Delta Air Lines reported a 30% decline in operating income for the third quarter, as industry overcapacity and the carrier's operational meltdown in July took a toll.
But Delta expects to outperform last year's results during the current quarter now that U.S. airlines have moderated capacity to more closely match demand.
"We think the balance has not been this good in quite some time," Delta president Glen Hauenstein said during the airline's Q3 earnings call.
For the third quarter, Delta reported operating income of $1.4 billion, down from $1.98 billion a year earlier. Operating revenue increased 1%, to $15.7 billion, as the airline increased capacity 4%. But the higher revenue was more than offset by a 6% increase in expenses.
The operational collapse caused by the CrowdStrike outage, during which Delta canceled approximately 7,000 flights over five days, impacted the airline's net operating income by approximately $500 million and dragged down its operating margin by 2.3 percentage points.
Industry overcapacity also was a drag on Delta's results, contributing to a 3% drop in revenue per mile for the average flown passenger.
For the quarter, Delta reported an operating margin of 8.9%, down from 12.8% a year earlier.
However, the airline expects to flip the script for Q4. Delta is projecting an operating margin of 11% to 13%, up from last year's fourth-quarter margin of 9.3%.
Reduced industry capacity is an expected driver for the projected improvement, which Delta expects to result in higher airfares.
In September, industrywide ticket prices were up 1.6% from last year, according to Consumer Price Index data released Thursday.
In July, U.S. airlines flew 5.8% more capacity, measured by available seat miles, than they had a year earlier, Cirium flight schedule data shows. But in September, capacity growth from the prior year was just 1.2% as airlines, especially the discount carriers, curbed schedules to counter sagging summer airfares.
For Q4, airlines plan 1.8% more capacity year over year, according to a Sept. 30 Deutsche Bank analysis. Delta plans to grow its fourth-quarter capacity by 3% to 4%.