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Delta reported Q1 net income up 27% and indicated it may cut capacity after the summer if necessary to stop a decline in unit revenue. Delta earned US$946m in Q1, up 27% from US$746m in the same period last year. Delta's sales still face pressure though. The Atlanta-based company forecast that passenger revenue as measured against flight capacity would decline by between 2.5 and 4.5% in Q2, although that would be less steep than the 4.6% drop in Q1. "We are focused on getting unit revenues back to a positive trajectory, and we will make adjustments to… capacity levels if we are not making sufficient progress over the coming months," incoming President Glen Hauenstein said. The weakness of currencies against the US dollar lowered Delta's first-quarter sales by USD$125 million from a year earlier. The closure of Brussels' main airport after the March 22 attacks also chopped USD$5 million off revenue, which in total declined 1.5%, Delta said. Delta said costs as measured against flight capacity, excluding fuel, rose 4.5% in Q1, due largely to an additional US$136m in profit-sharing for employees. It expects the measure to rise less than 2% for 2016.<br/>

Delta is nearing an agreement to buy 75 Bombardier Inc. C Series, a person familiar with the talks said, potentially handing the Canadian planemaker a resounding victory in its bid to turn around the struggling aircraft program.<br/>The purchase also would include options for 50 more of the single-aisle jet to replace some of the oldest and smallest planes in Delta’s fleet, said the person. The stakes are high for Bombardier, which is still trying to land a marquee US customer for the C Series. United Continental twice this year opted for Boeing Co.’s 737 rather than the Bombardier plane. Bloomberg News reported Friday that Delta was nearing a decision on upgrading its single-aisle fleet as it seeks to replace its McDonnell Douglas MD-88 workhorse jets. “Bombardier needs this order,” said George Ferguson, senior analyst for aerospace and airlines at Bloomberg Intelligence. Delta will have to train pilots on the plane and stock up on spare parts to add the C Series to its fleet, he said. “If there’s any airline that’s well positioned to handle an absolute mix of aircraft, it’s definitely Delta.” A final decision hasn’t been made, Delta said in an e-mailed statement. A Bombardier spokeswoman declined to comment. <br/>

Delta will drop the fee for US consumers who buy tickets over the phone or at a ticket counter to make things simpler for customers, said incoming Delta President Glen Hauenstein on Thursday. The phone fee was $25 and the fee for a ticket bought at an airport or other ticket counter was $35. Most other major US airlines charge these fees. (Southwest Airlines says it doesn't.) They are designed to encourage consumers to buy tickets online, which is cheaper for the airlines than maintaining big call centers. The major carriers don't charge extra for online ticket purchases. Discount carrier Spirit Airlines does charge fees of $9 to $18 each way for tickets bought online or over the phone.<br/>

Delta executives predicted Qatar Airways’ daily Doha-Atlanta Boeing 777-200 flights, scheduled to start on June 1, will fail financially and reiterated that waging a campaign against Gulf airlines’ alleged subsidies remains a top priority. Outgoing Delta CEO Richard Anderson, who has been vocal in the campaign waged by Delta, American and United against Middle East airlines Qatar, Emirates and Etihad, did not participate in Delta’s April 14 Q1 earnings conference call. But executives made it clear Delta has no plans to ease up in its quest to persuade the US government to take action related to the three Middle East airlines and the governments of Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, which Delta alleges unfairly subsidize the carriers. “This is our number one priority in Washington,” Delta EVP and chief legal officer Peter Carter said. “We have reason to believe the US government will do the right thing. Having said that, this is a diplomatic issue and it will take some time.” Meanwhile, EVP and incoming Delta president Glen Hauenstein knocked Qatar’s Doha-Atlanta route during the conference call, saying O&D demand on the route is “less than five people a day.” He added, “We don’t think they’ll be successful... We don’t have any flights crossing the world that have [demand for] less than 10 people a day.”<br/>