Get Ready For Busy Airports For The Holidays: Delta Says Demand Is Strong

Consumers’ interest for air travel is showing strength for the last three months of the year, boosted by international flights, Delta Air Lines said in its outlook for the period.

The airline expects revenue growth of 9% to 12% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier, according to its earnings report released Thursday.

The company said sales in the third quarter rose 13% to $14.6 billion. The gain was bigger than the company’s expectation of a 10% increase. Profit jumped 35% to $1.3 billion or $2.03 per share.

“International (travel) is gangbusters,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in an interview with CNBC after the results were released. According to him, corporate travel is also “coming back meaningfully” because employees are working in offices again.

Data from the Department of Transportation show that the total number of passengers in U.S. airports has increased 15% in the first six months of the year from the same period of 2022. In December of 2022, passenger traffic increase 11% annually.

Bastian said that the Delta hasn’t seen any negative impact of the conflict between Israel and the Hamas.

“It’s early to draw any conclusions,” he told CNBC. “It’s a horrific situation; we have suspended our flights through the end of October and will monitor it very closely.”

Delta now sees its annual profit for the year to be in the range of $6 to $6.25 per share. It’s a reduction from the July forecast of $6 to $7, because of higher oil prices.

“This game is a long game in the airline business,” Bastian said. “We know we have to recalibrate.”