ATLANTA, April 3, 2008 (PRIME NEWSWIRE) -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE:DAL) today reported record load factors for March. Load factors for system (83.6 percent), mainline system (84.2 percent), domestic (84.5 percent) and Latin (81.9 percent) were higher than any previous March on record for Delta.
System traffic in March 2008 increased 2.3 percent over March 2007 with a capacity increase of 1.5 percent. International traffic increased 12.5 percent year over year on a 12.2 percent increase in capacity. Domestic traffic in March 2008 decreased 2.1 percent year over year on a capacity decrease of 3.2 percent.
In addition, a record number of passengers flew internationally on Delta during the month of March. The number of international, Atlantic and Latin passengers increased 11.9 percent, 10.1 percent and 13.3 percent, respectively, versus the same period last year.
"Internationally, we saw strong demand and solid unit revenue gains, and our international network continues to grow with the recent launch of flights to Heathrow and Shanghai," said Glen Hauenstein, Delta's executive vice president - Network Planning and Revenue Management. "On the domestic side, we moved quickly and aggressively to rationalize capacity in light of fuel prices and economic conditions. The benefits of these actions and our yield management initiatives, combined with the earlier Easter holiday, resulted in stronger year-over-year domestic unit revenue gains than seen last month."
Detailed traffic and capacity are attached.
Delta Air Lines operates service to more worldwide destinations than any airline with Delta and Delta Connection flights to 306 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 37 trans-Atlantic markets. To Latin America and the Caribbean, Delta offers more than 517 weekly flights to 57 destinations. Delta's marketing alliances also allow customers to earn and redeem SkyMiles on nearly 16,409 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 841 worldwide destinations in 162 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)
March 2008 March 2007 Change
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RPMs (000):
Domestic 7,133,764 7,286,579 (2.1%)
Delta Mainline 5,548,054 5,712,265 (2.9%)
Comair 406,355 399,642 1.7%
Contract Carriers 1,179,355 1,174,672 0.4%
International 3,522,574 3,130,017 12.5%
Latin America 1,072,505 955,199 12.3%
Delta Mainline 1,008,456 913,662 10.4%
Comair 1,969 1,192 65.2%
Contract Carriers 62,080 40,345 53.9%
Atlantic 2,319,235 2,072,774 11.9%
Pacific 130,834 102,044 28.2%
System 10,656,338 10,416,596 2.3%
ASMs (000):
Domestic 8,440,731 8,716,370 (3.2%)
Delta Mainline 6,472,083 6,733,340 (3.9%)
Comair 528,785 527,215 0.3%
Contract Carriers 1,439,863 1,455,815 (1.1%)
International 4,302,610 3,834,733 12.2%
Latin America 1,309,080 1,224,497 6.9%
Delta Mainline 1,228,367 1,168,338 5.1%
Comair 2,305 1,326 73.8%
Contract Carriers 78,408 54,833 43.0%
Atlantic 2,826,972 2,496,437 13.2%
Pacific 166,558 113,799 46.4%
System 12,743,341 12,551,103 1.5%
Load Factor
Domestic 84.5% 83.6% 0.9 pts
Delta Mainline 85.7% 84.8% 0.9 pts
Comair 76.8% 75.8% 1.0 pts
Contract Carriers 81.9% 80.7% 1.2 pts
International 81.9% 81.6% 0.3 pts
Latin America 81.9% 78.0% 3.9 pts
Delta Mainline 82.1% 78.2% 3.9 pts
Comair 85.4% 89.9% (4.5) pts
Contract Carriers 79.2% 73.6% 5.6 pts
Atlantic 82.0% 83.0% (1.0) pts
Pacific 78.6% 89.7% (11.1) pts
System 83.6% 83.0% 0.6 pts
Passengers Boarded 9,619,091 9,696,321 (0.8%)
Completion Factor 98.1% 98.1% 0.0 pts
Delta Air Lines
Year to Date Traffic Results (a,b)
March 2008 March 2007 Change
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RPMs (000):
Domestic 19,023,951 19,031,037 (0.0%)
Delta Mainline 14,776,588 14,922,871 (1.0%)
Comair 1,059,901 1,046,843 1.2%
Contract Carriers 3,187,462 3,061,323 4.1%
International 9,180,645 8,181,575 12.2%
Latin America 2,964,599 2,756,487 7.5%
Delta Mainline 2,802,021 2,645,564 5.9%
Comair 4,107 2,549 61.1%
Contract Carriers 158,471 108,374 46.2%
Atlantic 5,851,189 5,142,314 13.8%
Pacific 364,857 282,774 29.0%
Total System 28,204,596 27,212,612 3.6%
ASMs (000):
Domestic 24,093,963 24,490,305 (1.6%)
Delta Mainline 18,484,569 18,925,480 (2.3%)
Comair 1,500,871 1,527,840 (1.8%)
Contract Carriers 4,108,523 4,036,985 1.8%
International 11,997,888 10,789,094 11.2%
Latin America 3,687,152 3,695,969 (0.2%)
Delta Mainline 3,475,148 3,535,090 (1.7%)
Comair 5,200 3,285 58.3%
Contract Carriers 206,804 157,594 31.2%
Atlantic 7,839,184 6,762,819 15.9%
Pacific 471,552 330,306 42.8%
Total System 36,091,851 35,279,399 2.3%
Load Factor
Domestic 79.0% 77.7% 1.3 pts
Delta Mainline 79.9% 78.9% 1.0 pts
Comair 70.6% 68.5% 2.1 pts
Contract Carriers 77.6% 75.8% 1.8 pts
International 76.5% 75.8% 0.7 pts
Latin America 80.4% 74.6% 5.8 pts
Delta Mainline 80.6% 74.8% 5.8 pts
Comair 79.0% 77.6% 1.4 pts
Contract Carriers 76.6% 68.8% 7.8 pts
Atlantic 74.6% 76.0% (1.4) pts
Pacific 77.4% 85.6% (8.2) pts
Total System 78.1% 77.1% 1.0 pts
Passengers Boarded 25,586,262 25,325,177 1.0%
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. and SkyWest Airlines Inc. for all periods presented, and ExpressJet Airlines and Pinnacle Airlines, Inc beginning June 2007 and December 2007, respectively.
(b) Mainline system includes domestic Delta mainline, Latin Delta mainline, Atlantic and Pacific operations