Delta says sales in Q2 are returning to 2019 levels

Delta said Wednesday that its sales in Q2 were likely to exceed its previous forecast and return to prepandemic levels. The airline said in a securities filing that it now expected revenues of up to $12.5b from April through June, as much as it brought in over the same period in 2019. And while fuel costs have risen more than predicted, Delta said its profits would end up at the higher end of the range it published in April. “The business is in a very strong position,” Delta’s CE, Ed Bastian, said Wednesday. “The recovery is exceeding my expectations, I think probably all of our expectations.” Airlines are enjoying a resurgence as many people spend less on goods and more on services like travel and restaurant meals. Fast-rising fuel costs and high demand have contributed to huge increases in fares, but many customers appear to be willing to pay more for tickets because they are eager to go on vacations. Southwest and JetBlue issued similarly rosy updates last week. Higher revenue would “more than offset” rising fuel costs, Southwest said. JetBlue said that ticket bookings were exceeding its expectations and that it expected revenue for the second quarter to be “at or above” the high end of its previous forecast. But the rebound has challenged the industry, which has struggled to overcome disruptions caused by bad weather and a shortage of workers. Delta struggled over the Memorial Day weekend, canceling 7 percent of flights scheduled from Friday through Monday, according to FlightAware, a flight-tracking site. A fifth of its flights were delayed, on average for one hour. “This weekend was disappointing, but we’re on it,” Bastian said.<br/>