(Reuters) – Delta Air Lines on Wednesday reported quarterly revenue above estimates and said it expected to remain profitable for the rest of the fiscal year, as travel demand picks up and international markets reopen on the back of speedy vaccinations.
Corporate volumes showed continued improvement through the second quarter due to higher demand in business-heavy markets like New York and Boston, Delta said, adding that it returned to profitability in the month of June.
“The days of cash burn are behind us,” Delta Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said.
“Domestic leisure travel has fully recovered to 2019 levels, and there are encouraging signs of improvement in business and international travel.”
U.S. carriers are looking to hire more pilots and staff as pandemic-weary people start to travel, driving passenger traffic to the highest levels since March 2020 when the COVID-19 crisis slashed demand.
Delta said it expects adjusted operating revenue for the September quarter to be between 30% and 35% from two years ago, with the midpoint at $8.47 billion, above a Refinitiv-IBES estimate of $8.23 billion.
That would be a marked improvement from the 60.4% slump in operating revenue in the first quarter.
Delta’s second-quarter adjusted operating revenue fell 49% to $6.35 billion from 2019, but was above analysts’ average estimate of $6.22 billion.
Net income fell to $652 million, or $1.02 per share, in the three months to June 30 from $1.44 billion, or $2.21 per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company lost $1.07 per share in the second quarter.
(Reporting by Sanjana Shivdas in Bengaluru; Editing by Ramakrishnan M.)
