We want consumers to feel as confident in their flight safety as they do in their personal safety, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian told Liz Claman during an exclusive interview on ‘The Claman Countdown.’
Delta CEO Ed Bastian warned of furloughs in “the tens of thousands” for the airline industry if Congress is unable to end the stalemate on another round of coronavirus stimulation.
“If we do not get the support we need, I know there will be furloughs within the sector and probably some pretty large numbers of furloughs will be in the tens of thousands of employees,” Bastian told the Claman Countdown on Tuesday.
In this July 22, 2020 photo, a Delta Airlines ticketing agent gives a boarding pass to a passenger while checking in on a flight at Denver International Airport’s main terminal in Denver. Trade unions win support in Congress for another $ 32 (AP)
Bastian noted that Delta already had to reduce potential furloughs with nearly half of the airline’s work taking voluntary retirement or severance packages and sheets of absence.
“If we can continue to use good voluntary measures to achieve this, we can reduce furloughs, but it’s probably bad to say for sure that we can do that completely,” Bastian added.
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Despite the stagnant talks, Bastian is optimistic about the possibility of another relief package for airlines based on the support the sector has “all the way up by the president.”
“There has been a lot of support, entirely from the President, to consider expanding the relief for the airlines to continue over the next six months for agreement to stay to keep these workers in place, to ‘ t we know that airlines will be essential to the recovery of our economy, “said Bastian. “Our country is too big, we are connected through transport systems given our scale in size in how we operate, in particular our companies, and by keeping the employees in place, we can keep companies in place.” t will get their moves as soon as they are ready. “
Since the pandemic, many of Delta’s competitors have warned that their employees will be evicted if the assistance provided by the CARES Act expires in October.
| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| DAL | DELTA AIR LINES INC. | 29.64 | +0.30 | + 1.02% |
| AAL | AMERICAN AIRLINES GROUP INC. | 13.73 | -0.27 | -1.93% |
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HLDG. | 36.83 | -0.71 | -1.89% |
| RED | SPIRIT AIRLINES INC. | 18.04 | -0.26 | -1.42% |
Last month, American Airlines sent furlough messages to 25,000 of its employees, United warned furloughs could affect 36,000 employees, and Spirit Airlines warned two weeks ago that 20% to 30% of its workers are at risk of furloughs.
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However, Delta is not pushing for a legislative resolution and has continued to take action to encourage passengers to be safe to fly, including an extension of its policy in the middle seat beyond 30 September.
“Our top priority, as we have gone through the pandemic, is to restore confidence in consumer travel and its travel behavior and we believe that distance aboard the aircraft, having that center seat open, has the space next to you. low is an important factor is in not only the comfort of the flight but also the safety of the flight, “said Bastian. “We want customers to feel as confident as they already do with us in their aviation safety compared to their personal safety.”
Bastian notes that he has been on about 30 flights since March and that it has been a “great experience with all protocols” in general and that “the customer experience is better than it has ever been.”
While acknowledging that there has been an initial catch, he noted that Delta’s satisfaction scores are around 20 full points and that many customers have come to him to express their happiness with the airline’s measures.
“Sure, for the first time back, there’s something going on when people come back to the area. But more and more people when they take that second, third and fourth trip, they tell us we’re a great do job, “said Bastian. “And it’s a critical customer, it’s someone they respect to make sure we implement all the protocols we tell the people we do and our team does a great job of that.”
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Finally, Bastian believes that a complete return to normal hangs over the availability of an effective vaccine.
“If that fax is in place, and there will be a series of faxes over the next 6 to 12 months, we will see travel return to a meaningful level,” Bastian said. “I think it will take two to three years to regain consumer behavior, but we want to know that there is an enormous amount of pent up demand for transport, for travel, for mobility and we are ready to serve customers when they are there. ready for. “
Bastian’s remarks come on the heels of a report by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) on Tuesday, which estimates that air travel will not return to full levels by 2024.
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