Delta Air Lines reported that ticketed corporate revenues
for the last three months of 2013 rose 7 percent year over year, with
"double digit gains in the banking, finance and automotive sectors,"
president Ed Bastian said during a Tuesday conference call with analysts and
media.
Airline management is optimistic about further growth, as 90
percent of clients surveyed by the carrier expect to increase or "at a
minimum maintain their spend levels in the new year, which is an encouraging
sign for our business," Bastian said.
Delta pointed to particular strength in the domestic market,
especially in New York City, where the airline has claimed gains among
corporate clients.
Delta's fourth-quarter corporate revenue growth builds on multiple
quarters of such increases as well as corporate share expansion, according to
the airline. For the prior-year December quarter, Delta reported 10 percent
year-over-year growth in corporate revenue.