Delta Airlines posts loss; plans to ground freighters
Not exactly great news for my favorite airline. Today, Delta reported a $794 million first-quarter net loss, or $0.96 per diluted share. Delta cited slower demand for travel brought on by the current recession as reason for the loss.
“Despite the worst economic recession in our lifetime, the fundamental strength of Delta’s business allowed us to deliver breakeven results this quarter, excluding fuel hedge losses and special items. These results would not be possible without the hard work of all Delta employees – they are running a great airline while executing a seamless integration in the midst of this very difficult economic environment.,” said Richard Anderson, Delta’s chief executive officer. “We remain focused on making disciplined decisions about capacity, costs and capital, achieving merger synergies and finding new sources of revenue.”
On the cargo side of the business, cargo revenue declined 44 percent or $146 million during the first quarter. Again reasons for the decrease were attributed to the current global recession, decline in fuel surcharge revenue, and decreased demand for air cargo services.
As a result, Delta has announced plans to ground it’s entire fleet of 14 B747-200 freighter aircraft effective Dec. 31, 2009 due to that fleet’s age and inefficiency.
Delta also announced plans to reduce international capacity by 10%, compared to the prior year, beginning in September 2009.
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