Delta predicts 2020 profit growth; CEO says more people turning to air travel

Delta sees another annual rise in profit and revenue in 2020 driven by what Chief Executive Ed Bastian called a growing interest in air travel by consumers across the generational spectrum. “People are more inspired to travel,” Bastian told Reuters ahead of the carrier’s investor day, citing the increased affordability of flying and advances in social media and technology, even as environmental and “flight-shaming” activists threaten air travel growth in Europe. Delta is forecasting 2020 profit of $6.75 to $7.75 per share, versus analysts’ mean estimate of $7.06 according to IBES data from Refinitiv, on revenue growth of 4% to 6% and $4b of free cash flow. Still, Bastian said Delta’s investors and customers are also increasingly concerned about the environmental impact of air travel and cited airlines’ ability to protect the environment as an existential threat to their growth. For 2020, the chief risk to Delta’s earnings forecast is any deterioration in US consumer health, he said.<br/>