Delta's August Load Factor Falls 2.9 Percentage Points

Delta Air Lines, Inc. DAL disclosed the total system load factor witnessed 2.9 percentage point drop from 87.3 percent to 84.4 percent in August. For the year-to-date period, the load factor fell 0.5 percentage points.

The company's passenger unit revenue (PRASM) dipped 9.5 percent in August pressured by continuous weakness from close-in domestic yield, the headwinds from its hedge position of the yen and the imbalance in the supply-demand in the Transatlantic.

Delta referred to the outage faced in August that resulted in cancellation of 2,300 flights in a three-day period. The company indicated that the cancellation, outage and the operational recovery efforts have unfavorably impacted its revenue by about $100 million or two points of PRASM in August.

CEO Ed Bastian said, "We are grateful to our customers for continuing to rely on Delta for the superior customer service and operational performance you've come to expect from us. Our recovery effort exemplified the hard work and determination of Delta people worldwide, and all 80,000 remain dedicated to regaining your trust."

The company's total system ASM advanced 0.5 percent in August. For the year-to-date period, ASM advanced 2.5 percent.

Following the news, the stock edged up by $0.36, or 0.98 percent, to $37.18.

At time of writing, Delta was up 1.39 percent on Friday, trading at $37.32.

Do you have ideas for articles/interviews you'd like to see more of on Benzinga? Please email feedback@benzinga.com with your best article ideas. One person will be randomly selected to win a $20 Amazon gift card!