Delta Air Lines (DAL 4.05%) announced its February operating performance today, noting that it saw consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile, or PRASM, rise by 4% compared to February 2013.
The company said the increase resulted from strong demand in the United States and gains from its trans-Atlantic entity. In addition, Delta noted it canceled nearly 8,000 flights in February due to winter storms, which contributed 0.5 percentage points of the 4% gain in the consolidated PRASM gain seen year over year.
The airline saw a 5% year-over-year gain in PRASM in January of this year, and it also noted that approximately 0.5 percentage points of that gain was linked to the cancellation of more than 4,000 flights as a result of Winter Storm Leon. PRASM rises when airlines put more people on each flight or raise average prices.
Delta said its on-time performance improved from 70.2% in January to 77.5% in February. In addition, its mainline completion factor stood at 95.5%, slightly above the 95.3% seen in January. It also continued to maintain its projected adjusted fuel price to stand between $2.99 and $3.04 per gallon for March, which is well below the $3.23-$3.28 expectation it posted for March 2013.
-- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report.
