Delta Air Lines Profitable Again for the First Time Since Corona

Delta Air Lines closed a profitable quarter for the first time since the start of the corona crisis after adjusting for the company’s government support. That is a boost for the American partner of Air France-KLM.

 

However, the airline warns about the sharp rise in fuel prices. As a result, the black numbers may be short-lived, and a loss could be recorded in the next quarterly figures.

Delta has recently benefited from the revival of demand for airline tickets while corona measures and travel restrictions were relaxed in many countries. As a result, net profit for the third quarter, excluding $1.3 billion in government aid, was $194 million. That is converted about 168 million euros and more than analysts on average expected.

It is the first major American airline to open the books for the past quarter. The numbers look encouraging, but industry hopes remain centred on the US government’s announcement that fully vaccinated travellers from the European Union and the United Kingdom will be welcome back to the United States from early November. That will probably increase the demand for airline tickets.

Delta CEO Ed Bastian has said in a statement that increased energy prices are pushing fuel costs up. “That will limit our ability to make a profit,” he said. Bastian says Delta will make a “modest loss” in the current quarter at these current price levels.