Delta Air Lines' fourth-quarter passenger revenues increased 6 percent year over year to $10.3 billion, closing out what CEO Ed Bastian called the carrier's "best year in our history."
Corporate demand was up 6 percent year over year during the quarter, and revenue from premium products was up 9 percent, Delta president Glen Hauenstein said during the carrier's earning call Tuesday. Corporate demand trends "remain healthy" this year, as 80 percent of travel managers in Delta's most recent survey of its corporate customers said they planned to maintain or increase travel spending in 2020, he said.
"We're seeing strength across the board," Hauenstein said in Delta's earnings call. "Last year we saw a little bit of weakness in manufacturing, but we're starting to lap that and see some positive momentum coming out of that sector, so we're generally seeing very good signs from our corporate [business]."
Delta's domestic passenger revenues were up 7.7 percent year over year in the quarter, the highest rate of increase across its regions. Latin America revenue was up 6.7 percent, and revenue on transatlantic routes was up 0.8 percent.
Transpacific was the only region to see revenue decline, down 0.5 percent year over year during the quarter. Hauenstein said China "remains soft," and Bastian noted tariff discussions that have affected the region have "bled over into Korea and a few other Asian economies."
Overall, Delta's traffic was up 5.2 percent year over year in the fourth quarter, and capacity was up 4.7 percent. Delta's load factor increased 0.4 percentage points years over year to 85.6 percent during the quarter. Yield was up 0.9 percent year over year.
Delta reported a net income of $1.1 billion for the quarter, down 8 percent year over year. For the full year, Delta's net income was $4.8 billion, up 21 percent.
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