THE United States carrier Delta Airlines reported a substantial return to profit in its fourth-quarter and 2022 full-year results announced on Friday.
The airline recorded an operating profit of $3.66 billion for the year and net profit after tax of $1.318 billion after operating revenue reached almost $51 billion.
Its annual profit for 2022 remained barely 30 per cent of the $4.77 billion post-tax profit the airline reported for 2019, with operating income just over half of the pre-pandemic level.
But Delta’s operating profit of $1.47 billion for October to December for the year under review, exceeded that of the same period in 2019 and its net profit for the quarter of $828 million reached 75 per cent of the 2019 level.
This was notwithstanding 66 per cent increase in the Jet A1 (aviation fuel) price over the last pre-pandemic year.
The chief executive officer, Ed Bastian hailed the carrier’s “industry-leading financial performance” and announced that its employees will receive more than $500 million in profit-sharing payments next month.
He argued the outlook for air travel remains favourable, adding, “we expect to grow 2023 revenue by 15 -20 per cent and improve unit costs year over year.”
Bastian projects Delta’s profits for 2023 would increase by up to 200 per cent and for 2024 by 250 per cent on 2022.
The airline paid off $4.5 billion in debt in the year, leaving it with net debt of $23 billion and $9.4 billion in liquidity.
According to Bastian, the airline is schedule to operate at 99 per cent of its 2019 capacity in the first quarter of this year, as he described consumer demand as robust, with international passenger revenue up five per cent on 2019’s level in the December quarter and US domestic revenue up seven per cent.
Transatlantic revenue was up even more at 17 per cent in the quarter but Delta’s revenue across the Pacific remained 35 per cent down on 2019 as the market to and from China remained closed.
The carrier described corporate bookings as steady, having recovered to 80 per cent of the 2019 level in the last quarter of the year. Its premium cabin revenue was up 13 per cent in the quarter versus 2019, compared with five per cent across its economy cabin revenue.
Its chief financial officer Dan Janki added: “In 2023, we’re confident in completing our network rebuild. We made significant progress restoring our financial foundation in 2022. This enabled us to pay down over $4.5 billion of gross debt during the year. We expect to further reduce debt in 2024.”
