Delta CEO Ed Bastian Talks Travel Disruption

Summary

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Bloomberg Talks: Delta CEO Ed Bastian Talks Travel Disruption

Date: November 12, 2025
Host: Bloomberg
Guest: Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines

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Episode Overview

In this special episode, Bloomberg sits down with Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, at the New York Stock Exchange during Delta's centennial celebration. The conversation explores travel disruptions related to the recent government shutdown, recovery expectations, the evolution of the airline business, and Delta’s growing focus on premium services and international expansion. Bastian reflects on the airline’s centennial, addresses current industry challenges, and forecasts the aviation landscape for the future.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Impact of the Government Shutdown

• Delta's Centennial Milestone:

  • “First US airline to reach 100 years of age. But yeah, we're hoping that the vote comes back tonight and we get everybody paid. Most importantly, all those essential workers... they do such amazing work. They're heroes doing this for a month and a half without pay.”
    — Ed Bastian [00:41]

• Restoring Normal Operations:

  • Bastian is optimistic that operations and delays will improve quickly once paychecks restart for essential employees.
    • “I think it'll happen pretty quickly. I think once people start getting paid... over the next couple of days, I think you’ll see things starting to turn to normal.”
      — Ed Bastian [01:19]
  • Expectation that flights will be “pretty close to normal” by Friday if weather holds.

• Holiday Travel Outlook:

  • “Thanksgiving will be great. We know the importance of Christmas and Thanksgiving and the holidays. That's our super bowl, and that's what we rehearse and plan all year long. We’re going to be in really good shape for that.”
    — Ed Bastian [01:55]

• Booking Trends and Customer Confidence:

  • Slight drop in bookings (5–10%) during shutdown; Delta provided flexible refunds.
    • “We did see some refunds... If people wanted their money back, ... we wanted to make sure they were being taken care of. But I think as soon as people see it’s ready to go, they're going to come right back.”
      — Ed Bastian [02:13]

• Financial Impact:

  • Acknowledges a definite hit to fourth quarter earnings.
    • “You can’t make up a one week of Delta. We had a little over 2,000 cancellations. You can't make that up within the quarter. So yes, there was an impact like there’s going to be in all airlines. It's transitory.”
      — Ed Bastian [03:10]

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2. Business Recovery and Future Demand

• Momentum & Premium Travel:

  • Delta saw strong growth before the crisis, particularly in premium segments.
  • “Our sweet spot is our premium traveler... the greater the experience, the more people willing to pay for it and the demand is even higher.”
    — Ed Bastian [03:48]

• Positive Outlook for 2026:

  • “Visibility is about 90 days out, so you're going into January. So we would see the return. Traffic from, from Christmas and New Year’s looks really good.”
    — Ed Bastian [03:48]
  • No reason to think business will slow, with an emphasis on premium and international business.

• Premium and Loyalty Focus:

  • Noted a rise in share of premium and loyalty revenues:

    • “Premium and loyalty accounted for about 60% of revenues so far this year versus 57% last year.”
      — Interviewer [04:32]

  • “As long as you're giving people value and they get great value from us because we unlock those opportunities... If you're a premium traveler, Delta is your first call, and we love that.”
    — Ed Bastian [04:55]

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3. International Growth and Industry Shifts

• International Expansion Goals:

  • Current split: two-thirds US revenue, one-third international.

    • “I think we're going to see that start to get closer to 50–50, and eventually international will overtake the domestic system.”
      — Ed Bastian [05:34]

  • “Only one in five people in the world have ever stepped foot on an airplane.”
    — Ed Bastian [05:34]

  • Focus on making air travel more accessible and sustainable globally.

• International Inbound Travel:

  • US travelers still comprise the bulk of international flights, but inbound international business is rebounding.
    • “International travelers are coming back... International business is really picking up a lot.”
      — Ed Bastian [06:25]

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4. The Future of Air Travel: Next Century and Technological Change

• Changing Customer Expectations:

  • “People just want to travel, they want to go. As long as you make it accessible, affordable, sustainable—those are our priorities.”
    — Ed Bastian [07:24]

• Sustainability and Innovation:

  • Next-gen planes to be more fuel efficient.
  • Experimenting with new travel solutions, e.g., partnership with Joby for electric air taxis.
    • “It’s not going to replace Delta, but it’s going to be able to get people moving quickly from home to airport to their destination.”
      — Ed Bastian [07:24]

• Partnership Ecosystem:

  • Building collaborations with Uber, YouTube TV, DraftKings, Starbucks, etc.
    • “You're building an ecosystem... And people love loyalty, they love brand experience, they love their points, they love acknowledgment and recognition on both platforms.”
      — Ed Bastian [08:24]

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5. Competition and Industry Structure

• Premier vs. Low-Cost Airlines:

  • “I think some of them will improve. But I think it's a long... It's a tall ask for some of the lower end carriers to find price points where they can actually compete with us.”
    — Ed Bastian [09:09]

  • Emphasized that reliability and consistent premium service take years of investment, attributing much of Delta’s success to its employees.

