Delta Air Lines has detailed the degree to which its July operational meltdown impacted its third-quarter revenue and expenses.
In a 12 September securities filing, the Atlanta-based airline says the event, which involved 7,000 flight cancellations, erased its expected third-quarter revenue growth.
The carrier now expects to report third-quarter revenue (adjusted to exclude fuel-refinery sales) that is roughly flat year on year, in the range of $14.6-14.7 billion.
Prior to the July upheaval, Delta had expected its third-quarter revenue would be up 2-4% year-on-year. The airline will likely report its third-quarter results in October. It still expects to be profitable.
Delta was among numerous carriers forced to cancel flights due to computer failures caused by a 19 July computer update pushed by cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.
The technology problems affected Delta’s operation far more than competitors, forcing it to cancel 7,000 flights over numerous days at an expense of $500 million, Delta said in August.
Partly as a result, Delta’s 12 September investor update says the airline now expects it third-quarter cost per available seat mile (excluding fuel expenses) will be up 5.5% year on year, revised from a previous estimate of a 1-2% bump. Delta attributes most of the shift – 3.5 percentage points – to the July upheaval and related compensation to employees.
Additionally, Delta now expects its third-quarter capacity (in available seat miles) will be up 4% from the same period last year, revised from its previous expectation of a 5-6% year-on-year bump.
