Delta
posts a $2 billion quarterly profit, but shares dip as airline trims forecast
of 2024 earnings
BY DAVID KOENIG
The airline’s shares fell 9% Friday,
however, as the company pulled back on its profit forecast for 2024.
Delta said full-year earnings will be
$6 to $7 a share — down from an earlier prediction of more than $7 a share.
Analysts had already trimmed their expectations to $6.50 a year, but the update
from Delta was enough to spook investors.
Delta is the first U.S. airline to post
fourth-quarter results, and its report sent shares of American, United,
Southwest, Alaska and JetBlue down between 4% and 11%.
The
A350s will have more premium seating than the planes they replace, which will
play into Delta’s strategy of pursuing high-end travelers who are more
insulated from ups and downs in the economy.
Airlines were helped in 2023 by strong
demand for travel from people who had spent most of the pandemic cooped up at
home. Delta passengers flew 19% more miles last year than they did in 2022.
CEO Ed Bastian said he expects that
trend to continue.
“We actually saw the highest cash sales
day in our history on Tuesday,” Bastian said in an interview. “So our consumer
is healthy (financially), our consumer wants to travel. That tells us it’s
going to be a very good year, 2024.”
Bastian said, however, he was concerned
about higher maintenance costs, which he blamed on supply-chain disruptions,
and an inability to receive new planes on schedule because of disruptions at
engine and aircraft makers.
Delta posted fourth-quarter net income
of $2.04 billion, more than doubling the profit of $828 million in the same
period the year before.
Excluding special items, its adjusted
earnings were $1.28 per share. That beat analysts’ average forecast of $1.16
per share, according to a survey by FactSet.
Revenue rose 6% to $14.22 billion.
Passenger revenue increased 12%, and spending on premium services — like
sitting in business class instead of the main cabin — surged 15%.
However, Delta’s refinery in
Pennsylvania brought in $579 million less revenue than a year earlier, a 51%
drop.
On the cost side, spending for labor
soared 23% — a reflection of higher wages, especially from a contract that union pilots ratified in
March of last year.
For the full year, Delta’s revenue rose
15% to more than $58 billion. Net income more than tripled, to $4.61 billion,
up from $1.32 billion in 2022.
The full-year profit fell short of
pre-pandemic 2019, when Atlanta-based Delta earned $4.77 billion, but it was
enough to buy more planes.
Delta has a mix of Airbus and Boeing
planes in its fleet of more than 900 planes, not counting its regional
affiliates. It already had 28 A350s at the end of September with commitments to
buy another 16. Friday’s order could push the total of A350s to more than 80 if
the options are used.
The A350 competes with Boeing’s 787.
Both have fuselages and wings made of carbon-fiber-reinforced composites. Delta
doesn’t use the 787, although it has other Boeing jets.
Bastian said Boeing’s current problems,
including a government investigation into parts on its 737 Max 9
jet, were not a factor in Friday’s order. He said the
company wanted continuity with the A350.
Delta doesn’t have any Max jets, but it
has committed to buy 100 of the larger Boeing 737 Max 10, a plane that has not
yet been certified by the Federal Aviation Administration.
“We
need Boeing to do well,” he said. “It’s a great company. It’s an important
company to our country and our industry.”
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Most
on-time airline in North America: Delta wins Cirium Platinum Award
Published Date 1/4/2024
10:45 AM
A testament to Delta's
commitment to punctuality and operational excellence, the airline has earned
Cirium's Platinum Award for the third year in a row. This award, which is given
to airlines that show exemplary on-time performance while navigating complex
operations – all while limiting the impact of disruption to its customers – is
made possible by the care and dedication of Delta people.
"When
Delta people put us at the top of the industry for on-time performance, we
unlock many of our strategic goals that
position us to fully deliver the welcoming, elevated and caring service our
brand is known for," said COO Mike Spanos. "Safe, clean, on-time with
bags is how we remain the airline of choice for our customers and earn a
premium from our customers. That customer loyalty is, in turn, how we
strengthen our financial position and invest in our people with things like
profit sharing. Thanks to all 100,000 strong for the outstanding performance in
2023 and for carrying it forward into the new year."
