Delta Sees 1Q Revenue Near Bottom of Guidance
DOW JONES & COMPANY, INC. 8:20 AM ET 3/15/2021
Symbol Last Price Change | DAL | 49.83 | 0 (0%) | | QUOTES AS OF 07:00:00 PM ET 03/12/2021 |
Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said Monday it now expects that its revenue result in the March-ending quarter would be near the pessimistic end of a previously issued guidance range, despite improving trends in bookings.
The Atlanta-based airline had previously forecast that quarterly revenue would be down year over year by between 60% and 65%. Revenue trends were weaker than expected in January and early February, pulling Delta's result toward the lower end of the guidance range, the airline said.
Expenses, conversely, will be near the high end of the airline's previous guidance of down 35% to down 40% year over year, as higher fuel costs and employee-related costs drove more spending than initially expected, Delta said.
The company now expects its adjusted pre-tax loss in the quarter will approach $3 billion, Delta said.
Meanwhile, bookings have improved in March, according to Delta. So far this month, daily net cash sales have grown by about 30% compared with February's average.
Bookings for travel dates more than 60 days away now represent 32% of new bookings. That proportion is now down by only three percentage points from 2019, compared with down 10 points in January.
Write to Matt Grossman at matt.grossman@wsj.com |
