Delta sees annual profit trending higher despite tech outage

Delta Air Lines Inc. said profit this year could reach the high end of its prior guidance – if investors ignore the financial blow from this summer’s system meltdown. Adjusted earnings will be at or above the midpoint of its forecasted range of $6 to $7 a share, the carrier said Thursday in a regulatory filing. The updated expectations exclude a 45-cent impact from the CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. disruption, which led Delta to cancel thousands of flights over several days in July. Analysts have been expecting a per-share profit of $6.12. Delta was most severely affected by the computer software shutdown among US airlines. Revenue for the third quarter will be flat to up 1% from a year ago, including an estimated $380m reduction related to the flight chaos in July. That compares to an earlier outlook for revenue to be as much as 4% higher than a year ago. Executives from the airline told analysts at an industry conference Thursday there’s been no lingering effect from the outage, which temporarily prevented Delta from processing changes to flights and their crews, and the airline is keeping its earlier estimate on the financial impact. “The underlying drivers are quite good,” Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s president, said at the Morgan Stanley conference. “We’re pleased with the performance of the business in the quarter, with the demand backdrop, where we’re sitting with fuel. We feel really good about the year.”<br/>