Delta Reports Financial and Operating Performance for December 2014

ATLANTA, Jan. 5, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines DAL today reported financial and operating performance for December 2014.

Delta Air Lines and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 370 destinations on six continents. For more information visit news.delta.com.

Consolidated passenger unit revenue (PRASM) for the month of December decreased 4.5 percent year over year, as the calendar placement of Thanksgiving and Christmas shifted a portion of holiday travel into neighboring months.  Atlanta and Seattle continued their strong performance in domestic markets in December.  The month's performance resulted in ~1 percent unit revenue increase for the December quarter.

Delta's solid operating performance continued through December, with a monthly completion factor of 99.9 percent and an on-time arrival rate of 88.9 percent.

The company's financial and operating performance is detailed below.    

Preliminary Financial and Operating Results


December consolidated PRASM change year over year

(4.5)%

Projected December quarter fuel price per gallon, adjusted

$2.59 - $2.64

December mainline completion factor

99.9%

December on-time performance (preliminary DOT A14)

88.9%

Note: Fuel price includes taxes, transportation, settled hedges, hedge premiums and refinery impact, but excludes mark to market adjustments on open hedges.

Delta Air Lines serves nearly 165 million customers each year. Delta was named the 2014 Airline of the Year by Air Transport World magazine and was named to FORTUNE magazine's 50 Most Admired Companies, in addition to being named the most admired airline for the third time in four years. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 327 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs nearly 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. The airline is a founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance and participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia as well as a newly formed joint venture with Virgin Atlantic. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 15,000 daily flights, with key hubs and markets including Amsterdam, Atlanta, Boston, Detroit, Los Angeles, Minneapolis/St. Paul, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City, Seattle and Tokyo-Narita. Delta has invested billions of dollars in airport facilities, global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Additional information is available on delta.com, Twitter @Delta, Google.com/+Delta, Facebook.com/delta and Delta's blog takingoff.delta.com.

Forward Looking Statements

Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the cost of aircraft fuel; the availability of aircraft fuel; the impact of posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts; the impact of significant funding obligations with respect to defined benefit pension plans;  the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports; our dependence on technology in our operations; disruptions or security breaches of our information technology infrastructure; the ability of our credit card processors to take significant holdbacks in certain circumstances; the possible effects of accidents involving our aircraft; the effects of weather, natural disasters and seasonality on our business; the effects of an extended disruption in services provided by third party regional carriers; failure or inability of insurance to cover a significant liability at the Trainer refinery; the impact of environmental regulation on the Trainer refinery, including costs related to renewable fuel standard regulations; our ability to retain management and key employees; competitive conditions in the airline industry; the effects of extensive government regulation on our business; the effects of terrorist attacks; the effects of the rapid spread of contagious illnesses; and the costs associated with war risk insurance.  

Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in our Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended Dec. 31, 2013.  Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of Jan. 5, 2015, and which we have no current intention to update.

Non-GAAP Reconciliation

Delta sometimes uses information ("non-GAAP financial measures") that is derived from the Consolidated Financial Statements, but that is not presented in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the U.S. ("GAAP").  Under the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission rules, non-GAAP financial measures may be considered in addition to results prepared in accordance with GAAP, but should not be considered a substitute for or superior to GAAP results.  The table below shows a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures used in this presentation to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures.

Average Fuel Price per Gallon, Adjusted

Delta excludes mark-to-market adjustments for fuel hedges recorded in periods other than the settlement period ("MTM adjustments") from average price per fuel gallon because excluding these adjustments allows investors to better understand and analyze Delta's costs for the periods reported. MTM adjustments are based on market prices at the end of the reporting period for contracts settling in future periods. Such market prices are not necessarily indicative of the actual future value of the underlying hedge in the contract settlement period. Therefore, excluding these adjustments allows investors to better understand and analyze the company's core operational performance in the periods shown.










