Delta Air Lines Inc. DAL witnessed an increase in air traffic in the month of November wherein traffic – measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) – stood at 15.6 billion. This figure reflects a 4.6% increase from 14.87 billion recorded a year ago.
On a year-over-year basis, consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) increased 0.3% to 18.5 billion. Meanwhile, the load factor or percentage of seats filled by passengers decreased to 84.1% in the month from 80.7% recorded in November last year.
In the first eleven months of 2015, Delta generated RPMs of 193.2 billion (up 3.4% year over year) and ASMs of 227.4 billion (up 3.1% year over year). Load factor stood at 85% compared with 84.8% in Nov 2014. Likewise, boarded passenger count in the month improved 8.1% while that for the full year rose 4.7%.
However, Delta witnessed a 1.5% improvement in PRASM (passenger revenue per available seat mile) in the month, mainly buoyed by increased travel demand owing to the Thanksgiving weekend. Meanwhile, the carrier expects PRASM for the month of December to be at the high end of the estimated range of down 2.5%–4.5%.
Delta continues to perform impressively on the back of new route launches, ancillary product introductions, fleet structure revamping and efficient customer service. According to Airlines for America (A4A), 25.3 million passengers were expected to travel via U.S. airlines between Nov 20 and Dec 1. Such high travel projections have contributed to air traffic growth in the month of November. Moreover, the carrier is poised to gain further from the upcoming festivities which will result in a busy travel season.
Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider
Delta Airlines currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). Better-ranked stocks in the airline space include SkyWest Inc. SKYW, Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. HA and Southwest Airlines Co. LUV. Both SkyWest and Hawaiian Holdings sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) while Southwest Airlines carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).
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