A Delta Air Lines Boeing 767-332(ER).
Joan Valls | Nurphoto | Getty Images
Delta Air Lines‘ earnings could jump more than 20% this year from 2025 thanks to robust travel demand, particularly at the high end of the market, and potentially reach a record, CEO Ed Bastian said.
Delta on Tuesday forecast adjusted earnings per share of between $6.50 and $7.50 this year, compared with analysts’ estimate for $7.25 a share.
The carrier, the first airline to report quarterly results this year, forecast an increase in sales of as much as 7% in the first three months of 2026 and adjusted earnings of between 50 cents per share and 90 cents per share for the first quarter, compared with 72 cents per share forecast by analysts polled by LSEG.
Bastian said Delta sits at the top of the “K” in the so-called K-shaped economy, with more revenue coming from higher-spending customers.
“We are looking at our seat growth in the coming year. … Effectively, none of our growth in seats will be in the main cabin; virtually all will be in the premium sector,” Bastian told reporters.
Main cabin ticket revenue fell 7% in the fourth quarter from a year earlier to $5.62 billion, while premium ticket revenue, for seats at the front of the plane, rose 9% to nearly $5.7 billion, with that segment overtaking the standard coach class, ahead of Delta’s estimate for it to occur this year. For the full year, main cabin revenue was still higher than premium classes.
Bookings are strong from both leisure customers and corporate travelers in the first few days of the year, Delta said. The airline also started 2025 with expectations for a record year, but it trimmed its estimates after President Donald Trump implemented tariffs early last year and the longest-ever government shutdown, which ended in late November, snarled air travel and bookings fell.
Bastian struck a more cautious tone this year, telling reporters “we’re not going to project or commit to a record earnings [forecast] until we understand the uncertainty,” he said.
“I think we’re well aware of the risk factors,” he said. “This past year, and I think again this year … [will] be more of the geopolitical environment, whether that’s international or on domestic policy.”
Here’s how the company performed in the fourth quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on consensus estimates from LSEG:
Earnings per share: $1.55 adjusted vs. $1.53 expectedRevenue: $14.61 billion adjusted vs. $14.69 billion expected
Even with its reduced forecast, Delta posted a profit of $1.22 billion for the fourth quarter, or $1.86 a share, up close to 45% from a year earlier, on revenue of $16 billion, up 3% from 2025. Adjusting for one-time items, Delta posted earnings of $1.02 billion or $1.55 a share, slightly ahead of estimates.
Bastian said premium product growth is outpacing sales growth for the main cabin, continuing an existing trend.
Delta also said Tuesday it will buy 30 Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners, its first of the long-haul planes from the U.S. manufacturer, as sales pick up for bigger jets.
Delta made the Airbus A350 its key long-haul plane almost a decade ago and later increased its reliance on the European plane maker when it retired its Boeing 777s during the pandemic. Delta said deliveries would begin in 2031, the latest sign of how airlines are snatching up delivery slots into the next decade.
The carrier has options for 30 more 787-10s from Boeing.
