Delta Airlines has unveiled its financial results for the first quarter of the year to the public, which indicated that the carrier has returned to profitability.
The profitability, the carrier said, was triggered by the strong rebound in air travel demand and fading away of the Omicron virus.
In a statement, Delta Airlines Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said: “With a strong rebound in demand as omicron faded, we returned to profitability in March, producing a solid adjusted operating margin of almost 10 percent.
“As our brand preference and demand momentum grows, we are successfully recapturing higher fuel prices, driving our outlook for a 12 to 14 percent adjusted operating margin and strong free cash flow in the quarter.
“I would like to thank the Delta people, who once again enabled our best-in-class operational performance, provided an unmatched customer experience and continue to power our industry leadership each and every day.”
The airline recorded an adjusted operating loss of $793 million, excluding a net gain of $9 million.
The further reads: “The airline generated $1.8 billion of operating cash flow and $197 million of free cash flow, after investing $1.6 billion into the business, primarily related to aircraft purchases and modifications.
“At the end of the first quarter, the company had $12.8 billion in liquidity, including cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and undrawn revolving credit facilities.”
“Delta is well-positioned to capitalize on robust consumer demand and an accelerating return of business and international travel. The strength of Delta’s brand has never been more evident with record-setting performance for co-brand card acquisitions, co-brand spend and SkyMiles acquisitions in March,” said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s president.
“In the June quarter, we are successfully recapturing higher fuel prices and expect our revenue recovery to accelerate to 93 to 97 percent with unit revenue up double digits compared to 2019.”
He went on: ” Adjusted operating revenue of $8.2 billion for the March quarter 2022 was 79 percent restored to March quarter 2019 levels, five points ahead of the mid-point of the company’s initial guidance.
“Compared to the March quarter 2019, total passenger revenue was 75 percent recovered on system capacity that was 83 percent restored. Domestic passenger revenue was 83 percent recovered, and international passenger revenue was 54 percent restored in the March quarter.”
