Delta Loses $5.4 Billion in Third Quarter

Delta Air Lines was first up this morning among U.S. carriers to post its third-quarter earnings, and as expected it was not a pretty bottom line.

The coronavirus pandemic continues to play havoc with the industry as Delta announced a $5.4 billion loss for the quarter, according to CNBC, compared to a profit of $1.5 billion in the third quarter of 2019.

Revenue dropped 76 percent from $12.56 billion a year ago to $3.06 billion in the three months that ended Sept. 30, leading the carrier to say that things might not return to normal for “two years or more.”

Delta has now lost almost $12 billion in the last two quarters, although it was able to cut its cash burn from $27 million a day in the second quarter to $18 million a day last month.

Like other large airlines, Delta was hurt by two major factors. Business travel has dramatically decreased over the last seven months and, in the specific case of the third quarter, travel restrictions and a reluctance to fly impacted leisure travel over summer, the most lucrative air travel portion of the year.

But Delta CEO Ed Bastian remains optimistic.

“While our September quarter results demonstrate the magnitude of the pandemic on our business, we have been encouraged as more customers travel and we are seeing a path of progressive improvement in our revenues, financial results and daily cash burn,” he said in a statement.