Finance

Here’s How Much Delta Lost On Its Massive Flight Outage

By Reuters
Delta-Outage-Fire
FILE - In this Monday, Aug. 8, 2016, file photo, passengers wait at Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport, in Atlanta. As flight cancellations and delays move into their fourth day, Delta Air Lines isn't providing details on a "small fire" Monday at its data center and whether that fire, or attempts to extinguish it, compounded the airline's troubles. (AP Photo/Branden Camp, File)
Branden Camp — AP

Delta Air Lines (DAL) said its revenue for August was reduced by about $100 million due to an outage that led to cancellations of 2,300 flights over three days.

Passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM), a key measure of an airline’s performance that measures sales against flight capacity, declined 9.5 percent in August from a year earlier.

(For more on the growing problems of the airline industry, read Why Good News for Travelers Is Killing Airline Stocks)

The No. 2 U.S. airline by passenger traffic said last month that the power outage had hit its computer systems, leading to the flight cancellations.

Delta’s CEO issued an apology about the delays. And lawmakers have said they are looking into what cause the flight cancellations.

Delta in July forecast a drop of 4% to 6% in PRASM for the third quarter ending September.