Operational
performance was very strong throughout the final quarter of 2023 and the
holiday period. Network system Completion Factor (measuring rate of
cancellations), On-time arrivals (A0), On-time Departures (D0) and DOT
Mishandled Bag Rate (MBR) all hit record performance as the best fourth quarter
in Delta's history*. During Q4, Delta ranked No. 1 among our reporting
competitors in network system Completion, A0 and D0. Three of four possible
Shared Rewards were achieved in December, and there were 7 Brand Days with zero
cancellations systemwide as well as 15 days with zero Mainline cancellations.
Holiday performance from Dec. 21 – 26 was the best we've seen post-pandemic for
reliability metrics. *excluding 2020 while the middle
seat block was in place
In addition
to winning the Cirium Platinum Award, Delta topped the rankings for being the
most on-time airline in North America. In 2023, Cirium tracked 1,635,486 Delta
flights, 84.72% of which arrived on time, which is up from 83.63% the previous
year.
Delta's
on-time performance far exceeded North American industry benchmarks. Of the
more than 8 million flights tracked by Cirium in 2023, 74.45% arrived on time.
Delta's on-time arrival percentage was 2.47% higher than its nearest North
American competitor.
Additionally,
Delta came in above global benchmarks, with 83.67% on-time arrivals across
nearly 6 million tracked flights from all global top performers. Cirium defines
an on-time flight as one that arrives within 15 minutes of its scheduled gate
arrival.
"It's
incredible to witness Delta Air Lines winning its third consecutive Platinum
Award and topping the North American Category," said Cirium CEO Jeremy
Bown. "Their relentless pursuit of efficiency and punctuality is
commendable as we venture into 2024, a year brimming with promise for the
aviation sector."
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Hiring
is UP and “Qualifications” have changed!
The following two articles in the news may make you a little ill or
maybe a lot glad, you are retired!
“We Have
Committed That 50% of The Class Will Be Women and People of Color” – United
Airlines CEO Admits to DEI Quota Because There are too Many White Men Flying
Airplanes
Meritocracy is dead.
United Airlines CEO
Scott Kirby, in a recent interview, admitted that they are no longer seeking
the most qualified candidates to safely transport their passengers on
commercial flights.
Instead, Kirby says, “We have
committed that 50% of the classes will be women or people of color,” instead of
the most qualified individuals they can find.
What could go wrong with putting
one’s skin color or gender over safety and competency?
Anti-whiteness appears to be
evolving into a trend in the airline industry.
New Deals At The Gateway Pundit MyPillow Discounts Page – Plus
Free Shipping With Promo Code TGP!
As The Gateway Pundit reported
earlier, a source from Delta Airlines has revealed that the company, in a
leaked memo, is asking its employees to capitalize the words “Black” and
“Brown” but not “White” when describing one’s race.
It is unclear whether or not
United follows this writing format, but the United CEO boasts their
discriminatory hiring practices.
To add some irony to this story,
Mark Cuban, in an unhinged, explicative-filled
rant on James O’Keefe, said, “DEI has nothing to do
with quotas, and only a f*cking moron thinks DEI has to do with quotas.” Watch
O’Keefe’s full interview with far-left, Trump-hater Mark Cuban here.
Despite Mark Cuban’s delusions,
John Kirby, without using the word “quota,” said his DEI quota for women and
people of color is 50%.
Via Libs of TikTok:
INTERVIEWER: How is diversity and diversity targets working into the
Aviator Academy?
KIRBY: We have committed that 50% of the classes will be women or
people of color. Today, only 19% of our pilots at United Airlines are women or
people of color. And by the way, from all the data I’ve seen, that’s the
highest of any airline in the country.
INTERVIEWER: White males don’t just dominate in the cockpit. It’s also in
the C suite at United Airlines.
KIRBY: Well, look, at United, I’m proud of the diversity that we
actually have in our C suite. I think if you look around corporate America…
INTERVIEWER: So this is just based off your website, the people you list
as executives, but out of 11 people, three are women, I believe one is a person
of color.
KIRBY: Um… That’s correct. But, you know, in corporate America, I
think, you know…
INTERVIEWER: That’s a low bar. How do you raise your own bar?
KIRBY: Well, a lot of this is, you know, focusing on it. We have
programs to one of the things we do is for every job when we’re doing an
interview, we require women and people of color to be involved in the interview
process, bringing people in early in their careers, as well, and giving them
those opportunities and creating a stronger bench.
