Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said that its consolidated passenger
unit revenue fell 3.5% in April as stable domestic unit revenue was
offset by foreign-exchange pressures and lower surcharges in
international markets.
Unit revenue, a key metric, is the amount of revenue taken in
for each seat flown a mile.
The Atlanta-based airline said passenger traffic rose 1.8% last
month from a year earlier. Capacity increased 3.7%, while the
percentage of seats filled--or load factor--declined to 83.2% from
84.7%.
Bowing to pressure from the strong dollar and lower travel
demand from oil-dependent economies, the nation's No. 3 airline by
traffic said last month it would cut its overseas capacity by 3%
this winter--or a 6% reduction from prior plans.
The biggest year-over-year cuts are anticipated on routes to
Japan, Brazil, Africa, India and the Middle East, it said, along
with the seasonal suspension of service to Moscow. The company said
those moves, which will result in flat capacity overall in the
fourth quarter, should help return its unit-revenue performance to
growth after several quarters of declines.
The strong dollar shaved off about $105 million in Delta sales
during the first quarter, which also was hurt by winter storms.
Write to Tess Stynes at tess.stynes@wsj.com
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