Delta's total passenger revenue increased 3.6 percent year
over year to $9.4 billion in the third quarter as the carrier reported the
rosiest year-end corporate travel outlook it has seen in years.
The carrier's most recent survey of corporate travel
managers indicated more than 85 percent intend to maintain or increase spending
levels into the fourth quarter and the beginning of 2018, Delta president Glen
Hauenstein said in its earnings call. That number is 9 percentage points higher
than a year prior and the highest fourth-quarter result since Delta began the
survey in 2011, he said.
Corporate fares rose for the third quarter,
too, the first time both fares and volume have increased at the same time in
three years, according to Hauenstein.
Business travel has been growing particularly on
transatlantic routes, on which Delta reported its first positive unit revenue
growth in three years. "Europe is coming out of a multiyear
recession," Hauenstein said. "The U.S. economy is strong, and people
are traveling for business, which plays to the strength of a carrier that's
embracing the business model."
The third-quarter revenue growth came despite the three
major hurricanes and the Mexico City earthquake, CEO Ed Bastian said. Hurricane
Irma alone caused a $120 million hit to Delta, although the carrier
"rebounded quickly and [was] the first airline to resume service in most
of the key airports in Florida," he said.
Delta's traffic increased 3.4 percent year over year during
the third quarter, and capacity increased 1.6 percent, combining for a 1.5
percentage point increase in load factor to 86.9 percent. Yield rose 0.2
percent year over year, another indication of higher fares.
Delta
reported net income of $1.18 billion for the quarter, down from $1.26 billion
in the third quarter of 2016.
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