The total passenger revenue of Delta Air Lines had risen by 3.6% over year to $9.4 billion in the third quarter as the air carrier reported the most prosperous year-end business travel outlook in the last few years.
The most recent survey of the corporate travel managers portrayed over 85%, intended to raise the spending levels into the fourth quarter and the beginning of 2018, as specified by Glen Hauenstein who is the president of Delta. The number is 9% points higher than a year before and the highest fourth-quarter result since Delta commenced the survey in 2011, he said.
For the third quarter too, the corporate fares increased, the first time both fares as well as volume rise at the same time in three years, as per Hauenstien.
Corporate travel has been expanding especially on the transatlantic routes.
Delta had reported its first positive unit revenue growth in three years.
Hauenstein said that Europe is emerging out of a multiyear recession. The U.S. economy is quite strong and many people tend to travel on business purposes.
The third-quarter growth came following the three major hurricanes and also the Mexico City earthquake, said Ed Bastian, the CEO of Delta.
Hurricane Irma alone had cost $120 million hit to Delta even though the carrier was able to ‘rebound quickly’. It was the first airline to start services in a majority of the key airports in Florida. The traffic of Delta had increased by nearly 3.4% over a year in the third quarter and the capacity had risen by 1.6%.
Delta had reported a net income of nearly $1.18 billion for the quarter, down from $1.26 billion in the third quarter of 2016.
