Delta Air Lines Is Bullish Despite So-So February
Photo Credit: A Delta Air Lines Boeing 777-200ER being worked on by the carrier's technical operations team. Delta updated its first quarter margin guidance on Monday. Delta Air Lines
Skift Take
Delta may not make as much money as expected in the first quarter, but the airline will be fine. Along with Southwest Airlines, it tends to be one of the best performers in the U.S. airline industry.
Delta Air Lines' financial results in February "were a little choppier than we expected," leading the airline to reduce its estimated first quarter operating margin, but the company expects business to improve, its CFO told investment analysts on Monday.
Delta's Paul Jacobson said the airline expects its operating margin to be between 10 percent and 11 percent, rather than the 11 to 13 percent it forecasted earlier. The airline blamed higher than expected costs, including from fuel prices, and said unit revenues did not increase by as much as expected.
"The good news is that we do expect this to be the trough for the full year in terms of year-over-year margin performance," Jacobson said at the
