by Donald Wood
Last updated: 10:35 AM ET, Wed April 13, 2022
Delta Air Lines reported financial results and company updates for the first quarter of 2022, as well as an outlook for the second quarter of the year.
In the first quarter, the airline revealed an adjusted operating loss of $793 million, which excludes a net gain of $9 million. The carrier also reported a pre-tax loss of $1.2 billion with adjusted pre-tax loss of $1.0 billion, excluding a net expense of $164 million.
In addition, Delta officials reported adjusted operating revenue of $8.2 billion was 79 percent recovered versus March 2019 on capacity that was 83 percent restored.
The company also revealed business travel is recovering, as domestic corporate sales for the quarter were around 50 percent recovered, with March improving to 70 percent compared to 2019. International corporate sales were 35 percent recovered, with March improving to 50 percent versus 2019.
"With a strong rebound in demand as omicron faded, we returned to profitability in the month of March, producing a solid adjusted operating margin of almost 10 percent," Delta CEO Ed Bastian said. "As our brand preference and demand momentum grow, we are successfully recapturing higher fuel prices, driving our outlook for a 12 to 14 percent adjusted operating margin and strong free cash flow in the June quarter."
"I would like to thank the Delta people, who once again enabled our best-in-class operational performance, provided an unmatched customer experience and continue to power our industry leadership each and every day," Bastian continued.
Delta also announced premium cabin revenue recovery is outpacing Main Cabin, as premium products revenue approximately 100 percent restored to 2019 levels in March. Domestic and Latin premium product revenue recovery outpaced Main Cabin by around 10 points during the March quarter.
During the quarter, the company unveiled major airport infrastructure milestones at Los Angeles and Seattle airports, increased flexibility by extending ticket validity through year-end 2023, reintroduced Delta One services and more.
Delta also released a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion report, published a Climate Lobbying report, detailed global advocacy activities and announced an expanded partnership with sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) maker Gevo.
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