Ed Bastian
FILE - In this May 14, 2020 file photo, several dozen mothballed Delta Air Lines jets are parked on a closed runway at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo. Delta Air Lines will require new employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19 starting Monday, May 17, 2021. The airline won’t impose the same requirement on current employees, more than 60% of whom are vaccinated, a Delta spokesman said Friday. Delta has about 74,000 employees. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Delta will require new hires to be vaccinated against virus

By The Associated Press May. 14, 2021 12:48 PM EDT

FILE - In this May 14, 2020 file photo, several dozen mothballed Delta Air Lines jets are parked on a closed runway at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo. Delta Air Lines says it lost $1.2 billion in the first quarter, but the airline thinks it can by profitable by late summer unless there's a resurgence of COVID-19. Delta reported the results on Thursday, April 15, 2021. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
A $1.2 billion loss for Delta, but recovery is on the radar

By David Koenig Apr. 15, 2021 08:52 AM EDT

FILE - Cardboard cutouts of fans in the otherwise empty seats face the field during the sixth inning of a baseball game between the Atlanta Braves and Tampa Bay Rays in Atlanta, in this Thursday, July 30, 2020, file photo. Georgia’s new voting law _ which critics claim severely limits access to the ballot box, especially for people of color _ has prompted calls from as high as the White House to consider moving the midsummer classic out of Atlanta. The game is set for July 13 at Truist Park, the Braves’ 41,000-seat stadium in suburban Cobb County.(AP Photo/John Amis, File)
MLB All-Star Game yanked from Georgia over voting law

By Ronald Blum Apr. 02, 2021 03:43 PM EDT

FILE - In this Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2021, file photo, a passenger wears a face mask she travels on a Delta Air Lines flight after taking off from Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport in Atlanta. Delta Air Lines will stop blocking middle seats in May, meaning that no more U.S. airlines will limit capacity on flights to reduce the risk of spreading COVID-19. Delta's announcement Wednesday, March 31, reverses a policy that had been in place since last April. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Delta joins other US airlines in ending empty middle seats

By David Koenig Mar. 31, 2021 10:58 AM EDT

FILE - In this Tuesday, March 9, 2021 file photo, travelers walk through the Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. The number of people flying in the United States has eclipsed the year-ago level for the first time in the pandemic period, although travel remains deeply depressed from 2019. The Transportation Security Administration said 1.34 million people passed through U.S. airport checkpoints on Sunday, March 14 topping the 1.26 million people that TSA screened on the comparable Sunday a year ago. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
US air travel rises to highest levels yet since pandemic hit

By David Koenig Mar. 15, 2021 02:56 PM EDT

FILE - In this Oct. 29, 2019 file photo, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian talks at the new $3.9 billion Terminal C at LaGuardia Airport in New York. Bastian says travel demand will be weak for the next couple months, but he's holding onto hope for a summer “surge " in 2021. That's based on more people getting vaccinated against COVID-19 and feeling it's safe to travel. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan, File)
Delta CEO Ed Bastian discusses testing, summer 'surge'

By David Koenig Feb. 08, 2021 03:39 PM EST

FILE - In this May 14, 2020 file photo, several dozen mothballed Delta Air Lines jets are parked on a closed runway at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo. Delta Air Lines is reporting a $755 million loss for the fourth quarter, which brings its loss for all of 2020 to more than $12 billion. And Delta gave a cautious outlook Thursday, Jan. 14, 2021, for the first quarter of 2021, saying it expects to lose $10 million to $15 million a day in the next three months. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
A $12 billion loss for 2020, Delta is cautious in early 2021

By David Koenig Jan. 14, 2021 07:30 AM EST

Delta CEO sees some recovery from travel slump later in 2021

Jan. 01, 2021 03:17 PM EST
DETROIT (AP) — The leader of Delta Air Lines is telling workers that he expects some recovery from the coronavirus travel downturn by the spring. ...

Chef Proprieter Brenda Buenviaje smiles as she is interviewed at Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. In pre-pandemic days, Brenda's French Soul Food was always hopping, but everything came to a screeching halt on March 16, when San Francisco halted indoor dining to stop the spread of the coronavirus. It reopened for takeout and delivery, and Buenviaje is now shipping meals nationwide through a service called Goldbelly. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
From restaurants to retailers, virus transformed economies

By Paul Wiseman And Alexandra Olson Dec. 16, 2020 12:41 PM EST

Teo Perez, from left, works in the kitchen with Jorge Morales and Jaime Hernandez at Brenda's French Soul Food in San Francisco, Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020. In pre-pandemic days, Brenda's French Soul Food was always hopping, but everything came to a screeching halt on March 16, when San Francisco halted indoor dining to stop the spread of the coronavirus. It reopened for takeout and delivery, and Chef Proprieter Brenda Buenviaje is now shipping meals nationwide through a service called Goldbelly. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
From restaurants to retailers, virus transformed economies

