Tough week for Delta, in air and at the bank

8:31 p.m. Friday, October 23, 2009

Delta Airlines would probably like a do-over for this week. Just about everything that could wrong, did.

Here's a recap of the Atlanta-based airline's week:

Monday: A flight from Rio de Janeiro landed on a taxiway, instead of the runway, at Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. A crewmember in the flight deck of the Boeing 767 became ill and had to be relocated to the cabin, according to the National Transportation Safety Board.

The flight was cleared to land on runway on 27R, and the lights were on. But the plane landed on a dark taxiway instead. Fortunately, no one was injured. The pilot and the co-pilot are both grounded while Delta investigates the incident. Even a medical emergency isn't an excuse to land on the taxiway, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

Wednesday: Northwest Flight 188 flew 150 miles past its destination, the Minneapolis airport, before the pilots of the Delta-owned airline realized the mistake.

The Airbus A320, carrying 147 passengers, flew for over an hour without responding to air traffic control calls. Ground control feared the worst and was preparing to scramble fighter jets when contact was re-established. The flight from San Diego landed safely in Minneapolis at 9 p.m., and one was injured.

The pilots, who aren't flying pending results of the investigation, told the NTSB they were distracted during a conversation about airline policy.

Officials aren't sure if the black box recorder will offer any clues to what happened. In the meanwhile, the news networks and Internet blogs continue to offer a myriad of theories.

Thursday: The bad press wasn't limited to flights. Delta posted a $161 million third quarter loss, bringing its net losses for the year to date to $1.2 billion. The airline said it will continue to cut both flights and jobs as part of it's cost-saving efforts.

On the plus side: Business traffic is picking up.

Friday: A flight from Albuquerque, N.M., to Atlanta had to make an emergency landing due to trouble with the landing gear. Shortly after takeoff, a light on Flight 1500 indicated the technical problem. As a precaution, the plane headed back to Albuquerque, according to the FAA. After circling to burn off excess fuel, the plane landed without incident.