ATLANTA, Nov. 5, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today reported record load factors for October. Load factors for consolidated system (79.6 percent), mainline system (79.9 percent) and total Latin system (73.6 percent) were all records for the month of October.
System traffic increased 6.2 percent from October 2006 with a capacity increase of 2.9 percent. Domestic traffic in October 2007 increased 2.3 percent year-over-year on a 0.3 percent increase in capacity. International traffic in October 2007 increased 15.6 percent year over year on an 8.6 percent increase in capacity.
In addition, a record number of passengers flew internationally on Delta during the month of October. The number of total Latin, total international and Atlantic passengers increased 14.2 percent, 12.2 percent, and 10.3 percent, respectively, versus the same period last year.
"Year to date through September, Delta maintained its first place position of network carriers in Department of Transportation on-time performance and we expect similar results in the month of October," said Joe Kolshak, executive vice president - Operations. "Given the record load factors and high number of passengers we continue to see, these results demonstrate the hard work and dedication of Delta employees making Delta a great airline for our customers."
Delta completed 99.2 percent of scheduled flights during the month relative to 98.4 percent in October 2006. Delta boarded 9.2 million passengers during October 2007, an increase of 3.1 percent from October 2006. Detailed traffic and capacity are attached.
Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 317 destinations in 55 countries. Since 2005, Delta has added more international capacity than any other major U.S. airline and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 35 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers nearly 500 weekly flights to 58 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 15,000 flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta is a founding member of SkyTeam, a global airline alliance that provides customers with extensive worldwide destinations, flights and services. Including its SkyTeam and worldwide codeshare partners, Delta offers flights to 479 worldwide destinations in 104 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
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Statements in this news 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 that our indebtedness will 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; our ability to retain management and key employees; the ability of our credit card processors to take significant holdbacks in certain circumstances; the effects of terrorist attacks; and competitive conditions in the airline industry. Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in Delta's Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006 and its Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2007. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on Delta's forward-looking statements, which represent Delta's views only as of Nov. 5, 2007, and which Delta has no current intention to update.
Delta Air Lines
Monthly Traffic Results(a,b)
October 2007 October 2006 Change
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RPMs (000):
Domestic 6,871,157 6,717,926 2.3%
Delta Mainline 5,302,925 5,257,548 0.9%
Comair 405,375 439,047 (7.7%)
Contract Carriers 1,162,857 1,021,331 13.9%
International 3,286,641 2,843,360 15.6%
Latin America 631,047 563,178 12.1%
Delta Mainline 596,189 535,553 11.3%
Comair 0 493 NA
Contract Carriers 34,858 27,132 28.5%
Atlantic 2,522,075 2,185,755 15.4%
Pacific 133,519 94,427 41.4%
Consolidated System 10,157,798 9,561,286 6.2%
ASMs (000):
Domestic 8,600,440 8,571,296 0.3%
Delta Mainline 6,588,394 6,661,818 (1.1%)
Comair 528,208 579,469 (8.8%)
Contract Carriers 1,483,838 1,330,009 11.6%
International 4,161,399 3,833,512 8.6%
Latin America 856,973 845,218 1.4%
Delta Mainline 808,051 804,170 0.5%
Comair 0 699 NA
Contract Carriers 48,922 40,349 21.2%
Atlantic 3,121,687 2,874,707 8.6%
Pacific 182,739 113,587 60.9%
Consolidated System 12,761,839 12,404,808 2.9%
Load Factor
Domestic 79.9% 78.4% 1.5 pts
Delta Mainline 80.5% 78.9% 1.6 pts
Comair 76.7% 75.8% 0.9 pts
Contract Carriers 78.4% 76.8% 1.6 pts
International 79.0% 74.2% 4.8 pts
Latin America 73.6% 66.6% 7.0 pts
Delta Mainline 73.8% 66.6% 7.2 pts
Comair 0.0% 70.5% NA pts
Contract Carriers 71.3% 67.2% 4.1 pts
Atlantic 80.8% 76.0% 4.8 pts
Pacific 73.1% 83.1% (10.0) pts
Consolidated System 79.6% 77.1% 2.5 pts
Passengers Boarded 9,218,867 8,943,516 3.1%
Endnote:
(a) Results reflect operations under our contract carrier
arrangements with the following airlines: Atlantic Southeast
Airlines, Inc., Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., Freedom Airlines,
Inc., Shuttle America Corp., SkyWest Airlines Inc. for all
periods presented, and ExpressJet Airlines beginning June 2007.
(b) Regional System includes wholly owned subsidiary Comair
and contract carriers.
Delta Air Lines
Year to Date Traffic Results(a,b)
October 2007 October 2006 Change
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RPMs (000):
Domestic 69,571,084 69,351,017 0.3%
Delta Mainline 54,375,741 55,220,948 (1.5%)
Comair 3,856,820 4,447,314 (13.3%)
Contract Carriers 11,338,523 9,682,755 17.1%
International 33,413,375 28,430,617 17.5%
Latin America 8,541,574 6,851,906 24.7%
Delta Mainline 8,125,040 6,632,667 22.5%
Comair 6,806 33,476 (79.7%)
Contract Carriers 409,728 185,763 120.6%
Atlantic 23,686,792 20,609,914 14.9%
Pacific 1,185,009 968,797 22.3%
Consolidated System 102,984,459 97,781,634 5.3%
ASMs (000):
Domestic 85,053,484 88,150,068 (3.5%)
Delta Mainline 65,616,860 69,744,164 (5.9%)
Comair 5,105,620 5,979,530 (14.6%)
Contract Carriers 14,331,004 12,426,374 15.3%
International 42,057,969 36,218,006 16.1%
Latin America 11,297,013 9,360,020 20.7%
Delta Mainline 10,713,991 9,060,278 18.3%
Comair 8,473 45,492 (81.4%)
Contract Carriers 574,549 254,250 126.0%
Atlantic 29,327,129 25,744,145 13.9%
Pacific 1,433,827 1,113,841 28.7%
Consolidated System 127,111,453 124,368,074 2.2%
Load Factor
Domestic 81.8% 78.7% 3.1 pts
Delta Mainline 82.9% 79.2% 3.7 pts
Comair 75.5% 74.4% 1.1 pts
Contract Carriers 79.1% 77.9% 1.2 pts
International 79.4% 78.5% 0.9 pts
Latin America 75.6% 73.2% 2.4 pts
Delta Mainline 75.8% 73.2% 2.6 pts
Comair 80.3% 73.6% 6.7 pts
Contract Carriers 71.3% 73.1% (1.8) pts
Atlantic 80.8% 80.1% 0.7 pts
Pacific 82.6% 87.0% (4.4) pts
Consolidated System 81.0% 78.6% 2.4 pts
Passengers Boarded 91,899,759 89,251,762 3.0%
Endnote:
(a) Results reflect operations under our contract carrier
arrangements with the following airlines: Atlantic Southeast
Airlines, Inc., Chautauqua Airlines, Inc., Freedom Airlines,
Inc., Shuttle America Corp., SkyWest Airlines Inc. for all
periods presented, and ExpressJet Airlines beginning June 2007.
(b) Regional System includes wholly owned subsidiary Comair
and contract carriers.