Delta Sees Minimal CrowdStrike Impact, Expects Lower Demand Around the Election

Despite experiencing a summer meltdown that led to thousands of flight cancellations, Delta Air Lines still came out relatively strong.

The airline reported a net income of $1.27 billion during the third quarter, a 15% increase from the same time last year. 

However, the July CrowdStrike outage caused Delta’s revenues to be down from previous forecasts. In September, the carrier projected revenues to either stay flat or increase 1% due to the outage that cost it $380 million in lost revenue and $170 million in expenses. 

Delta’s earnings also came in slightly below Wall Street expectations partly because of the CrowdStrike outage. 

During the last quarter, Delta reported a weaker profit than expected due to a glut of seats in the U.S. market. However, president Glen Hauenstein said in an earnings release that unit revenue growth improved across its geographic markets due to moderated growth in the third quarter. 

The carrier is expecting a strong fourth-quarter thanks to holiday bookings and high travel demand. It anticipates some impact to its revenues in November due to reduced travel demand around the time of the 2024 U.S. elections. 

Hauenstein said in the release that Delta is forecasting a one-point impact on total unit revenue from the November elections. 

During a call with analysts on Wednesday, Hauenstein said certain markets performed “incredibly well” in October and rebound after the election.

“It’s domestic, but it’s also short haul Latin,” he said on the call. “It’s pretty much across the board that those two weeks are underperforming the trends before and after those weeks.”

A Swift Comeback From the CrowdStrike Meltdown

Despite the minimal impact of the CrowdStrike outage on Delta’s bottom line, it has faced scrutiny for its response to the meltdown. 

In July, some customers told Skift that they hadn’t been offered refunds, reimbursements for hotel accommodations or meal vouchers. The Department of Transportation is currently investigating the meltdown. Delta has also been engaged in a legal blame game with CrowdStrike and Microsoft. 

Delta CEO Ed Bastian has been vocal about expecting compensation from CrowdStrike for the meltdown. The carrier hired prominent attorney David Boies to seek damages. 

A Big Bet on Southern Europe

Delta reported positive revenue growth in the transatlantic market during the third-quarter, a sign that demand for international travel continued throughout the summer. Even after the Olympics, Delta said bookings to Paris rebounded. 

The carrier recently released its summer 2025 schedule, which heavily centered on destinations in southern Europe. Cities included in Delta’s summer 2025 plan are Rome, Naples and Milan, along with a new route from JFK to Catania, one of the largest cities in Sicily. 

Delta also added more flights to Barcelona, Brussels and Dublin. 

Southern Europe has become an increasingly popular tourist destination. United Airlines chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella noted during the carrier’s first-quarter earnings call in January that the region had become a year-round destination. 

American Airlines also released its summer 2025 schedule, which included new routes to Athens, Edinburgh, Madrid, Milan and Rome. United is expected to release its summer schedule this week.

Airlines Sector Stock Index Performance Year-to-Date

What am I looking at? The performance of airline sector stocks within the ST200. The index includes companies publicly traded across global markets including network carriers, low-cost carriers, and other related companies.

The Skift Travel 200 (ST200) combines the financial performance of nearly 200 travel companies worth more than a trillion dollars into a single number. See more airlines sector financial performance. 

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