Corporate sales at Delta Air Lines grew 10% year over year in the fourth quarter of 2024, according to Glen Hauenstein, president, speaking on an earnings call. He said that positive results built through the quarter was driven by both volume and fares, with broad-based strength geographically and across all sectors. Those trends, said Hauenstein, are continuing into the first quarter.

Hauenstein said that a recent Delta poll of corporate travel managers revealed that 90% of respondents expect to exceed or meet last year’s spending levels. He said the corporate market is reverting to where it used to be but is still “different.” For instance, he said, Tuesday and Wednesday travel is picking up but is not back to where it was pre-Covid.

Delta’s share of corporate volume also is “at or near record highs every month,” Hauenstein said. Early in the year, he said, that trend was driven by traffic, “then as we headed towards the end of the year, it was driven by both the mix of traffic and yield.”

Delta reported fourth-quarter revenue of nearly $15.6 billion, up 9% year over year; and $12.8 billion in passenger revenue, an increase of 5% over 2023. Full-year revenue was more than $61.6 billion, up 6% from 2023. Full-year passenger revenue was nearly $50.9 billion, representing a 4% year-over-year increase.

Fourth-quarter net income was $843 million compared with more than $2 billion in 2023. Full-year net income was nearly $3.5 billion, down about 25% from the prior year. Capacity was up 5% year over year for the quarter, and up 6% for the year.

Image: Delta