Atlanta based Delta Air Lines on Thursday reported a quarterly loss, taking their net loss for all of 2020 to $12.4 billion, AFP reports.

Chief Executive Ed Bastian went on to call 2020 the “the toughest year in Delta’s history” following the hit from the coronavirus pandemic.

Delta‘s loss of negative $7.6 billion when compared to 2019’s profits of $4.8 billion in 2019, highlights the impact of the pandemic on commercial plane travel. However, officials beleive that with vaccines being rolled out, 2021 could be a much better year.

“Our December quarter capped the toughest year in Delta’s history. While our challenges continue in 2021, I am optimistic this will be a year of recovery and a turning point that results in an even stronger Delta returning to revenue growth, profitability and free cash generation,” Ed Bastian said in a statement.

A ban to flights from the United Kingdom owing to a spike in COVID-19 cases has shown how vulnerable the aviation industry is right now.

Airlines have laid off thousands of workers and taken planes out of service in an effort to curtail costs during the prolonged downturn, AFP added.

Delta suffered a $755 million loss in the fourth quarter as the revenues drowned 65% to $4.0 billion. Delta said its cash burn in the fourth quarter was $12 million daily day, an improvement on the third-quarter daily burn rate of $24 million. It did expirience a good day at stock market as shares of Delta rose 2.9% to $41.60 in pre-market trading.

The company expects “three distinct phases” of recovery in 2021, said President Glen Hauenstein, with a “choppy demand recovery” early in the year, followed by an inflection point and then a “sustained demand recovery as customer confidence gains momentum, vaccinations become widespread and officers reopen.”