Delta reports its first profit since the start of the pandemic.
Delta Wednesday reported a $652m profit in Q2 of the year, its first since the pandemic began and the latest sign that the airline recovery is well underway. The carrier reported $7.1b in revenue. There were also promising indications that the business is returning to normal, Delta said, noting that booking trends recovered as customers bought tickets further out, with average daily sales beating Delta’s internal expectations by 20%. “Domestic leisure travel is fully recovered to 2019 levels, and there are encouraging signs of improvement in business and international travel,” the airline’s CE, Ed Bastian, said. Corporate travel recovered as offices reopened throughout the quarter, with the number of business travelers down 60% in June compared with 80% in March, according to the airline. Despite those encouraging signs, Delta’s quarterly profit, which was buoyed by $1.5b in federal stimulus money, was still down 55% from the same quarter in 2019. Its revenue was down 43% from two years ago. The number of people flying for vacation or to visit friends and family within the United States has recovered to prepandemic levels, but Delta’s revenue from domestic travel was down 45% from 2019 because of the drop-off in business travel. Revenue from travel to Latin America was down only 36%, while longer flights across the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean brought in about 85% less revenue. Cargo revenue, on the other hand, was up 35%.<br/>
https://portal.staralliance.com/cms/news/hot-topics/2021-07-15/sky/delta-reports-its-first-profit-since-the-start-of-the-pandemic
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Delta reports its first profit since the start of the pandemic.
Delta Wednesday reported a $652m profit in Q2 of the year, its first since the pandemic began and the latest sign that the airline recovery is well underway. The carrier reported $7.1b in revenue. There were also promising indications that the business is returning to normal, Delta said, noting that booking trends recovered as customers bought tickets further out, with average daily sales beating Delta’s internal expectations by 20%. “Domestic leisure travel is fully recovered to 2019 levels, and there are encouraging signs of improvement in business and international travel,” the airline’s CE, Ed Bastian, said. Corporate travel recovered as offices reopened throughout the quarter, with the number of business travelers down 60% in June compared with 80% in March, according to the airline. Despite those encouraging signs, Delta’s quarterly profit, which was buoyed by $1.5b in federal stimulus money, was still down 55% from the same quarter in 2019. Its revenue was down 43% from two years ago. The number of people flying for vacation or to visit friends and family within the United States has recovered to prepandemic levels, but Delta’s revenue from domestic travel was down 45% from 2019 because of the drop-off in business travel. Revenue from travel to Latin America was down only 36%, while longer flights across the Atlantic or Pacific Ocean brought in about 85% less revenue. Cargo revenue, on the other hand, was up 35%.<br/>
