The airline’s chief warned that costs would rise as the company hired more pilots and cabin crew to cope with increased demand ANGUS MORDANT/BLOOMBERG/GETTY IMAGESThe worldwide grounding of the Boeing 737 Max helped Delta Airlines to beat Wall Street’s profit forecast as the carrier picked up business from competitors that flew the jet. However, Ed Bastian, chief executive of Delta, warned that costs would rise further than expected as the company hired pilots and cabin crew to make up for a shortfall caused by a “surprise” increase in demand. Delta, valued at $34 billion, is the world’s largest airline by traffic, having overtaken American Airlines this year. It does not operate the 737 Max, which has yet to return to the skies since being grounded in March this year after two crashes killed a total of 346 people. Mr Bastian, 62, said that Delta wanted to hold on to…

Source: The Times October 10, 2019 23:01 UTC