17th March, 2020
Delta Airlines on Tuesday announced its plans to reduce its flight operations’ capacity by 15 per cent following the spread of Coronavirus to the country.
The airline’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Mr Ed Bastian, stated this in a statement he issued in Lagos.
Bastain said that since the World Health Organisation’s declaration of the virus as a pandemic, it had led to a decline in demands across all entities.
He said that the airline was taking the decisive action to also protect its financial position.
The airline’s boss explained that the reduction was to align capacity with the expected passengers’ demands.
“To align capacity with expected demand, Delta Airlines is reducing system capacity by 15 points.
“It is also planning to reduce its international capacity by between 20 per and 25 per cent, and reduce its domestic capacity by between 10 per cent and 15 per cent.
“In addition to the significant efforts underway to protect the health and safety of our customers and employees, we are announcing additional steps to address the financial impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.
“In the weeks since COVID-19 emerged; Delta Airlines has risen to the challenge, taking every possible action to take care of and protect its customers during a stressful time.
“Top priority is protecting the health and safety of our customers and employees,” he said.
Bastian said that the airline, due to the outbreak of the virus, had made the difficult, but necessary decision to immediately reduce its capacity.
According to him, the airline is also implementing cost reductions and cash flow initiatives across the organisation.
Bastian added that over the past 10 years, he had transformed Delta Airlines by strengthening its balance sheets, diversifying its revenue streams and enhancing operational and financial flexibilities.
He said that the environment was fluid and trends were changing quickly, but it was well-positioned to manage the challenges.
The airline CEO said that the management was taking actions to ensure that Delta Airlines continues to maintain its leadership position and strong financial foundation.
He said that the company would continue to make adjustments to planned capacity as demanding trends change.