Delta Air Lines Reports November Traffic


ATLANTA, Dec. 4, 2008 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today reported November traffic results for both Delta and Northwest operating units.

Delta

Delta's system traffic in November 2008 decreased 4.9 percent versus November 2007 on a capacity decrease of 5.3 percent. Delta's system load factor increased 0.3 points compared to the same period last year.

International traffic increased 7.6 percent year over year on a 13.1 percent increase in capacity, and load factor declined 3.6 points. Domestic traffic decreased 10.5 percent year over year on 13.7 percent lower capacity. Load factor increased 2.8 points to 80.0 percent, higher than any previous November on record.

Northwest

Northwest's system traffic in November 2008 decreased 7.4 percent on a capacity decrease of 4.7 percent. Northwest's system load factor decreased 2.3 points compared to the same period last year.

International traffic decreased 3.4 percent year over year on a 1.3 percent increase in capacity, and load factor declined 3.9 points. Domestic traffic decreased 10.0 percent year over year on an 8.7 percent decrease in capacity, and load factor decreased 1.2 points.

Detailed traffic and capacity are attached.

Delta Air Lines is the world's largest airline. From its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita, Delta, its Northwest subsidiary and Delta Connection carriers offer service to more than 376 destinations worldwide in 66 countries and serve more than 170 million passengers each year. Delta's marketing alliances allow customers to earn and redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks on more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta and its 75,000 worldwide employees are reshaping the aviation industry as the only U.S. airline to offer a full global network. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, and check bags and flight status at delta.com.

The Delta Air Lines, Inc. logo is available at http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=1825



                          Delta Air Lines
                     Monthly Traffic Results (a)

                              Nov 2008     Nov 2007       Change
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 RPMs (000):
 Domestic                     5,776,527    6,457,279        (10.5%)
  Mainline                    4,588,030    4,977,022         (7.8%)
  Regional                    1,188,497    1,480,257        (19.7%)
 International                3,129,885    2,907,521          7.6%
  Latin America                 636,601      751,257        (15.3%)
   Mainline                     620,004      711,492        (12.9%)
   Regional                      16,597       39,765        (58.3%)
  Atlantic                    2,307,268    2,031,730         13.6%
  Pacific                       186,016      124,534         49.4%
 System                       8,906,412    9,364,800         (4.9%)

 ASMs (000):
 Domestic                     7,223,358    8,365,719        (13.7%)
  Mainline                    5,641,495    6,412,177        (12.0%)
  Regional                    1,581,863    1,953,542        (19.0%)
 International                4,278,667    3,784,357         13.1%
  Latin America                 903,035      978,165         (7.7%)
   Mainline                     879,150      922,965         (4.7%)
   Regional                      23,885       55,200        (56.7%)
  Atlantic                    3,129,326    2,632,852         18.9%
  Pacific                       246,306      173,340         42.1%
 System                      11,502,025   12,150,076         (5.3%)

 Load Factor
 Domestic                          80.0%        77.2%         2.8 pts
  Mainline                         81.3%        77.6%         3.7 pts
  Regional                         75.1%        75.8%        (0.7) pts
 International                     73.2%        76.8%        (3.6) pts
  Latin America                    70.5%        76.8%        (6.3) pts
   Mainline                        70.5%        77.1%        (6.6) pts
   Regional                        69.5%        72.0%        (2.5) pts
  Atlantic                         73.7%        77.2%        (3.5) pts
  Pacific                          75.5%        71.8%         3.7 pts
 System                            77.4%        77.1%         0.3 pts

 Passengers Boarded           8,057,132    8,706,606         (7.5%)

 Completion Factor                 99.3%        99.3%         0.0 pts

 Cargo Ton Miles (000):
  Mail                            5,214        5,331         (2.2%)
  Freight                        93,211       95,769         (2.7%)
  Total System                   98,425      101,101         (2.6%)

 Endnote:
 (a) Results include operations under contract carrier arrangements.


                            Delta Air Lines
                     Year to Date Traffic Results (a)

                              Nov 2008     Nov 2007      Change
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 RPMs (000):
 Domestic                    71,872,321   76,028,363         (5.5%)
  Mainline                   56,247,423   59,352,763         (5.2%)
  Regional                   15,624,898   16,675,600         (6.3%)
 International               41,428,821   36,320,896         14.1%
  Latin America               9,523,899    9,292,831          2.5%
   Mainline                   9,069,698    8,836,532          2.6%
   Regional                     454,201      456,299         (0.5%)
  Atlantic                   29,686,996   25,718,522         15.4%
  Pacific                     2,217,926    1,309,543         69.4%
 Total System               113,301,142  112,349,259          0.8%

