Delta Air Targets 50% Cut in Daily Cash Burn by End of June

Delta Air Lines Inc. vowed to cut its daily cash burn in half by the end of June as the carrier rushes to scale back operations amid a collapse in travel demand.

The company will be going through only $50 million a day when the second quarter draws to a close, Chief Financial Officer Paul Jacobson said in a statement Wednesday as Delta reported financial results. The figure was $100 million at the end of the first quarter as the coronavirus pandemic spread and many customers canceled trips.

U.S. airlines are slashing expenses and relying on government aid to get through the worst crisis in the industry’s history. Delta, the first major U.S. carrier to report first-quarter earnings, has parked 650 aircraft, cut flying capacity 85% this quarter, frozen hiring and lowered executive pay to save money. About 37,000 employees—more than a third of Delta’s workforce—have agreed to take short-term leave without pay.

“These are truly unprecedented times for all of us, including the airline industry,” Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in the statement. “Government travel restrictions and stay-at-home orders have been effective in slowing the spread of the virus, but have also severely impacted near-term demand for air travel.”

The shares rose less than 1% to $23.20 ahead of regular trading in New York. Delta fell 61% this year through Tuesday, roughly in line with the decline in a Standard & Poor’s index of the five largest U.S. carriers.

Quarterly Loss

Delta swung to an adjusted loss of 51 cents a share in the first quarter, compared with earnings of 96 cents a share in the same period a year ago.

Sales in the first quarter of this year tumbled 18% to $8.59 billion. Delta suspended 2020 financial guidance earlier this year.

The Atlanta-based airline raised $5.4 billion in capital since early March, including a $3 billion secured term loan and $1.2 billion in aircraft sale leaseback agreements. Delta will receive another $5.4 billion in payroll support from the U.S. Treasury Department, including a $1.6 billion unsecured loan for which the government will receive warrants for 6.5 million shares of company stock.

Delta is also eligible for $4.6 billion in secured loans from the U.S. government, should the company decide to apply for and accept the funds. The carrier said it would end the second quarter with about $10 billion in liquidity.

United Airlines Holdings Inc. said Monday it expected to record a $2.1 billion pretax loss, which will be about $1 billion on an adjusted basis, for the first quarter. Revenue dropped 17% from a year earlier to $8 billion, the carrier said in a regulatory filing. The results are preliminary and subject to change.