Delta Air Lines doubles Q4 profit to $558m

Delta’s fourth-quarter profit more than doubled to $558 million (€412 million), helped by increased holiday travel, higher fares and lower fuel costs.

Earnings excluding some items of 65 cents a share rose from $238 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier, the Atlanta-based airline said in a statement today.

Delta, the third-biggest US carrier, is reaping benefits from its 2008 merger with Northwest Airlines as American Airlines digests its recent tie-up with US Airways Group and United Continental continues meshing operations at its two airlines.

“Management has had a very good plan, and they’ve executed on that plan,” Savanthi Syth, a Raymond James Financial analyst, said in an interview before the results. “They appear to be firing on all cylinders.”

Delta last year began a share buyback programme and reinstated a dividend after a decade-long break.

The changes, along with a $10 billion debt-reduction plan, helped Delta regain a spot on the Standard and Poor’s 500 Index after being dropped in August 2005 ahead of its bankruptcy filing.

The airline is pulling costly 50-seat commuter jets from regional operations and replacing them with larger aircraft with two-class seating.

It’s also eliminating some premium seats from long-haul jets that often sit empty on international routes and expanding the cheaper coach cabin.

United Continental, Southwest Airlines and Alaska Air are set to issue results on January 23, with American Airlines reporting on January 28.

Bloomberg