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Following
article and many like it have hit the MSM with a splash. I will include it in the HL without editorial
comment for you to see what is spreading around.
Delta Airlines faces backlash after alleged ‘white’ racism claims
Jan 13, 2024 06:06 PM IST
Delta Airlines faces backlash over alleged
racial sensitivity note.
Delta Airlines finds
itself in hot water after an alleged note from their DEI department went viral
on social media. The note supposedly addresses racial sensitivity but has
sparked accusations of bias.
Accusations
on social media:
Social media erupted
with claims that Delta's DEI department instructed employees to capitalize
"Black" and "Brown" but use lowercase for
"white." Critics voiced their concerns, branding the airline as
racist.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
Capt Roberts oldest
living list. Faithfully, David produces this plus other list of archived those
pilots who are associated with our massive company who have Flown West. When I receive them I update our website and
publish online. Because this list is of
“Living Pilots” I password protect the page and only share with the private
members who receive this newsletter on our member list. The access
password is: pcnpilot
Following David’s letter
of explanation is the link to his latest spreadsheets.
DELTA'S OLDEST LIVING PILOTS 2023
My Delta Friends,
Each year I compile a list of Delta's Oldest Living Pilots, which
includes ALL living pilots from ANY airline that is now shown on Delta's
Family Tree schematic (attached below).
This is the FINAL list for 2023 and is attached below in MS Excel format
and is current as of TODAY, December 31, 2023 -- only...!!!
This list is created from various sources that provide each pilot's date of
birth. The age of each person increases by one year on their day
of birth using a spreadsheet formula --- so the December 31 list
is correct for today only...!!!!
There are two lists of the same information below; first: the NAMES
list, is sorted alphabetically, and the second, the AGE List, is
sorted by Date of Birth. Each list includes, at the beginning, the 61
names of the Oldest Pilots of 2023 who died during 2023.
Due to privacy concerns I will NOT PUBLISH the pilot's Date of Birth, only the
month of birth and the pilot's age - as of the particular DATE of this
report -- which is stated at the top of the report. But to compile this
report accurately I need each pilot's exact Date of Birth in the data
base. There are 854 names on this years list but 61 of these passed away
during 2023, slightly over 7 %. Their names are highlighted in Yellow and
are listed at the beginning of each report. The 2022 Oldest Pilot list
had 647 names! Thus the 2024 Oldest Pilot List may hold more than
1000 names if this growth continues.
If you know Spouse names for any of those not shown, please click Reply and
send me that information. If any pilot shown passes away during 2024 they
will be highlighted in Yellow with their date of death shown in next year's
report.
I arbitrarily determined several years ago that a good age for inclusion on
this list was the calendar year the pilot reached the age of 86 and the 2023 list is now as
complete as I can make it. For the year 2023 any living pilot from
any of the companies now on Delta's Family Tree with a date of birth of 1937
or earlier
should be included. The list is a work-in-progress so help me make it
grow, in size and accuracy.
If you know of a pilot whose name is missing and should be included, please
send me that pilot's FULL name, Spouse's name, the pilot's Date of Birth and
Date of Hire and the pilot's ORIGINAL airline company --- or as much of this as
you know. If the spouse is deceased, please include that information with
the spouse's name.
Let's celebrate Delta's Oldest Living Pilots again-and-again. Send them a
Birthday Card or an email at the beginning of their month of birth.
That's close enough to their birthday for us old folks.
As you can see this list has grown tremendously with all the original company
pilots included. For 2023 there were over 240 just original Delta pilots
who were added to the list plus all the others now on Delta's Family
Tree. Look for a much longer list early in 2024. But this is the
list you want to be on before getting on that Other List we see so often..!!
Please FORWARD this email with the attachments to all of your
Delta friends as I only have a limited number of email addresses.
Let us insure that everyone ON this list receives a copy OF
this list..!!!
Thank you for your help.
Stay safe out there.
Dave
David L. Roberts
Captain, MD-11, ATL (Ret.)
12080 Brookfield Club Drive
Roswell, GA 30075-1259
Email: robertsDL@mindspring.com
CLICK
HERE to access David’s latest list:
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