Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian strongly criticized the recent government shutdown, detailing its operational effects on the aviation sector and describing the pressure on the system as “completely unnecessary”. During an interview with Yahoo! Finance Executive Editor Brian Sozzi on Thursday, the very day the unprecedented 43-day shutdown concluded, Bastian highlighted that requiring essential employees perform high-stress jobs without pay was “inexcusable.”
TL;DR
- Delta CEO Ed Bastian called the government shutdown "inexcusable" for forcing employees to work without pay.
- The shutdown caused significant disruptions for Delta, its customers, and the entire aviation sector.
- Bastian highlighted the stress on essential workers like air traffic controllers and security agents.
- He also pointed to outdated air traffic control systems as a vulnerability exposed by the shutdown.
Bastian, who leads the first U.S. Airline to reach the 100th year milestone, described the shutdown as “very disruptive” for Delta’s business and “incredibly disruptive for our customers.” He stressed that the problems began when the government made an arbitrary reduction in the system’s flying capacity “with no notice,” leaving the airline unable to reroute customers or adequately avoid delays.
“The reality is that there was stress, there was strain, it was completely unnecessary,” Bastian stated. He lamented that the aviation industry, its personnel, and its customers had to “bear the brunt of the dysfunction” because elected leaders could not reach an agreement.
The CEO strongly denounced how federal employees were treated, pointing out that air traffic controllers and security agents were working without pay “for almost a month-and-a-half.” He acknowledged that political differences are understandable, “it should not come at the cost of asking people to work, particularly in high-stress, incredibly sensitive areas, without pay, for weeks on end, that’s inexcusable.”
Bastian urged government representatives to “do your job,”, stating that air carriers “can’t do business like that” and need clearer direction and decisive action from the federal government. The erratic behavior of the shutdown proved particularly vexing, considering Delta's robust financial results, which included “record revenues this year,”, only to encounter a predicament that arose “completely out of your control but out of nowhere.”.
Outdated systems
Beyond immediate delays, the record-setting shutdown exposed deeper vulnerabilities in the nation’s air travel infrastructure, including a shortage of critical personnel and the antiquated technology governing U.S. Airspace. While reassuring the public that air travel remains “absolutely safe, the safest form of transportation period,” Bastian pointed out that the current air traffic control systems, developed decades ago, are “very manual.” This outdated technology means that safety is maintained by slowing the system down, as many travelers learned to their displeasure.
Bastian acknowledged the difficulties but stated the airline expects to be “fully upflying very very soon.” He did, however, warn that recovery isn't immediate. “There’s no flipping the switch” to resume normal operations, given that the airline needs several days to re-align crews after flights were canceled ahead of time.
Bastian wrapped up by expressing his hope that a “next time” won't arise from this kind of crisis. However, he expects that if it does, a superior resolution will be found rather than imposing the repercussions on travelers and aviation staff. Looking forward, the Delta CEO stressed the importance of ongoing government backing to finance the infrastructure upgrades necessary for modernizing air travel.
For this story, Coins2Day used generative AI to help with an initial draft. An editor verified the accuracy of the information before publishing.