Delta Airlines took a $60 million dollar hit in December 2017. The Atlanta-based company lost $20 million due to the winter storms and heavy snow fall — nearly a foot of snow in some parts of Georgia — during a record-breaking winter cold spell.
The additional $40 million dollar loss came from the power outage that occurred at Hartsfield-Jackson Airport in mid-December. The world’s busiest airport was hit by a massive power failure caused by a fire at an underground Georgia Power facility on Dec. 17, 2017.
The power outage stranded thousands of passengers, and caused approximately 1,400 flights to be cancelled. Hartsfield-Jackson, which handles an average of more than 280,000 travelers per day, was in darkness for for 11 hours before power was restored.
Despite the loss of $60 million however, Delta still reported a net profit in December 2017 of $1 billion.
In a statement released on Thu., Jan. 11, Georgia Power apologized for the inconvenience to Delta Airlines, and the passengers and employees at Hartsfield-Jackson the statement read:
At this time, we are focused on completing a safe and thorough investigation. Once that is completed, we will work closely with Hartsfield-Jackson, Delta and other stakeholders to determine whether we can make the system even more reliable.
Multiple news outlets have confirmed that attorneys for Delta and Georgia Power are discussing the best way to resolve the situation.
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