(Projected)





Three Months Ended

Consolidated



December 31, 2014

Average fuel price per gallon



$4.62 to $4.77

    MTM adjustments



($2.03) - ($2.13)

Average fuel price per gallon, adjusted



$2.59 to $2.64

 

 




Monthly Traffic Results (a)


Year to Date Traffic Results (a)




































Dec 2014


Dec 2013


Change



Dec 2014


Dec 2013


Change


















RPMs (000):

















Domestic

9,726,248


9,434,261


3.1%



120,205,619


114,660,928


4.8%




Delta Mainline

7,997,052


7,673,575


4.2%



98,842,727


92,793,781


6.5%




Regional

1,729,196


1,760,686


(1.8%)



21,362,892


21,867,147


(2.3%)



International

6,389,309


6,353,104


0.6%



82,693,460


80,327,153


2.9%




Latin America

1,641,606


1,486,453


10.4%



18,044,868


15,365,928


17.4%




Delta Mainline

1,604,976


1,461,084


9.8%



17,673,261


15,162,102


16.6%




       Regional

36,630


25,369


44.4%



371,607


203,826


82.3%




Atlantic

2,799,576


2,838,520


(1.4%)



40,199,960


40,224,987


(0.1%)




Pacific

1,948,127


2,028,131


(3.9%)



24,448,632


24,736,238


(1.2%)



Total System

16,115,556


15,787,365


2.1%



202,899,079


194,988,081


4.1%


















ASMs (000):

















Domestic

11,627,145


11,113,708


4.6%



141,125,299


137,993,629


2.3%




Delta Mainline

9,400,446


8,913,016


5.5%



114,179,523


109,717,046


4.1%




Regional

2,226,698


2,200,692


1.2%



26,945,776


28,276,583


(4.7%)



International

7,632,316


7,406,213


3.1%



98,552,962


94,746,719


4.0%




Latin America

1,993,376


1,743,280


14.3%



21,706,666


18,294,858


18.6%




Delta Mainline

1,945,567


1,712,531


13.6%



21,211,060


18,034,039


17.6%




       Regional

47,809


30,749


55.5%



495,606


260,819


90.0%




Atlantic

3,345,606


3,311,206


1.0%



47,586,393


47,149,986


0.9%




Pacific

2,293,334


2,351,727


(2.5%)



29,259,903


29,301,875


(0.1%)



Total System

19,259,460


18,519,921


4.0%



239,678,261


232,740,348


3.0%


















Load Factor:

















Domestic

83.7%


84.9%


(1.2)

pts


85.2%


83.1%


2.1

pts



Delta Mainline

85.1%


86.1%


(1.0)

pts


86.6%


84.6%


2.0

pts



Regional

77.7%


80.0%


(2.3)

pts


79.3%


77.3%


2.0

pts


International

83.7%


85.8%


(2.1)

pts


83.9%


84.8%


(0.9)

pts



Latin America

82.4%


85.3%


(2.9)

pts


83.1%


84.0%


(0.9)

pts



Delta Mainline

82.5%


85.3%


(2.8)

pts


83.3%


84.1%


(0.8)

pts



       Regional

76.6%


82.5%


(5.9)

pts


75.0%


78.1%


(3.1)

pts



Atlantic

83.7%


85.7%


(2.0)

pts


84.5%


85.3%


(0.8)

pts



Pacific

84.9%


86.2%


(1.3)

pts


83.6%


84.4%


(0.8)

pts


Total System

83.7%


85.2%


(1.5)

pts


84.7%


83.8%


0.9

pts

















Mainline Completion Factor

99.9%


99.6%


0.3

pts
























Passengers Boarded

13,675,728


13,360,374


2.4%



171,350,030


164,659,644


4.1%


















Cargo Ton Miles (000):

189,208


187,937


0.7%



2,368,131


2,349,611


0.8%


















a  Results include flights operated under contract carrier arrangements

 

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To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/delta-reports-financial-and-operating-performance-for-december-2014-300015336.html

SOURCE Delta Air Lines

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