Delta Air Lines said it was will reduce hours for some employees as it projected a stunning 90 percent drop in second-quarter revenue due to the coronavirus outbreak

Delta Air Lines said Friday it was will reduce hours for some employees as it projected a stunning 90 percent drop in second-quarter revenue due to the coronavirus outbreak.

Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian announced the step in a letter to employees which also disclosed that the carrier submitted its application to the Treasury Department to participate in a $50 billion federal support program for .

"As we move into April, we continue to see our passenger volumes and revenues drop," Bastian said. "For example on Saturday we had about 38,000 customers flying, versus our normal late-March Saturday of 600,000.

"Unfortunately, even as Delta is burning more than $60 million in cash every day, we know we still haven't seen the bottom."

Bastian said 30,000 employees had volunteered for unpaid leaves of absence, where employees are not paid but continue to receive .

He said the company would cut by 25 percent the hours for ground-based employees.

JetBlue also announced it would seek federal funds under the program, pointing to an "unprecedented decline in demand for travel."