By Paul Wiseman And Alexandra Olson Dec. 16, 2020 11:02 AM EST

FILE - In this April 1, 2020, file photo, several dozen Delta Air Lines jets are parked at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo. A sign of the deepening slump in air travel with coronavirus cases rising across the country, Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday, Dec. 9, 2020, that Delta will need more employees to take unpaid leave “for the foreseeable future.” Unlike American and United, Atlanta-based Delta has avoided furloughs since the pandemic started by convincing thousands of workers to retire early or take unpaid leave. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Delta asks more workers to take leave as travel slump widens

Dec. 09, 2020 05:15 PM EST

FILE - In this June 24, 2020 file photo, Southwest Airlines employee Oscar Gonzalez, right, assists a passenger at the ticket counter at Love Field in Dallas. Southwest Airlines cautioned Thursday, Nov. 12, 2020 that the tenuous recovery in air travel could be fading as coronavirus cases spike across the United States. The nation’s fourth-biggest airline said after a modest rise in leisure-travel bookings from August through October, it now sees a slowdown in improving revenue trends for November and December. (AP Photo/Tony Gutierrez, File)
As virus cases rise, Southwest sees slower travel recovery

By David Koenig Nov. 12, 2020 01:13 PM EST

FILE - In this Oct. 27, 2020, file photo, passengers walk through Salt Lake City International Airport, in Salt Lake City. Business travel might never look the same in the wake of the coronavirus. Consulting firm McKinsey and Co. says it took international business travel five years to recover after the 2008 recession. But this time, the ease of videoconferencing could put a permanent dent in corporate trips. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
Correction: Virus Outbreak-Business Travel story

By Dee-Ann Durbin And David Koenig Nov. 11, 2020 12:01 AM EST

A Southwest Airlines Boeing 737-7H4 takes off, Tuesday, Oct. 20, 2020, from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport in Fort Lauderdale, Fla. Airlines are continuing to pile up billions of dollars in losses as the pandemic causes a massive drop in air travel. Southwest Airlines on Thursday, Oct. 22, lost $1.16 billion in the normally strong third quarter, which includes most of the summer vacation season.(AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee)
US airlines still piling up losses but say demand is rising

By David Koenig Oct. 22, 2020 07:36 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 14, 2020 file photo, several dozen mothballed Delta Air Lines jets are parked on a closed runway at Kansas City International Airport in Kansas City, Mo. Delta Air Lines is the first carrier to report financial results for the third quarter, and the numbers are grim. Delta said Tuesday, Oct. 13 that it lost nearly $6.9 billion as travel remain depressed over the normally peak vacation season because of the pandemic. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel, File)
Delta posts $5.4 billion 3Q loss as pandemic hammers travel

By David Koenig Oct. 13, 2020 01:28 PM EDT

FILE - In this July 22, 2020 photo, a ticketing agent for Delta Airlines hands a boarding pass to a passenger as he checks in for a flight in the main terminal of Denver International Airport in Denver. .Air travel has collapsed because of the virus pandemic, and airlines are trying to convince passengers and their own employees about safety. All airlines require passengers to wear masks during flights, and most extend the rule to airports too. But some people have complained about violators refusing to keep their mask on .(AP Photo/David Zalubowski)
Southwest, American tighten mask rules; Delta widens testing

By David Koenig Jul. 23, 2020 01:41 PM EDT

FILE - In this April 30, 2020, file photo, Ethan Cale walks to the American Airlines ticket counter in Salt Lake City. American Airlines is telling 25,000 workers that they could lose their jobs in October because of the sharp drop in air travel during the virus pandemic. The airline said Wednesday, July 15, it was starting new offers of buyouts and partially paid leave, which it hopes will reduce the number of furloughs. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, File)
American Airlines warns 25,000 workers they could lose jobs

By David Koenig Jul. 15, 2020 07:11 PM EDT

A passenger wears personal protective equipment on a Delta Airlines flight as a map depicting the spread of COVID-19 is displayed on a monitor after landing at Minneapolis−Saint Paul International Airport, Thursday, May 28, 2020, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Minchillo)
“Growth has stalled" .... surge in US infections hits Delta

By David Koenig Jul. 14, 2020 07:12 AM EDT

People wearing a protective face mask to help curb the spread of the coronavirus walk at Shibuya pedestrian crossing Thursday, July 9, 2020, in Tokyo. The Japanese capital has confirmed more than 220 new coronavirus infections, exceeding its previous record.(AP Photo/Eugene Hoshiko)
Bed Bath & Beyond closing stores, cruises prepare to sail

Jul. 09, 2020 11:14 AM EDT

FILE - In this May 28, 2020 file photo, a protestor breaks a window of a business with a baseball bat, in St. Paul, Minn. The destruction caused by vandals and looters in cities across the country, who struck as demonstrators took to the streets in reaction to the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, has devastated small businesses already reeling from the coronavirus outbreak. (AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
Hints of economic reawakening amid mass, civic unrest

The Associated Press Jun. 03, 2020 10:44 AM EDT