Delta Air Lines (DAL) 2021 Q2 Earnings

Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) commenced its operations as an aerial crop-dusting company way back in 1924. A few years later, the firm started passenger routes in the United States. The company transformed into a full passenger-service airline by 1946. It was the first airline to offer uninterrupted flights between Chicago and Miami. Moving forward, Delta commenced international routes during the 1950s following its merger with Chicago and Southern Air Lines. Today, Delta is one of the world’s leading airlines offering nonstop flights across six continents.

The company recently announced better-than-expected expected financial results for the second quarter, helped by improved travel bookings. Delta reported earnings of $1.02 per share for the three months ended June 30, versus $2.21 per share in the comparable period of 2019. On an adjusted basis, the airline reported a loss of $1.07 per share, narrower than the loss of $1.38 per share projected by analysts.

Revenue came in at $7.13 billion, down 43 percent from the second quarter of 2019. Analysts, on average, were expecting Delta to post revenue of $6.20 billion. Passenger revenue in the quarter declined 53 percent to $5.33 billion, while load factor decreased nearly 70 percent.

Commenting on the quarter, CEO Ed Bastian said, “With the best employees and operation in the industry and an accelerating demand environment, we achieved significant milestones in the quarter including a solid pre-tax profit in the month of June, positive free cash flow for the June quarter, and our people and our brand being recognized with the top spot in the J.D. Power 2021 Airline Study. Looking forward, we are harnessing the power of our differentiated brand and resilient competitive advantages to drive towards sustainable profitability in the second half of 2021 and enable long-term value creation.”

Looking forward, Delta expects its third-quarter revenue to be down in the range of 30 to 35 percent from the comparable period of 2019.

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