The government shutdown this autumn went down as the longest in American history, and one of its biggest impacts was on the airline industry. In fact, mandated flight reductions by the Federal Aviation Administration, caused by an air traffic controller shortage, quickly became one of the most visible and debated issues. The CEO of Delta Air Lines revealed just how much money the airline lost during the longest government shutdown in the country’s history (via The Associated Press).
Delta Lost Hundreds of Millions During Shutdown
Ed Bastian, CEO of the Georgia-based airline, confirmed in a disclosure published Wednesday, Dec. 3, that Delta lost an estimated $200 million during the 43-day-long shutdown. Delta lost about 25 cents per share during that frame, a time when “refunds grew significantly,” according to Bastian.
The shutdown began on Oct. 1, furloughing air traffic control workers who were forced to find other means of income. That led to excessive delays and a historic number of cancelled itineraries at 40 of the nation’s busiest airports. In November, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) issued an emergency order on behalf of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy which required all commercial airlines to cancel up to six percent of flights operating within North America. Between Nov. 7 and Nov. 16, more than 10,000 domestic flights were cancelled.
‘Never Before Happened’
“When you’ve got the Secretary of Transportation telling people we don’t have controllers, questioning the safety at some level of travel, which has never before happened, it led to more customers holding off on booking their holiday travel,” Bastian said on Wednesday.
But despite the trouble, Bastian reassured flyers and investors that the worst is now over. “I think we’re through it and it was transitory,” Bastian said of the shutdown, which ceased on Nov. 13. “We’re looking forward to a strong December, a strong close to the year,” he added, citing that bookings around the Christmas and New Year holidays are “really strong.”
Air Traffic Controllers Were Hardest Hit
Air traffic controllers were amongst those hit hardest by the shutdown, missing two paychecks during the fracas. At the end of November, the FAA announced that 776 air traffic controllers who had maintained “perfect attendance” throughout the shutdown would receive financial bonuses. The roughly 20,000 other air traffic controllers in the country will reportedly not receive the bonuses. “It is wrong to financially penalize these Federal employees for responsibly managing life events beyond their control while working without pay,” Senator Tammy Duckworth, a member of the Senate Subcommittee on Aviation, Space, and Innovation, told Duffy in a letter.
