Delta Air Lines Inc. hopes to reach its break-even point by next spring as rising demand prompts the carrier to continue increasing flying capacity, Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said.

“We are in the process of recovery, there’s no doubt about it,” Bastian said Thursday on Bloomberg Television. “There are clear signs the momentum we have is meaningful and continuing to build.”

The Atlanta-based airline plans to add around 1,000 flights a day to its schedule in July and again in August, he said.

Carriers worldwide have been pummeled by a collapse in demand from the novel coronavirus and travel restrictions to help contain its spread.

U.S. airlines that had slashed flying have begun to put more planes in the sky as states lift stay-at-home orders and other limits on activity. Delta expects to operate about 30 per cent of its year-earlier flying schedule by the end of September.

“We’re at 15 per cent of revenues today and we hope to get to 30 per cent over the next two or three months, keeping costs at that 50 per cent level,” Bastian said in the interview, with David Westin. “I would imagine by the spring next year, we’d be at a point where we’re break-even.”

The U.S. Labor Day holiday in early September will be “an important milestone and pivot point” because it’s typically when business travel starts to build after summer, Bastian said. Many companies continue to restrict travel, a crucial component in airline profits.

“That will be the next stage of recovery,” he said.

Delta is on track to burn about US$30 million in cash this month, better than its target of reducing the figure to US$40 million from US$100 million earlier in the pandemic, Bastian said. He expects to reach zero by year-end. The airline has cut operating expenses by 55 per cent since the coronavirus outbreak began to affect travel in March.

Bastian said he doesn’t expect widespread layoffs at Delta after Sept. 30, when prohibitions against job cuts that are part of federal financial aid expire. About 40,000 employees have taken voluntary leaves, the company said at its annual meeting later Thursday.