Delta Air Lines is asking employees again to take unpaid leaves of absence to help the company save money.
It’s a sign of the deepening slump in air travel with coronavirus cases rising across the country. Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday that Delta will need more employees to take unpaid leave “for the foreseeable future.”
Unlike American and United, Atlanta-based Delta has avoided furloughs since the pandemic started by convincing thousands of workers to retire early or take unpaid leave. But the air travel recovery seems to be faltering. Passenger traffic rose over Thanksgiving week but has dropped since then.