Delta Air Lines is seeing a “sustained acceleration” of corporate travel sales, according to Glen Hauenstein, president, speaking on a first-quarter earnings call. He also expressed optimism for continued growth through the year.
Hauenstein said first-quarter managed corporate sales increased 14% year over year “with technology, consumer services and financial services leading that momentum.” He said the outlook for corporate travel is positive, adding, “Ninety percent of companies in our recent survey intend to maintain or increase travel volumes in Q2 putting us back on track to deliver record corporate revenues in the back half of this year.”
Hauenstein later added he was “really encouraged by what we see in terms of corporate bookings as we look forward through this quarter and as we look forward into the next couple of quarters.”
Delta reported first-quarter passenger revenue of $11.1 billion, up 7% year over year, and total revenue of more than $13.4 billion, up 8%. The carrier posted first-quarter net income of $37 million, compared with a loss of $363 million one year prior.
Overall first-quarter capacity increased 6.8% year over year, led by growth on transpacific and Latin American routes. Capacity on domestic US and transatlantic routes each grew 2%. Delta projects overall second-quarter capacity to increase 6%-7%.
In other Delta news, Sara Reid, the airline’s managing director of sales technology and global sales support, said the carrier expects to begin testing its first NDC iteration with select partners later this year.
Speaking on a panel at the Elevate + TravelConnect conference jointly hosted by the Airlines Reporting Corporation and ATPCO, Reid also said that Delta has no plans to implement a GDS surcharge or to prematurely remove content from systems using legacy Edifact technology. “Our distribution strategy has not changed,” Reid said. “We want to elevate the entire corporate travel ecosystem.”
Reid said Delta has begun speaking with travel agencies, OTAs, GDSs and corporate clients to thoroughly understand their needs and challenges. Delta’s intent, Reid said, is to implement an NDC solution only when the airline is ready to provide thorough servicing capabilities.
