And unlike key rivals, Delta was not burdened by the grounding of the Boeing 737 Max — it doesn’t own any of them. Delta Chief Executive Ed Bastian says there is no reason to think the industry’s good times will end anytime soon. Delta grew its passenger-carrying capacity by nearly 5 percent, but it was able to raise average prices and still fill 85.6 percent of its seats in the fourth quarter and a record 86.3 percent for all of 2019. Revenue grew by 6 percent to US$11.44 billion, topping the FactSet survey number by US$100 million. Delta predicted that costs per mile, excluding fuel, will rise faster than revenue per mile in the first quarter.

Source: The Standard January 15, 2020 08:50 UTC