    • “We may have great hard product. It’s the soft product that matters. It’s the consistency and the delivery that our people make that make the difference for the experience.”
      — Ed Bastian [09:09]

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Essential Workers during the Shutdown:

  • “They're heroes doing this for a month and a half without pay, showing up every day. And we appreciate them.”
    — Ed Bastian [00:41]

• On Changing Travel Demand:

  • “We’re in the experience economy. And the one thing we’ve learned... is: the greater the experience, the more people willing to pay for it and the demand is even higher.”
    — Ed Bastian [03:48]

• On the Global Future of Aviation:

  • “Only one in five people in the world have ever stepped foot on an airplane. When you think about that, it’s pretty amazing. We take it for granted here.”
    — Ed Bastian [05:34]

• On Sustainability and Accessibility:

  • “We got to find ways to make it affordable, to make it sustainable, to make it accessible, and that’s what we’re focused on.”
    — Ed Bastian [05:34]

• Closing Thoughts on Competition:

  • “It’s the people on the plane. I always tell people we may have great hard product. It’s the soft product that matters.”
    — Ed Bastian [09:09]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Delta’s Centennial & Shutdown Relief: [00:41] – [01:19]
• Return to Normal Operations Outlook: [01:19] – [01:50]
• Booking Trends & Refund Policy: [02:04] – [03:04]
• Financial Impact of Disruption: [03:10]
• Premium & Loyalty Business Discussion: [03:48] – [04:55]
• International Expansion Strategy: [05:24] – [06:25]
• Future of Air Travel & Sustainability: [07:24] – [08:59]
• Competitive Landscape & Industry Structure: [08:59] – [09:41]

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This episode provides a candid, forward-looking conversation with Delta’s CEO Ed Bastian, offering both a status update on post-shutdown airline recovery and a visionary roadmap for the next century of travel, all in the context of Delta’s 100th anniversary.

Transcript

[Indiana University Announcer]

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[Interviewer]

Bloomberg Audio Studios Podcasts Radio News I'm here with the man of the moment, CEO Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta, on the 100th centennial celebration here at the New York Stock Exchange. It's also a wonderful day, not just because of that ad and welcome. It's also there seems to be a light at the end of the tunnel. How relieved are you about what's going.

[Ed Bastian]

On in Washington, D.C. well, more importantly, I'm, I'm glad we got to our hundredth centennial and so proud of our people. First US airline to reach 100 years of age. But yeah, we're hoping that the boat comes back tonight and we get everybody paid. Most importantly, all those essential workers, controllers, the security agents, the regulators, everyone in the system, they do such amazing work. They're heroes doing this for a month and a half without pay, showing up every day. And we appreciate them. So I'm happy about that as well.

[Interviewer]

How long will it take before we don't see any delays or any unexpected delays tied to the shutdown?

[Ed Bastian]

I think it'll happen pretty quickly. I think once, once people start getting paid, and I know Secretary Duffy is committed to getting those paychecks out right away. So over the next couple of days, I think you'll see things starting to turn to normal. Yesterday was actually a pretty good day. The weekend was tough. We had weather. We had a lot of staff shortages in many of the ATC towers that, that caused delays and cancellations. Looking ahead, you know, weather holds, and I think the outlook for the weather is not too bad. It should be by Friday. I think we should be back pretty close to normal.

[Interviewer]

Do you think Thanksgiving will also be back to normal?

[Ed Bastian]

Thanksgiving will be great.

[Interviewer]

Okay.

[Ed Bastian]

We know the importance of Christmas and Thanksgiving and the holidays. That's our super bowl, and that's what we rehearse and plan all year long. We're going to be in really good shape for that.

[Interviewer]

Have you seen anybody make any cancellations, not make plans, anything? That sort of highlights the concern around some of the delays that we've seen from the government shutdown.

[Ed Bastian]

And it's understandable. We've seen some reduction in bookings. Not material, but, you know, maybe 5 to 10% from where we would normally be. The first. One of the frustrating things to me is that heading into this period, when they decided on On Thursday to start canceling flights. We had tremendous momentum. The revenue based business going double digits, premium categories all going double digits, if not more. We're going really strong. And then you get into this situation, all those travelers say, well, maybe I'll wait and see what's going to happen here. So we did see some refunds. We did see some. We were very flexible in refunds. If people wanted their money back, we were happy to. Not happy to, but we wanted to make sure they were being taken care of. But I think as soon as people see it's ready to go, they're going to come right back.

[Interviewer]

Do you think there's going to be any permanent hit to the fourth quarter earnings because of the shutdown?

[Ed Bastian]

You can't, you can't make up a one week of Delta. We had a little over 2,000 cancellations. You can't make that up within the quarter. So yes, there was an impact like there's going to be in all the airlines. It's transitory. I think everyone understands why it wasn't our doing. It was something that we were used almost as a political hostage to get, to get the government back together. So so be it. But the good news is that, you know, the outlook is really strong and the holidays will be a, a good test of that.

[Interviewer]

You talked about how July you really started to see things pick up and accelerate and we've heard that from a lot of the airlines. Do you have visibility into the first quarter that this could continue and that this is just gaining steam?

