Delta Air says bookings have bottomed out and business is improving

BOSTON, Oct. 3 (Reuters) – Delta Air Lines (DAL.N) said its ticket sales have stabilized and started to improve, putting it on track to generate third-quarter revenue in the initial forecast range.

“For Delta, they hit a low towards the end of August and the first part of September,” Managing Director Ed Bastian told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of the IATA airline group on Sunday. “Business traffic is back in the United States”

In July, the company had forecast a 30-35% decline in adjusted third-quarter revenue from 2019 levels. Last month, the airline said quarterly revenue would be on the lower end of the forecast. after a resurgence of COVID-19.

A Delta official said on Monday that there had been no update to the outlook provided by the company last month.

The airline is due to release its results for the quarter through September on October 13.

Bastian said domestic travel bookings are expected to surpass 2019 levels next year.

Later, the airline announced that it would increase capacity in Boston by more than 20% next summer from the peak of 2019, adding five new routes including two international destinations.

The company is also seeing an increase in demand for transatlantic flights after the White House decision late last month to reopen the country to fully vaccinated travelers from around the world.

Transatlantic flights accounted for 11-17% of passenger revenue in 2019 for the three major airlines – American Airlines (AAL.O), United Airlines (UAL.O) and Delta.

Bastian said the vaccination rate for Delta staff rose to 84%, in part thanks to the company’s decision to impose a monthly health insurance surcharge of $ 200 for those who had not been vaccinated. . He said he expects the rate to exceed 90% by November 1.

Delta, however, is the only major U.S. airline that still has not imposed coronavirus vaccines on its employees despite pressure from the White House.

Bastian said the company has not made a decision to make COVID-19 vaccines mandatory.

“We’re obviously studying it,” he said, referring to President Joe Biden’s Executive Order (EO) requiring federal contractors to prescribe vaccinations.

“I don’t know how far you have to go to be in compliance with the OE,” said the CEO.

The White House is pressuring major U.S. airlines to prescribe COVID-19 vaccines for employees by December 8 – the deadline for federal contractors. Major US airlines have a number of federal contracts. Read more

Reporting by Rajesh Kumar Singh; Editing by Himani Sarkar and Bill Berkrot

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