Delta Profits Lifted by Robust International Rebound

25.08.2023 - 13:13 / skift.com / Glen Hauenstein / Delta Air Lines / Edward Russell / Delta

Delta Air Lines saw strong profits in the second quarter thanks to booming international travel to Europe and Latin America.

International revenues jumped at the Atlanta-based carrier an impressive 61% from last year, while domestic revenues were up just 8%, Delta President Glen Hauenstein said during a quarterly earnings call Thursday. Europe and Latin America were the strongest regions for the airline, he added.

The return of international travel is a big deal for global airlines. Longhaul markets between the U.S. and Europe or Asia, for example, have been among the slowest to recover from the pandemic owing to border and other Covid-19 travel restrictions. China, one of the last country’s to ease border rules, only reopened in January, and restrictions remain on the number of flights to the country. Some longhaul international markets have recovered, but a full global recovery in passenger numbers is not expected until next year.

At airlines like Delta, which have large domestic and international operations, the recovery of the latter is a key step towards returning to normal. U.S. domestic travel was the first to rebound in 2021 but, while demand there remains “robust,” as Hauenstein put it, it has shown signs of plateauing at least until more corporate travelers return. Thus, more international travelers lift Delta and other network carriers’ — American Airlines and United Airlines specifically — domestic numbers by feeding passengers onto flights. Roughly 10% of Delta’s domestic seats are filled by passengers connecting with an international flight.

And on top of the dramatic international passenger revenue gain over last year, the segment generated 29% more revenue — $4.3 billion — in the second quarter compared to 2019. Domestic revenue, at $8.9 billion, was up just 10%.

Here are five takeaways from Delta’s second-quarter results.

“System bookings for travel beyond Labor Day are encouraging into the fall,” Hauenstein said, echoing comments by Delta executives in June. That includes both leisure and corporate, and domestic and international travel. Delta is extending some of its historically seasonal routes to Europe to account for greater demand, particularly to destinations in southern Europe like Italy, Portugal, and Spain, later into the fall than normal. U.S. airlines traditionally begin paring down their transatlantic schedules after Labor Day in September, but this year Delta plans to operate many routes through the end of October.

One thing to watch in the coming weeks is what U.S. carriers that are primarily domestic, like Southwest Airlines, say. They could see a different post-Labor Day trend.

The corporate travel recovery plateaued in the first half of the year. Corporate travel