Delta Airlines (DAL) on Tuesday reported another staggering quarterly loss, as the coronavirus pandemic continues to crush demand, prompting major airlines to dismiss thousands of workers.

During the third quarter, the air carrier lost nearly $5.4 billion on a net basis, or $6.9 billion pre-taxes — swinging from a profit of over $1 billion in the comparable year-ago period. It underscored what CEO Ed Bastian called “the magnitude” of the coronavirus pandemic on the carrier’s business.

Here were the main results from the report, compared to consensus estimates compiled by Bloomberg:

• Total operating revenue: $3.1 billion vs. $3.1 billion expected

• Adjusted loss per share: $3.30 vs. $2.97 expected

• Adjusted pre-tax loss: $2.6 billion

• Adjusted net income loss: $2.09 billion vs. $1.87 billion expected

Delta increased its adjusted revenue to $2.6 billion during the third quarter, up from $1.47 billion in the second quarter. Daily average cash burn fell to $24 million and was as low as $18 million in September.

Airlines have dramatically scaled back flight schedules and laid off workers to cope with COVID-19’s impact on travel. In a statement, Bastian said that “the actions we are taking now to take care of our people, simplify our fleet, improve the customer experience, and strengthen our brand will allow Delta to accelerate into a post-COVID recovery.”

Bastian added: “We have been encouraged as more customers travel and we are seeing a path of progressive improvement in our revenues, financial results and daily cash burn.”

Still, revenue at Delta is down 79 percent year over year and passenger capacity is down 63%. Delta says it ended the quarter with $21.6 billion in liquidity as the airline embarks on what it calls the “Foundation for Recovery”.

Delta has been able to cut its expenses from salaries and benefits 32% percent as 18,000 employees took early retirement packages and thousands more opted for voluntary unpaid leaves of absence and work hour reductions.

That has allowed Delta to avoid layoffs through the end of the year while other airlines, United (UAL) and American (AAL) have furloughed more than 32,000 employees.

Airlines report earnings

• United Airlines reports after the bell October 14th and hosts call on the 15th

• Southwest Airlines reports before the bell October 22nd

• American Airlines reports before the bell October 22nd

Industry headwinds

The airline industry recovery is moving slower than first expected when Congress passed the $2.4 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act last March. It included billions of dollars for the airlines through the Payroll Support Program. The airlines are lobbying for an additional $20 billion PSP extension from Congress as the pandemic related downturn keeps the industry and its earnings grounded

“Overall, we believe 2021 estimates need to be lower due to the slower than expected recovery,” Cowen Equity Research Analyst Helane Becker told clients in a recent note.

Becker’s team cites improving data showing leisure and family related travel is recovering and driving passenger volumes higher.

The TSA reported the number of people going through security at the nation’s airports, as of last week, was down 65% year over year and that’s an improvement over June when It was off almost 81%. But,“Business traffic is down 90% - 95%,” Becker writes, “And without their return, we believe it will be difficult to get back to cash flow breakeven before 2H21.”

Delta president Glen Hauenstein acknowledged the difficulty airlines face moving forward saying the slow and steady build in demand may take two years “or more until we see a normalized revenue environment.” But Hausten says Delta is creating the foundation for, “sustainable future revenue growth.”

Adam Shapiro is co-anchor of Yahoo Finance’s On the Move.

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