Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for January 2013

Source PR Newswire

Feb. 4, 2013

7 min read

ATLANTA, Feb. 4, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today reported financial and operating performance for January 2013.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20090202/DELTALOGO )

Delta's unit revenues for the month of January improved 5.5 percent versus prior year, driven by corporate revenue gains, capacity discipline and improved Transatlantic performance.

Delta's solid operating performance continued through January, with a monthly completion factor of 99.5 percent. Delta's on-time arrival rate was 87.4 percent, up one point from prior year.

The company's financial and operating performance is detailed below.

Preliminary Financial and Operating Results

January Consolidated PRASM change year over year

5.5%

Projected March quarter fuel price per gallon, adjusted

$3.15-3.20

January On-time performance (preliminary DOT A14)

87.4%

January Mainline completion factor

99.5%

Note: Fuel price includes taxes, transportation, settled hedges, hedge premiums and refinery impact, but excludes mark to market adjustments on open hedges.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology, won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey and was the recipient of 12 Executive Travel Magazine Leading Edge Awards for U.S. airlines. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 318 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

Forward Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the cost of aircraft fuel; the impact of posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts; the impact of significant funding obligations with respect to defined benefit pension plans; the impact that our indebtedness may have on our financial and operating activities and our ability to incur additional debt; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports; our increasing dependence on technology in our operations; the ability of our credit card processors to take significant holdbacks in certain circumstances; the possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third party regional carriers; our ability to retain management and key employees; competitive conditions in the airline industry; the effects of the rapid spread of contagious illnesses; the effects of terrorist attacks; and risks related to the operation of a refinery.

Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2011 and our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2012. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of February 4, 2013, and which we have no current intention to update.

Monthly Traffic Results (a)

Jan 2013

Jan 2012

Change

RPMs (000):

Domestic

8,182,043

8,143,393

0.5%

Delta Mainline

6,599,013

6,439,290

2.5%

Regional

1,583,031

1,704,103

(7.1%)

International

5,723,830

5,766,543

(0.7%)

Latin America

1,281,729

1,175,955

9.0%

Delta Mainline

1,261,869

1,162,293

8.6%

Regional

19,860

13,662

45.4%

Atlantic

2,445,827

2,612,367

(6.4%)

Pacific

1,996,275

1,978,221

0.9%

Total System

13,905,874

13,909,936

(0.0%)

ASMs (000):

Domestic

10,459,585

10,537,588

(0.7%)

Delta Mainline

8,216,295

8,128,156

1.1%

Regional

2,243,290

2,409,432

(6.9%)

International

7,062,967

7,415,547

(4.8%)

Latin America

1,532,535

1,458,863

5.0%

Delta Mainline

1,505,570

1,436,874

4.8%

Regional

26,966

21,989

22.6%

Atlantic

3,156,740

3,523,013

(10.4%)

Pacific

2,373,692

2,433,671

(2.5%)

Total System

17,522,552

17,953,135

(2.4%)

Load Factor:

Domestic

78.2%

77.3%

0.9

pts

Delta Mainline

80.3%

79.2%

1.1

pts

Regional

70.6%

70.7%

(0.1)

pts

International

81.0%

77.8%

3.2

pts

Latin America

83.6%

80.6%

3.0

pts

Delta Mainline

83.8%

80.9%

2.9

pts

Regional

73.7%

62.1%

11.6

pts

Atlantic

77.5%

74.2%

3.3

pts

Pacific

84.1%

81.3%

2.8

pts

Total System

79.4%

77.5%

1.9

pts

Mainline Completion

99.5%

99.4%

0.1

pts

Factor

Passengers Boarded

11,738,645

11,642,608

0.8%

Cargo Ton Miles (000):

175,124

174,193

0.5%

Endnote:

a Results include flights operated under contract carrier arrangements.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines