Delta Air Lines Inc., the nation's third-largest carrier, said Thursday it swung to a $52 million (euro40.64 million) profit in the third quarter thanks in part to a one-time gain due to a decrease in previously estimated pre-bankruptcy claims for restructuring of aircraft financing deals.
The Atlanta-based company, which is operating under bankruptcy protection, said the profit for the three months ending Sept. 30 compared to a loss of $1.13 billion for the same period a year ago.
Excluding reorganization items, Delta said it lost $46 million (euro35.95 million) in the quarter.
Revenue in the July-September quarter rose 8.1 percent to $4.66 billion (euro3.64 billion), compared to revenue of $4.31 billion in the same period a year ago.
The net profit in the third quarter included a $98 million (euro76.59 million) non-cash gain from reorganization items, which primarily related to the aircraft financing arrangements issue. It was Delta's first net profit since it entered bankruptcy in September 2005.
For the first nine months of the year, Delta said it lost $4.22 billion (euro3.3 billion), compared to a loss of $2.60 billion for the same period a year earlier. Nine-month revenue rose 6.3 percent to $13.03 billion (euro10.18 billion), compared to $12.26 billion recorded a year earlier.
Delta ended the quarter with $2.8 billion (euro2.19 billion) of unrestricted cash on hand.
Delta has lost more than $16 billion since January 2001. In recent months, it has begun to turn things around thanks to higher revenues, lower labor costs and easing fuel prices. Delta expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by the middle of 2007.
While fuel prices have been falling in recent months, Delta said it spent $1.24 billion (euro970 million) on aircraft fuel in the third quarter, a 3.2 percent increase from the $1.20 billion it spent on fuel in the same period a year ago.
Also Thursday, the company said it would recall 1,000 flight attendants next year to help in part with its international expansion. The company also filed its monthly operating report for September with the bankruptcy court. It reported a net loss of $6 million (euro4.69 million) in the month. Excluding reorganization items, the net loss for the month was $134 million (euro104.72 million).
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Delta Air Lines Inc.: http://www.delta.com
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