Delta Air Lines
has announced its 2024 results, with the airline reporting a record-breaking full-year revenue, pre-tax income, and cash flow. The company said that strong demand should continue in 2025, with travelers increasingly seeking the premium products provided by such airlines as itself.
Record-breaking year
On January 10, Delta Air Lines announced its full-year results, recording adjusted revenues of $57 billion and an operating income of $6 billion with an operating margin of 10.6%. Its operating cash flow was $8 billion, while earnings per share (EPS) was $6.16.
Ed Bastian, the chief executive officer (CEO) of Delta Air Lines, said that 2024 was an excellent year for the company, with its results reflecting the differentiation from the industry and increased durability. Bastian said the airline’s employees finished the year strong, delivering industry-leading operational and financial performance.
“Sharing Delta’s success is core to our culture, and I’m excited to recognize our people’s outstanding efforts with $1.4 billion in profit sharing payments next month.”
Photo: Minh K Tran | Shutterstock
Bastian added that the airline expects strong demand for travel to continue. Consumers have increasingly sought premium products and experiences that are provided by Delta Air Lines, according to the executive.
“Our differentiated strategy and best-in-class operations, combined with demand strength and an increasingly constructive industry backdrop, position us to deliver the best financial year in Delta’s 100-year history, with pre-tax income greater than $6 billion, earnings per share greater than $7.35 and free cash flow of more than $4 billion.”
However, the carrier noted that its projected more than 10% growth of EPS year-on-year (YoY) is compared to a “normalized” EPS baseline that excludes the $0.45 impact of the CrowdStrike outage in July, which slightly affected its Q3 results.
Related
Delta Passengers Sue For Refunds Of Flights Cancelled During CrowdStrike IT Fail
The passengers filed a lawsuit in Atlanta, where Delta Air Lines’ headquarters are located.
Net income hit
The airline’s financial results detailed that in 2024, its average passenger-mile yield dropped by 2%, going from 21.06¢ to 20.68¢, while passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) was also 2% lower at 17.65¢.
Nevertheless, its revenue passenger miles (RPM) and available seat miles (ASM) both increased by 6% YoY, while the total non-adjusted revenue per ASM (TRASM) was relatively flat (21.37¢ versus 21.34¢).
Photo: Karolis Kavolelis | Shutterstock
Delta Air Lines’ December quarter’s PRASM, TRASM, and yield were either slightly higher or flat, with Glen Hauenstein, the president of the airline, noting that Q4 2024 revenue growth of 5.7% YoY was ahead of its guidance, once again pointing out that the carrier’s team delivered an industry-leading performance.
“With strength continuing into the new year, we expect March quarter adjusted revenue to be 7 to 9 percent higher than 2024 on growth in capacity and unit revenue.”
Its full-year adjusted net income was $3.9 billion, compared to $4.02 billion in 2023. Not-adjusted net income was $3.4 billion in 2024 and $4.6 billion in 2023. In August 2024, Delta Air Lines detailed that the fallout from the CrowdStrike-related IT outage
had a direct $380 million and $170 million hit on its revenues and non-fuel expenses, respectively.
Related
Delta Air Lines Expects 30% Growth In Pre-Tax Profit For Q4 2024
Following a financially positive quarter, Delta Air Lines expects to finish off the year with a strong Q4.
Premium catching up to the main cabin
The carrier’s financial results also outlined that revenue from premium products has continued to close the gap to ticket revenues earned in the main cabin. In 2024, Delta Air Lines earned $20.5 billion from premium products (an increase of $1.4 billion) and $24.97 billion from the main cabin, only a $20 million bump compared to 2023.
Photo: Delta Air Lines
During the company’s investor day in November 2024, Delta Air Lines outlined that it will continue focusing on its premium cabins, predicting that by 2027, premium cabin revenues will outpace ticket sales earnings from its main cabin.
Related
Nearly 1,000 Daily Flights: Delta Air Lines Is Preparing For Its Largest Year In Atlanta
Delta Air Lines will offer more than 1 million weekly seats from Atlanta on nine out of 12 months in 2025.
