Delta's branded fares initiatives pulled in $100 million in
revenue in the second quarter, helping boost passenger revenue 2.9 percent year
over year to $9.2 billion. That also helped offset a $125 million hit from a
severe weather outbreak in Atlanta that caused thousands of flight
cancellations in early April.
Delta president Glen Hauenstein said the carrier is still in
the "early stages of unlocking the value of segmentation," making its
branded fares—Delta One, Comfort Plus and Basic Economy, for example—available
in more markets and through more channels. That includes allowing travelers to
buy upgrades as separate purchases after making reservations, a feature Delta introduced
in May. More recently, Delta has allowed elite travelers to use miles for
those upgrades, he said.
Steve Sear, Delta EVP of global sales and president of
international, said those initiatives have boosted Delta's revenue from
corporate clients, both as travelers use their own money to upgrade and as
companies adjust policies allowing them to purchase those products.
Delta's corporate revenue "turned positive" at the
beginning of the second quarter, and 83 percent of the corporate clients Delta recently
surveyed plan to maintain or increase travel spending for the rest of this
year, Hauenstein said.
Traffic
increased 2.1 percent year over year in the quarter, and capacity increased 0.4
percent. Load factor increased 1.4 percentage points to 86.9 percent. Delta
reported a net income of $1.2 billion, down from $1.5 billion in the second
quarter of 2016.