Delta Air Lines reported financial results for the March quarter 2020 and outlined its response to the COVID-19 global pandemic.

“These are truly unprecedented times for all of us, including the airline industry. 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, reducing our expected June quarter revenues by 90 percent, compared to a year ago” said Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief executive officer. “Delta is taking decisive action to prioritize the safety of our employees and customers while protecting our business and bolstering liquidity. I am especially proud of the incredible work the Delta people are doing to keep our nation’s airways open, playing an active role in the fight against the virus.”

Bastian continued, “I would like to thank the President, members of Congress, and the Administration for their bipartisan support of the Payroll Support Program under the CARES Act, which recognizes the important role the airlines play in the U.S. economy. The Payroll Support Program will help safeguard Delta jobs while positioning our nation for recovery.”

Response to COVID-19

Network and Customer Experience

To address the challenges of COVID-19, the company is taking the following actions:

Making significant capacity reductions for the June quarter versus prior year with total system capacity down 85 percent, including domestic down by 80 and international capacity down by 90 percent

Adopting new cleaning procedures on all flights, including fogging on all aircraft overnight and sanitizing high-touch areas like tray tables, entertainment screens, armrests and seat-back pockets before boarding

Taking steps to help employees and customers practice social distancing, including blocking middle seats, pausing automatic upgrades, modifying our boarding process and moving to essential meal service only

Extending 2020 Medallion Status an additional year, rolling Medallion Qualification Miles into 2021, and extending Delta SkyMiles American Express Card benefits and Delta Sky Club memberships

Giving customers flexibility to plan, re-book and travel including extending expiration on travel credits to two years

Community Response

Delta and its 90,000 employees are taking an active role in our nation’s fight against the virus by:

Offering free flights to medical professionals fighting COVID-19 in the hardest-hit areas of the U.S.

Chartering international cargo-only flights to provide healthcare workers with materials needed to do their jobs

Operating charters and specially approved scheduled flights to nations around the world to repatriate more than 28,000 people displaced by the virus to the U.S.

Manufacturing tens of thousands of face shields and masks at Delta Flight Products to aid healthcare workers

Partnering with the U.S. military to develop and manufacture secure, sterile transport pods at Delta TechOps, which will safely transit infected personnel to hospitals and medical centers

Donating over 200,000 pounds of food to hospitals, first responders, community food banks, and organizations including Feeding America

Expense Management

The company expects June quarter total expenses to decline by approximately 50%, or $5 billion, over prior year due to reduced capacity, lower fuel and cost initiatives, including:

Parking more than 650 aircraft

Consolidating airport facilities, with temporary concourse and Delta Sky Club closures

Instituting a company-wide hiring freeze and offering voluntary leave options with 37,000 employees taking short-term unpaid leave

Reducing salary expense through pay reductions for executive management and reduced work schedules across organization

Balance Sheet, Cash and Liquidity

Delta's top financial priority remains preserving cash and enhancing liquidity. Accordingly, the company has taken the following actions:

Raised $5.4 billion of capital since early March, including securing a $3.0 billion secured term loan, closing $1.2 billion in aircraft sale leasebacks, issuing $1.1 billion in AA, A and B tranches of our 2020-1 Enhanced Equipment Trust Certificates (EETC), and funding $150 million in private aircraft mortgages to enhance liquidity and satisfy maturing obligations

Drew down $3 billion under existing revolving credit facilities

Reduced planned capital expenditures by more than $3 billion, including working with original equipment manufacturers to optimize the timing of our future aircraft deliveries and deferring aircraft mods, IT initiatives, and ground equipment refreshment

Extended payment terms with airports, vendors and lessors

Suspended shareholder returns, including the Company’s stock repurchase program and future dividend payments

CARES Act Relief

The company expects to receive relief from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act in the following forms:

Payroll support of $5.4 billion, comprised of $3.8 billion of direct relief and a $1.6 billion low-interest, unsecured 10-year loan. Delta has already received $2.7 billion of these funds and expects to receive the remainder over the next three months. As consideration, the U.S. Treasury will receive warrants to purchase over 6.5 million shares of Delta common stock at a strike price of $24.39 with a 5-year maturity

Eligibility for $4.6 billion in secured loans, if the company chooses to apply and accept funds

“With the significant impact of COVID-19 on Delta’s revenue, we were burning $100 million per day at the end of March. Through our decisive actions, we expect that cash burn to moderate to approximately $50 million per day by the end of the June quarter,” said Paul Jacobson, Delta’s chief financial officer. “The decade of work we put into the balance sheet to lower debt and build unencumbered assets has been critical to our success in raising capital and we expect to end the June quarter with approximately $10 billion in liquidity.”

March Quarter Results

Adjusted results primarily exclude the impact of mark-to-market ("MTM") adjustments.

Adjusted pre-tax loss of $422 million or $0.51 per share

Total revenue of $8.6 billion, down 18 percent versus prior year, with total unit revenue down 13 percent

Total expense decreased $450 million driven by lower fuel, partially offset by higher revenue- and capacity-related expenses, with non-fuel unit cost (CASM-Ex) up 9 percent compared to prior year

Fuel expense decreased 19 percent relative to March quarter 2019. Delta’s fuel price for the March quarter of $1.81 per gallon included a $29 million benefit from the refinery

At the end of the March quarter, the company had $6.0 billion in unrestricted liquidity