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Business

Airport outage: Delta CEO to seek repayment for lost revenue

Ed Bastian in his office at Delta a few days after becoming CEO in May 2016. He had been a longtime No. 2 to his predecessor, Richard Anderson. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
Ed Bastian in his office at Delta a few days after becoming CEO in May 2016. He had been a longtime No. 2 to his predecessor, Richard Anderson. (AP Photo/John Bazemore)
By
Dec 20, 2017

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said he found it "shocking" that it took nearly 12 hours to get the power back on at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport -- and he plans to seek compensation for the airline's lost revenue.

"We will certainly be seeking the opportunity to have a conversation, and then seek reimbursement," Bastian said during an interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution at a Delta 747 farewell event Tuesday evening.  "I don't know whose responsibility it is between the airport and Georgia Power, but we're going to have conversations with both of them."

Fire officials said a failure caused a spark to some insulation that spread the fire

Bastian said the airline may have lost $25 million to $50 million of revenue as a result of the power outage that hit the world's busiest airport on Sunday. That doesn't include additional costs incurred by Delta, which canceled 1,400 flights and is reimbursing passengers for Sunday night hotel stays.

"We have a lot of people at the start of the business week that didn't take their trips" because of the outage, Bastian said.

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AJC Business reporter Kelly Yamanouchi keeps you updated on the latest news about Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport, Delta Air Lines and the airline industry in metro Atlanta and beyond. You'll find more on myAJC.com, including these stories:

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About the Author

As business team lead, Kelly Yamanouchi edits and writes business stories. She graduated from Harvard and has a master's degree from Northwestern.

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