[Ed Bastian]

Yeah, yeah, we are. Visibility is about 90 days out, so you're going into January. So we would see the return. Traffic from, from Christmas and New Year's looks really good. So I see no reason to think that this thing is going to slow down. And again, it's in our category, which is our sweet spot is our premium traveler. So whether it's our international traveler or business traveler, higher end people that wanting a premium service and premium product, we're in the experience economy. And the one thing we've learned over the last several years is that the greater the experience, the more people willing to pay for it and the demand is even higher. The more commodity your experience is, the less people are willing to evaluate. And so we're in the sweet spot. We're leading the premium experience in the airline category. And I think we're going to have a really good next year.

[Interviewer]

I'm glad you mentioned that. We often talk about Delta and how this is the Delta economy, how you guys are leading in the airline space. You also highlight how different it is with respect to the premium offerings and some of the profitability there versus the rest of the business. I know that premium and loyalty accounted for about 60% of revenues so far this year versus 57% last year. How far can this go? Is this sustainable?

[Ed Bastian]

I think it is as long as you're giving people value and they get great value from us because we unlock those opportunities. You know, as long as people want to go and explore Riyadh, where I was just out a couple of weeks ago and we announced a direct flight to Riyadh from Atlanta next year or Australia or the Maldives or anywhere you want to go within our country to reunite with friends and families and have a getaway. If you're a premium traveler, Delta is your first call, and we love that.

[Interviewer]

How much is international increasingly a part of that? I know that Korea Air was something that Delta has a partnership with, and increasingly these new routes are coming out. How much is that, the expansion plan? Very much so.

[Ed Bastian]

Well, today about two thirds of our revenues are us. One third is international. In the second century, which starts January 1st, I think we're going to see that start to get closer to 50, 50, and eventually international will overtake the domestic system. One of the things I tell people wherever I go is that we're a growth industry. Only one in five people in the world have ever stepped foot on an airplane. When you think about that, it's pretty amazing. We take it for granted here. If you told someone here in the US you haven't been an airplane, they think you were living in a cave somewhere, Right. But the world hasn't experienced air travel, and we got to find ways to make it affordable, to make it sustainable, to make it accessible, and that's what we're focused on.

[Interviewer]

How much have you seen? I know the international inbound travel to the United States took a bit of a dip after Liberation Day. Have you seen it really coming back? Or Is this primarily U.S. travelers going overseas?

[Ed Bastian]

It's still mostly U.S. travel heading overseas, and we supplemented with more U.S. point of sale version. But the international travelers are coming back. People don't. People want to be here. So I think once the trade uncertainties were starting to lift, once people saw that, you know, what immigration was about and where, where people were potentially vulnerable as compared to people that have passports and have normal, normal business. Those are the people we want coming into our country to be able to spend time with them and invest in our economy. People are getting much, much, much more comfortable. And the place you see it the most, the most important is in the international business because international business is really picking up a lot.

[Interviewer]

I love that you're celebrating the 100th centennial because it highlights how big of a moment of change we're in currently too. And I would love to take some time to look forward in next two years, next five years, next 10 years, next century. What air travel is going to look like given some of the massive changes that we're seeing just technologically as well as societally.

[Ed Bastian]

Well, I think you'll see the demand strength continue to build. We know through our history people just want to travel, they want to go. As long as again you do, you make it accessible, affordable, sustainable, those are our priorities. In order to do that, that means the new planes need to come in much more fuel efficient than the planes that we've taken. Looking for new form factors in terms of what that airplane looks and what the body, the aerodynamics of the planes of the future are. We're doing it with a small carrier today called Joby with the electric vehicle takeoff. It's not going to replace Delta, but it's going to be able to get people moving quickly from home to airport to their destination. And that's going to be, I think with electric and battery power. It's going to be an interesting innovation that we face. But we have so many ways in which people want to continue to move and continue to explore. We need to have the technology advanced. So we spend a lot of time with Boeing and Airbus and the engine manufacturers and understanding where they're headed because they really drive those opportunities. But then looking also at the partners we built with Uber, which I'll be back here at the Exchange this afternoon we had an exclusive relationship with them with YouTube TV. We announced this year an exclusive relationship with them with DraftKings with Starbucks. So many brands kind of want to sit next to the premier travel leader because we drive hundreds of millions of people an opportunity and we draft off each other. And so you're building an ecosystem and that ecosystem will increasingly get. And people love loyalty, they love brand experience, they love their points, they love acknowledgment and recognition on both platforms.

[Interviewer]

Do you think that there's room for more than the handful of the premier airline brands at the top? Do you think that for the low cost airlines there's enough room in that future vision of the airline space?

[Ed Bastian]

Well, I know they're all trying to, to get there. This is, this is hard. This is hard. And it takes years of investment in reliability product category the consistency at the service level. It's the people on the plane. I always tell people we may have great hard product. It's the soft product that matters. It's the consistency and the delivery that our people make that make the difference for the experience. That's going to take years. And no, I think some of them will improve. But I think it's a long It's a tall ask for some of the lower end carriers to find price points where they can actually compete with us.

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