US GOV'T SHUTDOWN COSTS DELTA AIR LINES US$200 MLN

NEW YORK, Dec 4 (Bernama-Xinhua) -- Delta Air Lines said on Wednesday that it expects to incur losses of about US$200 million to its fourth-quarter profit due to the recent United States (US) federal government shutdown, reported Xinhua.

The 43-day shutdown, which spurred regulators to curb air traffic at major airports last month, would dent the company's earnings by about US$0.25 per share, Delta CEO Ed Bastian told investors.

The longest shutdown on record, which ended on Nov. 12, has disrupted tens of thousands of flights across the country.

In early November, the Federal Aviation Administration ordered a reduction in flights at 40 of the busiest airports due to a shortage of air-traffic controllers.

During the 10 days of flight restrictions, Delta's bookings dropped by five per cent to 10 per cent, with business travel softening and refunds surging, Bastian said.

But the Atlanta-based carrier has recovered quickly with booking growth returning to previous expectations after the shutdown was lifted, he said, adding that demand looks strong heading into next year.

Alaska Air Group, which owns Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, reported on Wednesday that its revenue losses related to the shutdown were expected to cut its adjusted earnings by US$0.15 per share in the fourth quarter.

The company said it had to cancel 600 flights as a result of the government's air traffic reductions, impacting about 40,000 customers.

Alaska's revenue turned sharply negative during the shutdown chaos and has not bounced back to pre-shutdown trends, it said.

--BERNAMA-XINHUA