said: “I don’t think we’re going to see a pickup in bookings or travel during January and probably the first part of February. It’s always the weakest part of the year, and it’s going to be that much weaker because of omicron. We need confidence in travel returning once the virus recedes.”
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