Delta Air Lines’ profits fell in the third quarter after the global IT outage in July led to thousands of flight cancellations.
The US carrier said it took a $380 million hit from July’s mass shutdown when a faulty update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike affected computers running Microsoft Windows.
Delta cancelled 7,000 flights over a five-day period, so it had to pay refunds and compensation to customers as well as crew-related costs.
Net income for the three months to the end of September was $971 million, down by 26% from $1.3 billion in the third quarter of 2023.
Its operating revenue for the quarter was $14.6 billion, which was flat year on year.
Looking forward, Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief executive, said: “With an improving industry backdrop and strong demand for travel on Delta, we are positioned to finish the year strong.
“We expect our December quarter pre-tax profit to grow 30% over last year to $1.4 billion, which would mark one of the most profitable fourth quarters in our history.”
However, it does expect some drop in demand because of the US election in November.
Glen Hauenstein, Delta president, said: “For the December quarter, we expect the improved trends to continue and bookings for the holiday period are strong.
“We anticipate a one-point impact to total unit revenue from reduced travel demand around the election.”
The Q3 results statement said international trends were “positive”, adding: “International demand remains strong with trends improving through the quarter in Transatlantic and Latin.
“Transatlantic unit revenues inflected positive in the month of September as Paris demand rebounded following the Olympics.”
Managed corporate travel sales were up 7% year on year, with double-digit growth in the tech, media and banking sectors.
Recent corporate survey results indicate that 85% of companies expect their travel spend to increase in 2025, added the airline.
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