Atlanta, Jan 13 (AP) Delta Air Lines said Friday that it earned USD 828 million in the fourth quarter and that consumers are still snapping up flights and making other purchases with their airline-branded credit cards.

The Atlanta-based airline said momentum has carried over into the new year, as the travel industry continues to recover from the worst of the pandemic.

Also Read | UK Shocker: Man Collapses at PureGym in London, Dies 46 Minutes Later After Efforts To Revive Him Fail.

Delta's report came a day after American Airlines delivered a rosy update on its fourth quarter, saying that rising revenue would push earnings per share to nearly double the amount that Wall Street expected.

Both carriers and other US airlines have been helped by strong demand for travel and a limited number of flights — a combination that has pushed fares higher.

Also Read | G20 Meetings: Government Exempts Delegates and Participants Arriving in India From 2% Random COVID-19 Testing at Airports.

Airlines say that a shortage of pilots, especially at regional feeder airlines, has curtailed their ability to operate more flights. However, Delta expects to be operating at around full pre-pandemic levels by this summer.

Investors are starting to worry that as airlines become convinced that the travel recovery is permanent, they will add flights in a bid to grab a bigger share of the market and wind up driving fares lower. That is good for travellers but bad for airline investors, and it has happened many times in the industry.

It is also unclear whether consumers will continue to spend freely on travel while facing higher prices for food, housing and other essentials. Even though inflation eased in December for the sixth straight month, it remained a staggering 6.5 per cent compared with a year earlier.

For now, though, most airline executives remain upbeat, as do analysts who track the industry.

Bank of America analyst Andrew Didora said he expects Delta to boost free cash flow generation in 2023, allowing it to pay down debt more effectively than American or the United. He said Delta is likely to increase its share of the US air-travel market as it increases flights at its most important airports: Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis and Salt Lake City.

Delta's fourth-quarter profit compared with USD 1.1 billion in the same quarter of 2019, the last one before the pandemic devastated the US airline business.

Excluding some items, Delta said its adjusted profit worked out to USD 1.48 per share, 16 cents better than Wall Street predicted, according to a FactSet survey of analysts.

Revenue rose to more than USD 13.4 billion, again beating expectations.

Delta also took in USD 1.5 billion from spending by customers using their airline-branded American Express credit cards. That was up 40 per cent from three years ago.

Delta predicted that first-quarter earnings will be 15 to 40 cents per share, below the 59 cents forecast by analysts in the FactSet survey. Delta stood by a recent forecast of full-year earnings between USD 5 and USD 6 per share. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)