Delta Earnings Are Solid as Airline Signals Optimism on Travel Demand

Airlines have said in recent weeks that demand for travel did not immediately slow as the summer came to an end and economic concerns grew, as some had feared. International and corporate travel, which have lagged in the recovery, have shown continued improvement.

By the end of September, Delta’s corporate sales were back to about 80 percent of 2019 levels, the airline said. Almost 90 percent of Delta’s business customers said they expected to travel as much during the final three months of the year as in the summer quarter, if not more, the airline said.

Delta said it lost about $35 million in revenue in the third quarter because of cancellations and other disruptions caused by Hurricane Ian, which devastated parts of the southeastern United States at the end of September. The airline expects to take a similar hit in the current quarter because of the hurricane.

American Airlines provided a preview of its results this week, saying that revenue was higher than expected in the third quarter. The airline reported that revenue was up 13 percent compared to the same period in 2019, above its previous forecast of a 10 to 12 percent increase. American is expected to announce its full results next Thursday.

Investors have been closely watching whether consumers will respond to rising prices and economic turmoil by pulling back on travel, but airlines say they haven’t seen much of a slowdown yet. Whatever effect that has on short-term travel demand, United Airlines said this week that it was confident about the longer-term outlook for international travel.

Article source: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/13/business/delta-airlines-earnings.html