Summary by Moomoo AI
Delta Air Lines reported a net income of $1.27 billion for Q3 2024, with total operating revenue increasing 1% to $15.68 billion despite operational disruptions. The quarter's performance was impacted by a CrowdStrike-caused outage in July that resulted in approximately 7,000 flight cancellations over five days, leading to a $380 million revenue impact and $170 million in additional operating expenses.Operating income decreased to $1.4 billion from $1.98 billion in Q3 2023, while total operating expenses rose 6% to $14.28 billion. The increase was primarily driven by higher employee costs from increased wages, rising landing fees, and costs associated with the system outage. Passenger revenue remained relatively flat at $13.11 billion, with premium product revenue growth offsetting decreased main cabin revenue.The company maintained strong liquidity of $6.9 billion as of September 30, 2024, and continued its debt reduction initiatives with $2.4 billion in payments on debt and finance lease obligations during the first nine months of 2024. Delta's credit rating was upgraded to investment grade by Fitch in July 2024, and the company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share.