 ASMs (000):
 Domestic                    86,611,769   93,419,203         (7.3%)
  Mainline                   66,797,324   72,029,037         (7.3%)
  Regional                   19,814,445   21,390,166         (7.4%)
 International               52,255,349   45,842,326         14.0%
  Latin America              12,112,335   12,275,178         (1.3%)
   Mainline                  11,516,266   11,636,956         (1.0%)
   Regional                     596,069      638,222         (6.6%)
  Atlantic                   37,250,431   31,959,981         16.6%
  Pacific                     2,892,583    1,607,167         80.0%
 Total System               138,867,118  139,261,529         (0.3%)

 Load Factor
 Domestic                          83.0%        81.4%         1.6 pts
  Mainline                         84.2%        82.4%         1.8 pts
  Regional                         78.9%        78.0%         0.9 pts
 International                     79.3%        79.2%         0.1 pts
  Latin America                    78.6%        75.7%         2.9 pts
   Mainline                        78.8%        75.9%         2.9 pts
   Regional                        76.2%        71.5%         4.7 pts
  Atlantic                         79.7%        80.5%        (0.8) pts
  Pacific                          76.7%        81.5%        (4.8) pts
 Total System                      81.6%        80.7%         0.9 pts

 Passengers Boarded          97,591,836  100,606,365         (3.0%)

 Cargo Ton Miles (000):
  Mail                           63,947       52,996         20.7%
  Freight                     1,065,899      974,548          9.4%
  Total System                1,129,846    1,027,544         10.0%

 Endnote:
 (a) Results include operations under contract carrier arrangements.


                           Northwest Airlines
                       Monthly Traffic Results (a)

                              Nov 2008     Nov 2007      Change
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 RPMs (000):
 Domestic                     3,307,413    3,676,724        (10.0%)
  Mainline                    2,599,635    3,191,809        (18.6%)
  Regional                      707,778      484,915         46.0%
 International                2,365,103    2,448,637         (3.4%)
  Atlantic                      824,003      887,641         (7.2%)
  Pacific                     1,541,100    1,560,996         (1.3%)
 Total System                 5,672,516    6,125,361         (7.4%)

 ASMs (000):
 Domestic                     4,110,413    4,500,102         (8.7%)
  Mainline                    3,142,743    3,866,502        (18.7%)
  Regional                      967,670      633,600         52.7%
 International                2,968,049    2,929,215          1.3%
  Atlantic                    1,145,237    1,109,682          3.2%
  Pacific                     1,822,812    1,819,533          0.2%
 Total System                 7,078,462    7,429,317         (4.7%)

 Load Factor
 Domestic                          80.5%        81.7%        (1.2) pts
  Mainline                         82.7%        82.6%         0.1 pts
  Regional                         73.1%        76.5%        (3.4) pts
 International                     79.7%        83.6%        (3.9) pts
  Atlantic                         72.0%        80.0%        (8.0) pts
  Pacific                          84.5%        85.8%        (1.3) pts
 Total System                      80.1%        82.4%        (2.3) pts

 Passengers Boarded:          4,764,705    5,321,841        (10.5%)

 Completion Factor                 99.7%        99.7%         0.0 pts

 Cargo Ton Miles (000):         108,908      196,142        (44.5%)

 Endnote:
 (a) Results include operations under contract carrier arrangements.


                             Northwest Airlines
                      Year to Date Traffic Results (a)

                              Nov 2008     Nov 2007      Change
 ---------------------------------------------------------------------
 RPMs (000):
 Domestic                    42,786,501   43,194,226        (0.9%)
  Mainline                   35,547,163   38,266,960        (7.1%)
  Regional                    7,239,338    4,927,266        46.9%
 International               30,376,452   28,868,133         5.2%
  Atlantic                   12,155,999   10,547,299        15.3%
  Pacific                    18,220,453   18,320,834        (0.5%)
 Total System                73,162,953   72,062,359         1.5%

 ASMs (000):
 Domestic                    51,194,398   52,207,291        (1.9%)
  Mainline                   41,704,875   45,658,785        (8.7%)
  Regional                    9,489,523    6,548,506        46.4%
 International               35,792,651   33,404,695         7.1%
  Atlantic                   14,718,166   12,297,223        19.7%
  Pacific                    21,074,485   21,107,472        (0.2%)
 Total System                87,087,049   85,611,986         1.7%

 Load Factor
 Domestic                          83.6%        82.7%        0.9 pts
  Mainline                         85.2%        83.8%        1.4 pts
  Regional                         75.5%        75.2%        0.3 pts
 International                     84.9%        86.4%       (1.5%) pts
  Atlantic                         82.6%        85.8%       (3.2%) pts
  Pacific                          86.5%        86.8%       (0.3) pts
 Total System                      84.0%        84.2%       (0.2) pts

 Passengers Boarded:         60,497,035   61,153,687        (1.1%)

 Cargo Ton Miles (000):       1,551,912    1,870,694       (17.0%)

 Endnote:
 (a) Results include operations under contract carrier arrangements.


            

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