DAL Delta Air Lines Inc

By Doug Cameron and Kimberly Chin 

Delta Air Lines Inc. said Wednesday it would keep capacity stable into the key summer travel season in a move that will help allay investor fears that carriers are adding too much flying and depressing leisure fares.

The nation's third-largest carrier by traffic expects to boost capacity by 4% to 5% in the second quarter while keeping its closely watched average revenue climbing in a band of 1.5% to 3.5%.

While the grounding of the Boeing Co. 737 Max has artificially reduced the rate of expansion by U.S. carriers, more flights are being added and only solid business-class demand has counteracted weakness in leisure markets, particularly on some coast-to-coast routes and to and from the Caribbean, two Delta strongholds.

Still, Delta reported quarterly profits at the top end of analysts expectations, reset after an investor update last week, and second quarter guidance was also in line, lifted in part by the benefit of a new credit-card deal with American Express Co.

Delta reported a 28% rise in profits for the quarter to March 31. Costs excluding fuel dipped slightly.

The results reflect a departure from Delta's counterparts as service disruptions and flight cancellations from the government shutdown and the grounding of Boeing Co. 737 MAX 8 from fleets have weighed on how much airlines can make for each seat flown.

On Tuesday, American Airlines Group Inc. cut its unit-revenue guidance for the first quarter, and reported it had roughly 3,000 flight cancellations over the past three months. Southwest Airlines Co., the biggest carrier of domestic passengers, also cut its forecast as it digested almost 10,000 flight cancellations due to bad weather, unplanned aircraft maintenance and the grounding of 737 MAX aircraft.

Delta is the first of the major airlines to report earnings, kicking off the quarterly reporting season. Shares of Delta rose almost 3% in premarket trading.

Adjusted net income for the Atlanta-based company totaled $639 million, or 96 cents a share, compared with $529 million, or 75 cents a share, a year earlier, ahead of the 90 cents a share analysts estimated, according to a FactSet poll.

Write to Doug Cameron at doug.cameron@wsj.com and Kimberly Chin at kimberly.chin@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 10, 2019 07:30 ET (11:30 GMT)

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