Delta CEO sees some recovery from travel crisis later in 2021

The Delta Air Lines chief tells workers he expects some recovery from the coronavirus-related travel slowdown by spring.

CEO Ed Bastian writes in a New Year’s Day memo to employees that he expects 2021 to begin with deeply depressed trips like last year. But as vaccines become more widely available, he expects a turning point, especially in business travel. He says Delta is expected to generate positive cash flow by spring.

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Bastian wrote that there is uncertainty over what travel demand will look like once a significant number of people are vaccinated, and Delta must be nimble and ready for the change.

“Just as we have never experienced a global pandemic in our history, we have never had to create and execute a pandemic recovery plan,” Bastian wrote. “Our success will depend on our collaboration, our willingness to be open to new ideas, our adaptability and our humility to recognize that we will not always know the answers.

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Air travel is less than half of what it was in 2019, but it has recovered somewhat from a staggering 96% drop in mid-April last year.

It is not known how quickly the vaccines will be distributed across the United States In recent weeks, Trump administration health officials had spoken of a target to ship enough vaccines by the end of the month to inoculate 20 million Americans. Earlier this week, the government said 14 million doses had been dispatched, but only 2.8 million injections had been administered. Officials said there was a delay in reporting vaccinations, but they are still proceeding slower than expected. They expect the pace to pick up next week.

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On Tuesday, President-elect Joe Biden said the Trump administration “is lagging far behind” and vowed to step up the pace once he takes office on January 20. In early December, Biden promised to distribute 100 million snaps within the first 100 days. of its administration.