Delta’s summer travel outlook tops estimates as CEO says high-end demand is holding up

Delta Air Lines trimmed its 2025 profit forecast as it deals with lower-than-expected demand this year and the industry manages a glut of flights, but the carrier’s outlook for summer travel beat Wall Street’s expectations.

Delta, the first of the U.S. airlines to report results, expects adjusted earnings per share of between $1.25 and $1.75 in the third quarter, compared with Wall Street analysts’ forecast for $1.31 a share. It also said it expects revenue that’s flat to up 4%, topping forecasts for a 1.4% sales increase.

Delta shares jumped more than 7% in premarket trading after releasing results.

Delta expects adjusted full-year earnings of $5.25 to $6.25 a share, down from a forecast in January of more than $7.35 a share, when CEO Ed Bastian predicted 2025 would be the carrier’s best year ever.

In April, Delta said it couldn’t reaffirm that forecast as on-again-off-again tariffs and hesitant consumers dented bookings. Rival U.S. carriers also pulled their guidance, and Delta and other airlines have announced plans to cut flights after the summer peak.

Bookings have since stabilized, Bastian told CNBC in an interview, though at lower levels than the airline expected at the start of the year.

“People are still traveling,” Bastian said. “What they’ve done is they’ve shifted their booking patterns a little bit. They’re holding off making plans until they have they’re a little closer in to their to their travel dates. And so that’s shifted some of our bookings and yield management strategies.”

That includes trimming capacity outside of top travel periods, including what Bastian described as “surgical” cuts after the peak summer travel season ends around mid-August.

Here’s how the company performed in the three months ended June 30, compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on consensus estimates from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: $2.10 adjusted vs. $2.05 expected
• Revenue: $15.51 billion adjusted vs. $15.48 billion expected

Delta posted strong growth from sales of higher-priced seats like first-class and from its lucrative American Express partnership, which increased 10% in the second quarter from the same period last year to $2 billion. Airlines have become more reliant on travelers who are willing to spend more to fly rather than more price-sensitive consumers.

While fares have dropped across the U.S., Delta’s premium-product revenue rose 5%, while sales from the main cabin fell 5% from last year. Its total revenue per seat mile, a measure of how much an airline is bringing in for the amount it flies, fell 4% in the quarter.

Bastian said Delta is prepared to continue updating its premium products.

“Whether it’s the Delta lounges or the quality of the product on board, the premium products have had life cycles … and what we thought was state of the art six or seven years ago no longer is,” he said. “We’re continuing to upgrade and update it.”

Corporate travel has also stabilized, but it’s in line with last year, not the 5% to 10% growth Delta expected at the start of the year, Bastian said.

In the second quarter, Delta posted adjusted revenue of nearly $15.51 billion, up 1% from a year ago. Its net income in the three months ended June 30 totaled $2.13 billion, or $3.27 a share, up 63% on the year. That compares with net income of $1.3 billion, or $2.01 a share, in the same period last year. Adjusting for one-time items, its per-share net income was $1.37 billion, or $2.10 a share.

This is breaking news. Please refresh for updates.