Delta Air still sees 2022 profit even as COVID slows recovery
BNN Bloomberg
Delta Air Lines Inc. says the rapidly spreading omicron coronavirus variant will delay a recovery in travel by 60 days and contribute to a first-quarter loss but won’t derail the carrier’s expectation to remain profitable for the rest of the year.
Delta Air Lines Inc. says the rapidly spreading omicron coronavirus variant will delay a recovery in travel by 60 days and contribute to a first-quarter loss but won’t derail the carrier’s expectation to remain profitable for the rest of the year.
With COVID cases expected to peak in the U.S. in the next seven days, the pace of improvement in travel should resume its original December trajectory around Feb. 21, Delta said in a statement Thursday in which it disclosed fourth-quarter financial results.
“We still see our President’s Day and beyond booking patterns to be very healthy,” Chief Executive Officer Ed Bastian said in an interview. “People are ready to go, ready to travel.”
Delta is the first major U.S. airline to report financial results for a quarter battered by nearly 11,000 flight cancellations in the last 13 days of December and more than 13,200 in October, according to data tracker FlightAware.com. However, widely varying employee sick rates among airlines, which are continuing to ground some flights into 2022, may mean Delta’s results aren’t the industry bellwether for future results they normally are considered to be.
Delta rose three per cent before the start of regular trading in New York. The stock had dropped less than one per cent for the 12 months through Wednesday, while the S&P 500 rose 24 per cent.
About 8,000 Delta employees have caught the virus over the past four weeks, Bastian said. At its peak in late December and early January, the virus and winter storms forced the airline to cancel as much as 10 per cent of its scheduled daily flights. That shaved about US$75 million from fourth-quarter revenue and trimmed pretax profit to US$170 million from the company’s earlier expectation of US$200 million to US$250 million.
Jay Allen is a fan of U.S. President Donald Trump, and voted for him on the belief that the Republican would cut taxes and trim regulations, helping his manufacturing business in northeast Arkansas.
Another climb for oil prices sent the U.S. stock market sharply lower, as hopes collapsed for a possible cut to interest rates by the Federal Reserve.
Global oil prices will continue to rise as the war in the Middle East continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains inaccessible, according to an energy expert.
Global oil prices will continue to rise as the war in the Middle East continues and the Strait of Hormuz remains inaccessible, according to an energy expert.
Facing a $1.4 billion deficit shortfall, the provincial government says its large-animal vet service will be privatized over the next three years.
Facing a $1.4 billion deficit shortfall, the provincial government says its large-animal vet service will be privatized over the next three years.
Jurors wade through daunting evidence in high-stakes Meta trial about social media risks to children
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Markets in Canada and the U.S. continued to trade lower while oil went up late morning on Friday as inflationary fears prevailed among investors.
Gold prices fell by 1.8 per cent on Friday as the dollar strengthened on a report that the United States will deploy extra troops in the Middle East, fanning concerns of higher oil prices, inflation, and with it, elevated interest rates.
Canada’s federally backed farm lender is offering financial aid to farmers, agricultural businesses and food companies hit by the spike in fertilizer and energy prices, it said on Friday.
Statistics Canada says retail sales were up 1.1 per cent at $70.7 billion in January, led by sales at motor vehicle and parts dealers.
As Qatar reels from an Iranian attack that has hobbled its giant natural gas company, its boss, who doubles as the country’s energy minister, says he had warned officials and executives of just such a danger should Iran’s own sites be hit.
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