Skift Take
Will business travelers return in force this fall? That's what Delta CEO Ed Bastian is betting on to help the airline reverse its $881 million second-quarter loss and return it to profitability.
Domestic travelers are returning to the skies at a pace that even a seasoned executive like Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said was surprising, so much so that the airline, which lost money in the second quarter, expects to return to profits in the second half of the year.
The pace of the domestic recovery is a welcome change but one that required Delta to step up its hiring. "It's taken us a little bit of time to catch our breath," Bastian said. The carrier expects to hire about 4,000 people from now to the end of this year, many of whom are replacing employees who took voluntary separation or early retirement during the depth of the pandemic last year.
Unlike some of its competitors, Delta has not been plagued by debilitating pilot and cabin crew shortages. But its reservations and ticketing operations staffing has come up short, with reports of six-hour wait times on customer-service calls. Part of this Bastian attributed to passengers having more questions about traveling during the pandemic and changing travel plans, thanks to more flexible ticket-changing policies. Part, though, lies with staffing, and Delta says half of the 4,000 people it plans to hire will be in customer service.
In the short term, the airline has tapped retiree
