Delta Air Lines Reports August Traffic

ATLANTA, Sept. 6, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today reported traffic results for August 2011.  System traffic in August 2011 decreased 0.3 percent compared to August 2010 on a 0.8 percent decrease in capacity.  System load factor of 86.9 percent was 0.4 points higher than the prior year.

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International traffic increased 1.9 percent year over year on a 1.8 percent increase in capacity, and load factor increased to 87.5 percent.  Domestic traffic decreased 1.8 percent year over year on a 2.6 percent decrease in capacity.  Domestic load factor increased 0.7 points to 86.5 percent.  

"The impact of Hurricane Irene, which resulted in more than 2,200 flight cancellations, reduced Delta's net profit for August by about $15 million," said Ed Bastian, Delta's president.  "I want to thank the entire Delta team on the ground and in the air who went the extra mile to restart our East Coast operation after Irene. Their dedication to our customers allowed us to rebound successfully from the storm."

Detailed traffic and capacity are attached.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year, and was named by Fortune magazine as the most admired airline worldwide in its 2011 World's Most Admired Companies airline industry list. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 339 destinations in 59 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $2 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at 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 impact of significant funding obligations with respect to defined benefit pension plans; the impact of posting collateral in connection with our fuel hedge contracts;  the impact that our indebtedness may have on our financial and operating activities and our ability to incur additional debt; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; the integration of the Delta and Northwest workforces; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports; our increasing dependence on technology in our operations; our ability to retain management and key employees; 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 terrorist attacks; and competitive conditions in the airline industry.

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, 2010.  Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on our forward-looking statements, which represent our views only as of Sept. 6, 2011, and which we have no current intention to update.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines