Delta CEO Admits Continued Impact of Government Shutdown

Over the past several weeks, the airline industry felt the strain of the longest federal government shutdown in history, as staffing shortages and mandatory flight cuts caused problems for travelers and airlines.

The government shutdown officially came to a close on Wednesday night. While some experts have warned that it could still take some time for air travel to return to normal, Delta CEO Ed Bastian expects the airline to be "back to normal" by the weekend.

However, even if Delta has been able to return to normal operations almost immediately, that doesn't mean the airline hasn't been hurt by the shutdown.

Delta Expects Quick Return to Normal

While some experts have warned that it could take some time for air travel to return to normal even after the government fully reopened, Bastian said that Delta Air Lines expects to be back to normal almost immediately.

“The system should return to normal by the weekend,” Bastian told CBS Mornings this week. “And normal for us is an incredibly safe, incredibly reliable, great experience.”

Bastian assured travelers that the airline will be ready for the Thanksgiving travel season in the coming weeks.

“Thanksgiving is going to be a great holiday period of travel,” Bastian said.

Delta Still Feels the Impact

While Delta does seem optimistic that it will be able to bounce back quickly from the strain of the government shutdown, Bastian admits that the airline continues to feel the impact of the shutdown financially.

“We had a little over 2,000 cancellations. You can’t make that up within the quarter. So, yes, there was an impact,” Bastian said in an interview with Bloomberg.

Bastian also said that bookings throughout the holiday season slowed down as travelers grew nervous about the lengthy government shutdown stretching into Thanksgiving or even the Christmas season.

“We’ve seen some reduction in bookings, not material, but, you know, maybe 5% to 10% from where we would normally be,” Bastian said.

That said, it does sound like the airline is prepared to handle the upcoming holiday season.