An employee of Delta Air Lines works on the departures level at Los Angeles International Airport on August 25, 2021.
Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Air Lines, said that over the last four weeks, about 8,000 of the company's 75,000 employees tested positive for Covid-19.
Delta reported a loss for the quarter and predicted another for the first three months of the year because of the fast-spreading omicron variant.
Between Christmas Eve and the first week of January, more than 20,000 U.S. flights were canceled due to a series of winter storms. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said that 3,000 of the airline's employees were positive for Covid.
The past few days have seen a decrease in flight cancelations. Delta had 1% of flights canceled over the past week because of omicron.
The employees who tested positive had no significant health issues, according to Bastian.
If employees test positive for Covid-19, Delta will give them five days of pay, and two more days if they test positive on the fifth day. Staff used to have 10 days of paid leave. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention halved its recommendation for Covid quarantining.
The CDC was urged to make the change by Delta and other airlines.
The union criticized the policy. Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, said last week that Delta is telling workers across work groups that they should come to work even if someone in the household tested positive. Positive workers were told to come to work after 5 days if the fever is below 100.9, even if they still test positive.
Delta issued a cease-and-desist letter over comments made to the union, which is trying to organize Delta's flight attendants.
The policy was based on CDC guidance.
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