Delta Air Lines' corporate demand and sales increased during the fourth quarter, and the carrier anticipates that trajectory to continue into the first quarter of 2025.
"Corporate sales grew 10% year over year, improving three points sequentially," Delta president Glen Hauenstein said during the airline's Q4 earnings call on Jan. 10. "Strength built through the quarter driven by both volume and fare, with broad-based strength geographically and across all sectors. … Those trends are continuing into the first quarter."
Hauenstein called out its transatlantic segment as having an "outstanding performance." He said that during the off-peak winter season, advanced and close-in bookings have been strong.
Delta often polls corporate travel managers in the weeks leading up to its quarterly calls, and Hauenstein said that in the carrier's most recent survey, "90% expected to exceed or meet last year's spend."
In response to an analyst question, Hauenstein said the corporate market is "reverting [to where it used to be], but it's still different. On the margins, close-in has picked up, because the booking curves had elongated during the Covid recovery. Those have come in over the past year or so. Tuesday and Wednesday travel is picking up. It's not back to where it was, but on the margin, it's coming more towards what it was pre-Covid."
Delta's share of corporate volume also is "at or near record highs every month," Hauenstein said.
Delta reported fourth-quarter revenue of nearly $15.6 billion, up 9% year over year, and $12.8 billion in passenger revenue, an increase of 5%. Full-year revenue was more than $61.6 billion, up 6% from 2023. Full-year passenger revenue was nearly $50.9 billion, a 4% increase.
Fourth-quarter net income was $843 million, and full-year net income was nearly $3.5 billion.
Source: Business Travel News