ATLANTA, Jan. 4, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today reported traffic results for December 2007. System traffic for December 2007 increased 3.0 percent from December 2006 on a capacity increase of 3.1 percent. Delta's system load factor was 77.7 percent in December 2007, flat from the same period last year.
Strong demand for Delta's international product continued during December 2007, with traffic increasing 16.4 percent year over year on a 13.3 percent increase in capacity. This resulted in a record December international load factor of 79.9 percent, up 2.1 points compared to December 2006. Domestic traffic in December 2007 decreased 2.8 percent year over year on a capacity decrease of 1.3 percent. Domestic load factor in December 2007 was 76.6 percent, down 1.3 points from the same period a year ago.
"In December, consolidated unit revenues showed solid year over year improvement," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president -- Network Planning and Revenue Management. "International unit revenues demonstrated continued strength with significant increases in both yield and traffic, while domestic yields continued to strengthen as pricing actions implemented to offset higher fuel costs translated to higher yields."
During December 2007, Delta operated its schedule at a 98.2 percent completion rate compared to 99.0 percent in December 2006. Delta boarded 8.6 million passengers during the month of December 2007, a decrease of 2.0 percent from December 2006. Detailed traffic and capacity are shown below.
Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 321 destinations in 58 countries. Delta has added more international capacity than any major U.S. airline during the last two years and is the leader across the Atlantic with flights to 36 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 500 weekly flights to 63 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 485 worldwide destinations in 106 countries. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes and check flight status at delta.com.
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Delta Air Lines Monthly Traffic Results(a,b) December 2007 December 2006 Change --------------------------------------------------------------------- RPMs (000): Domestic 6,404,406 6,591,161 (2.8%) Delta Mainline 4,971,205 5,182,169 (4.1%) Comair 361,969 400,504 (9.6%) Contract Carriers 1,071,232 1,008,488 6.2% International 3,311,293 2,845,163 16.4% Latin America 962,648 924,375 4.1% Delta Mainline 914,338 889,301 2.8% Comair 584 0 NM Contract Carriers 47,726 35,074 36.1% Atlantic 2,210,663 1,834,437 20.5% Pacific 137,982 86,351 59.8% Total System 9,715,699 9,436,324 3.0% ASMs (000): Domestic 8,357,442 8,464,422 (1.3%) Delta Mainline 6,438,568 6,600,489 (2.5%) Comair 502,608 550,012 (8.6%) Contract Carriers 1,416,266 1,313,921 7.8% International 4,144,567 3,657,099 13.3% Latin America 1,200,398 1,238,610 (3.1%) Delta Mainline 1,133,093 1,184,812 (4.4%) Comair 885 0 NM Contract Carriers 66,420 53,798 23.5% Atlantic 2,761,408 2,305,143 19.8% Pacific 182,761 113,346 61.2% Total System 12,502,009 12,121,521 3.1% Load Factor Domestic 76.6% 77.9% (1.3) pts Delta Mainline 77.2% 78.5% (1.3) pts Comair 72.0% 72.8% (0.8) pts Contract Carriers 75.6% 76.8% (1.2) pts International 79.9% 77.8% 2.1 pts Latin America 80.2% 74.6% 5.6 pts Delta Mainline 80.7% 75.1% 5.6 pts Comair 66.0% 0.0% NM Contract Carriers 71.9% 65.2% 6.7 pts Atlantic 80.1% 79.6% 0.5 pts Pacific 75.5% 76.2% (0.7) pts Total System 77.7% 77.8% (0.1) pts Passengers Boarded 8,575,603 8,754,487 (2.0%) 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. Delta Air Lines Year to Date Traffic Results(a,b) December 2007 December 2006 Change --------------------------------------------------------------------- RPMs (000): Domestic 82,432,769 82,414,302 0.0% Delta Mainline 64,323,968 65,477,336 (1.8%) Comair 4,599,990 5,256,789 (12.5%) Contract Carriers 13,508,811 11,680,177 15.7% International 39,632,189 33,718,399 17.5% Latin America 10,255,479 8,440,781 21.5% Delta Mainline 9,750,870 8,155,640 19.6% Comair 7,882 33,704 (76.6%) Contract Carriers 496,727 251,437 97.6% Atlantic 27,929,185 24,133,763 15.7% Pacific 1,447,525 1,143,855 26.5% Total System 122,064,958 116,132,701 5.1% ASMs (000): Domestic 101,776,645 104,901,140 (3.0%) Delta Mainline 78,467,605 82,785,633 (5.2%) Comair 6,123,413 7,078,389 (13.5%) Contract Carriers 17,185,627 15,037,118 14.3% International 49,986,893 43,093,769 16.0% Latin America 13,475,576 11,537,918 16.8% Delta Mainline 12,770,049 11,138,762 14.6% Comair 9,960 45,841 (78.3%) Contract Carriers 695,567 353,315 96.9% Atlantic 34,721,389 30,218,659 14.9% Pacific 1,789,928 1,337,192 33.9% Total System 151,763,538 147,994,909 2.5% Load Factor Domestic 81.0% 78.6% 2.4 pts Delta Mainline 82.0% 79.1% 2.9 pts Comair 75.1% 74.3% 0.8 pts Contract Carriers 78.6% 77.7% 0.9 pts International 79.3% 78.2% 1.1 pts Latin America 76.1% 73.2% 2.9 pts Delta Mainline 76.4% 73.2% 3.2 pts Comair 79.1% 73.5% 5.6 pts Contract Carriers 71.4% 71.2% 0.2 pts Atlantic 80.4% 79.9% 0.5 pts Pacific 80.9% 85.5% (4.6) pts Total System 80.4% 78.5% 1.9 pts Passengers Boarded 109,181,968 106,649,238 2.4% 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.