Delta posts profit despite rising expenses – but cargo plummets

© Looman

It would be fair perhaps to suggest that the number of times a combination carrier mentions cargo publicly is in direct proportion to how much it cares about or invests in cargo. If that is the case, then Delta is firmly a passenger carrier. There was no mention of freight in its analysts’ call – but then freight represents just 1.6% of its operating revenues.

Cargo operating revenues fell 15% in the third quarter, to $167m, and was down 20% in the nine-month period, year-on-year. Yes, air cargo is tough right now, and Delta recently had a cargo manager reshuffle. It looks like it might take any benefits some time to filter through to results however.