Delta Air Lines’ profit rose nearly 60% in Q3 as strong travel demand continued through the summer, particularly for international trips, though the carrier forecast full-year earnings toward the low end of an earlier estimate after a jump in fuel prices. In its quarterly report Thursday, Delta said it expects adjusted, full-year earnings of $6 to $6.25 a share, after forecasting $6 to $7 a share in July. Delta cut its free cash flow estimate for the year to $2b from the $3b it forecast in the summer. Delta said that it expects solid travel demand in the last three months of the year, estimating revenue will rise 9% to 12% from the same quarter of 2022, with per-share earnings of $1.05 to $1.30, in line with estimates. “We expect many of the same trends to continue in the fourth quarter,” CEO Ed Bastian said. Delta and other airlines trimmed their third-quarter forecasts in recent weeks because of a surge in fuel prices. “Obviously there’s some short-term pressure on fuel as fuel rose quickly in the third quarter and stayed relatively high into the fourth quarter,” Bastian noted. Delta brought in adjusted revenue of nearly $14.6b for the period, up 13% year over year and in line with analysts’ expectations. Net income for the period was $1.11b, or $1.72 per share, up 59% from $695m, or $1.08 per share, during the same period a year earlier. Adjusted for third-party refinery sales and other items, the company earned $2.03 during the quarter. Delta and other global airlines have cited particularly strong demand for trips abroad, with trans-Atlantic travel a standout. The Atlanta-based carrier reported revenue for those flights was up 34% in Q3 compared with last year. Delta’s planes flew 88% full in the quarter, up 1 percentage point from the year-earlier period, despite additional capacity both domestically and internationally. Unit revenue from passengers fell 1.5%, year over year. Airfares have dropped in recent months as airlines grew their schedules.<br/>
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Recent strikes by Hollywood talent and United Auto Workers union members are a “drag” on business travel demand, which is otherwise recovering, Delta Air Lines President Glen Hauenstein said Thursday. Delta has an outsized exposure to the automotive and entertainment industries, with a more than 70% market share at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport and a nearly 20% share at Los Angeles International Airport, more than any other carrier, according to airport data. The strikes have had “a not insignificant change in the business travel to and from Los Angeles as well as now the UAW strike, which curtailed a significant amount of the business in Detroit,” Hauenstein said on an earnings call Thursday. “We are probably the most impacted by those two sectors.” The United Auto Workers’ targeted strikes, which began after major Detroit automakers and the union failed to reach labor deals before a September contract expiration, are entering their fourth week — and escalating. Hollywood writers earlier this week ratified a new three-year contract after nearly 150 days of work stoppage that suspended significant film and TV production. But Hollywood actors, represented by the Screen Actors Guild-American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, are still on strike. And late Wednesday, the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, which represents production studios like Disney, Universal, Netflix and others, said talks have been been suspended with the two sides far apart on a deal. Delta’s Hauenstein noted that demand from technology and financial services customers posted double-digit growth in Q3, contributing to an overall rebound for business travel. A company survey of corporate customers found that a majority expect their travel to stay the same or increase in the last three months of this year and into 2024, Hauenstein said.<br/>
A Kenya Airways plane from Nairobi bound for London’s Heathrow Airport was intercepted by air force fighter jets and diverted to land at Stansted airport on Thursday over a potential security threat. The Essex Police force said officers attended an “incident” at the airport, and established there was “nothing of concern” aboard the plane. The airport remained open throughout the incident. The Ministry of Defense said Royal Air Force Typhoon fighters were launched “as a precaution this afternoon to investigate a civilian aircraft which was approaching the U.K.” It said the plane “remained in contact with air traffic controllers throughout, and was escorted to Stansted Airport where it landed safely.” The airline said in a statement that its headquarters had received “an alert of a potential security threat” aboard the plane. It said the airline and Kenyan and U.K. authorities “carried out a thorough risk assessment of the threat.” “The crew on board were briefed, and all safety and security precautions were taken to ensure the safety and security of our crew and passengers on board,” the airline said. Stansted said the Boeing 787 jet landed safely on Thursday afternoon and was parked at a remote stand, away from the terminal.<br/>
Korean Air said Thursday it plans to deploy a temporary flight to Dubai this week to transport Koreans in Israel, who have fled to the nearby United Arab Emirates city due to the Middle Eastern conflict, back home. The company said it will send an A330-200 aircraft to Dubai from Incheon International Airport on Friday to transport the group of Koreans who have recently traveled from Tel Aviv to Dubai by land. The group traveled to Dubai after the company's Incheon-bound flights from Tel Aviv were canceled following the outbreak of the armed conflict between Hamas and Israel. The Dubai-Incheon flight is scheduled to arrive in Korea early Saturday. Korean Air has canceled its flights connecting Incheon and Tel Aviv this week amid safety concerns over the escalating conflict between Israel and Hamas that broke out Saturday.<br/>