In a wide-ranging interview on CNBC this morning, Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian, stated that the company will lose an estimated $25 million in monthly revenue due to the government shutdown. He stated that the lost revenue is due to less government employees and contractors flying. While he noted that he was not picking sides, he hoped that elected officials would come to a resolution soon.
Mr. Bastian also spoke about the longer waits at TSA checkpoints across the country. In Atlanta, a Delta hub, the average wait time on Monday was 90 minutes. The waits will continue to increase as TSA employees continue to call in sick. As we saw over the weekend in Miami, terminals are also being closed due to the lack of workers.
Here is the short video from Squawk Box:
. @delta CEO: Government shutdown is costing the airline $25 million this month pic.twitter.com/P9qDwxC7oc
— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) January 15, 2019
Final Word
As far as Delta losing $25 million during the government shutdown, it is not that big of a deal. The company posted a profit of $5.1 billion in pretax income for 2018. If the government shutdown is affecting the company’s bottom line, maybe they could try to take the Apple contract from United. I am kidding, but not really.
