July 13 (UPI) — Delta Airlines released its latest quarterly earnings Thursday, posting the carrier’s highest-ever returns.
The Atlanta-based airline credited a 22% drop in fuel costs across the board for part of the success.
It also saw strong sales growth for business and first class tickets on its international routes. The company flies to 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents, operating more than 5,400 daily flights.
Delta beat earnings projections with $1.72 billion in income against an expected 1.54 billion. The company’s revenue totaled $14.6 billion, while analysts had predicted $14.4 billion.
It also revised its earnings per share share outlook Thursday, increasing its forecast to between $6 and $7 a share, up from the $5 to $6 predicted in June.
“What we see in our whole bookings is really more of the same that we’ve been seeing all year,” the company’s CEO Ed Bastian told Yahoo Finance in an interview.
“Our international bookings and demand look really strong, so I think we’re looking at a very, very strong Q3, as indicated by our guidance, and I think we’ll have a strong Q4 as well.”
Bastian called international travel right now “the healthiest demand that we’ve ever seen.”
The carrier’s domestic flights continue “to be quite healthy.”
Delta saw 18% year-over-year growth from main cabin passenger revenue while premium ticket revenue was up 25%.
Bastian, who ascended to the CEO’s office in 2016, also predicted the airline will continue to see growth.
“When you look on an economic level, the flip that we’ve seen where goods have overtaken services in our economy and services are coming back, … we think there is easily several years of this continuing,” Bastian told Yahoo Finance.
“We all look back to ’19, but our economy is also over 20% larger than it was in ’19 as well, so that’s also helping fuel the larger gain that we’re seeing.”
The company’s stock was up in pre-market trading on the New York Stock Exchange but dropped after the opening bell. Delta was down $0.32 or 0.67% to $47.63 at 10:33 a.m. EDT.
