ATLANTA, Sept. 6, 2007 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today reported record load factors for August 2007. Load factors for the month for consolidated system (84.3 percent), mainline system (84.8 percent), total Latin America system (81.2 percent), total domestic (86.3 percent), mainline domestic (87.6 percent) and regional (81.6 percent) were all records for the month of August.
System traffic increased 8.8 percent from August 2006 with a capacity increase of 3.1 percent. Domestic traffic in August 2007 increased 4.7 percent year-over-year on a 2.6 percent decrease in capacity. International traffic in August 2007 increased 18.1 percent year over year on a 15.6 percent increase in capacity.
In addition, a record number of passengers flew internationally on Delta during the month of August. The number of international, Latin America and Atlantic passengers increased 17 percent, 24 percent and 11 percent, respectively, versus the same period last year.
"August unit revenues improved significantly year-over-year, driven by record load factors and strong international yields," said Glen Hauenstein, executive vice president - network planning and revenue management. "We expect September 2007 quarter operating revenues to be the highest in Delta's history -- further demonstrating that our strategy of shifting domestic capacity to unique international markets is working."
Delta completed 98.8 percent of scheduled flights during the month relative to 98.6 percent in August 2006. Delta boarded 10.2 million passengers during August 2007, an increase of 7.9 percent from August 2006. Detailed traffic and capacity are attached.
Delta Air Lines operates service to more destinations than any global airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 315 destinations in 54 countries. Since 2005, Delta has added more international capacity than all other major U.S. airlines combined and is a leader across the Atlantic with flights to 36 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers nearly 400 weekly flights to 54 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 477 worldwide destinations in 103 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 June 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 Sept. 6, 2007, and which Delta has no current intention to update.
Delta Air Lines
Monthly Traffic Results(a)
August 2007 August 2006 Change
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RPMs (000):
Domestic 7,922,620 7,568,799 4.7%
Delta Mainline 6,211,973 6,020,708 3.2%
Comair 431,786 504,278 (14.4%)
Contract Carriers 1,278,861 1,043,813 22.5%
International 3,983,973 3,374,492 18.1%
Latin America 964,260 789,233 22.2%
Delta Mainline 908,583 765,305 18.7%
Comair 554 1,634 (66.1%)
Contract Carriers 55,123 22,294 147.3%
Atlantic 2,861,253 2,482,084 15.3%
Pacific 158,460 103,175 53.6%
Total System 11,906,593 10,943,291 8.8%
ASMs (000):
Domestic 9,180,960 9,427,754 (2.6%)
Delta Mainline 7,089,610 7,401,941 (4.2%)
Comair 533,602 669,426 (20.3%)
Contract Carriers 1,557,748 1,356,387 14.8%
International 4,937,507 4,272,392 15.6%
Latin America 1,187,088 1,036,919 14.5%
Delta Mainline 1,113,158 1,003,677 10.9%
Comair 632 2,191 (71.2%)
Contract Carriers 73,298 31,051 136.1%
Atlantic 3,571,470 3,121,811 14.4%
Pacific 178,949 113,662 57.4%
Total System 14,118,467 13,700,146 3.1%
Load Factor
Domestic 86.3% 80.3% 6.0 pts
Delta Mainline 87.6% 81.3% 6.3 pts
Comair 80.9% 75.3% 5.6 pts
Contract Carriers 82.1% 77.0% 5.1 pts
International 80.7% 79.0% 1.7 pts
Latin America 81.2% 76.1% 5.1 pts
Delta Mainline 81.6% 76.3% 5.3 pts
Comair 87.7% 74.6% 13.1 pts
Contract Carriers 75.2% 71.8% 3.4 pts
Atlantic 80.1% 79.5% 0.6 pts
Pacific 88.6% 90.8% (2.2)pts
Total System 84.3% 79.9% 4.4 pts
Passengers Boarded 10,193,732 9,449,204 7.9%
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.
Delta Air Lines
Year to Date Traffic Results(a)
August 2007 August 2006 Change
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RPMs (000):
Domestic 56,309,959 56,530,286 (0.4%)
Delta Mainline 44,104,734 45,182,051 (2.4%)
Comair 3,089,190 3,590,752 (14.0%)
Contract Carriers 9,116,035 7,757,483 17.5%
International 26,731,153 22,612,304 18.2%
Latin America 7,306,358 5,765,144 26.7%
Delta Mainline 6,957,616 5,597,142 24.3%
Comair 6,806 32,430 (79.0%)
Contract Carriers 341,936 135,572 152.2%
Atlantic 18,504,936 16,066,492 15.2%
Pacific 919,859 780,668 17.8%
Total System 83,041,112 79,142,590 4.9%
ASMs (000):
Domestic 68,179,445 71,279,077 (4.3%)
Delta Mainline 52,632,903 56,620,648 (7.0%)
Comair 4,087,268 4,811,243 (15.0%)
Contract Carriers 11,459,274 9,847,186 16.4%
International 33,561,723 28,513,547 17.7%
Latin America 9,596,591 7,696,285 24.7%
Delta Mainline 9,111,577 7,474,295 21.9%
Comair 8,473 43,883 (80.7%)
Contract Carriers 476,541 178,107 167.6%
Atlantic 22,889,236 19,927,053 14.9%
Pacific 1,075,896 890,209 20.9%
Total System 101,741,168 99,792,624 2.0%
Load Factor
Domestic 82.6% 79.3% 3.3 pts
Delta Mainline 83.8% 79.8% 4.0 pts
Comair 75.6% 74.6% 1.0 pts
Contract Carriers 79.6% 78.8% 0.8 pts
International 79.6% 79.3% 0.3 pts
Latin America 76.1% 74.9% 1.2 pts
Delta Mainline 76.4% 74.9% 1.5 pts
Comair 80.3% 73.9% 6.4 pts
Contract Carriers 71.8% 76.1% (4.3)pts
Atlantic 80.8% 80.6% 0.2 pts
Pacific 85.5% 87.7% (2.2)pts
Total System 81.6% 79.3% 2.3 pts
Passengers Boarded 74,225,162 72,244,088 2.7%
(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.