Delta Air Lines Reports Q2 2026 Results: Full Earnings Call Transcript

On Friday, Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL ) discussed second-quarter financial results during its earnings call.

The full transcript is provided below.

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The full earnings call is available at Summary Delta Air Lines Inc reported record revenue for the June quarter 2026, growing 14% year-over-year, with pre-tax profits of $1.4 billion and an operating margin of 9%.

Strategic initiatives included a 15% dividend increase, continued investment in customer experience, and expansion of the Delta One Lounge network.

The company reaffirmed its full-year guidance of $6.50 to $7.50 EPS, with expectations for double-digit operating margins in the second half of the year.

Operational highlights included industry-leading performance in on-time arrivals, improved baggage handling, and enhancements in fleet reliability.

Delta's strong performance was driven by strategic partnerships, such as with American Express, and efforts to recapture fuel cost inflation through pricing and revenue diversification.

Full Transcript OPERATOR Good morning everyone and welcome to the Delta Air Lines June quarter 2026 financial results conference call.

My name is Matthew and I'll be your coordinator at this time.

All participants are on a listen-only mode until we conduct a question and answer session following the presentation.

As a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

If you have any questions or comments during the presentation, you may press Star one on your phone to enter the question queue at any time.

I would now like to turn the conference over to Julie Stewart, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development.

Please go ahead.

Julie Stewart, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development Thank you, Matthew.

Good morning everyone and thanks for joining us for our June quarter 2026 earnings call.

Joining us from Atlanta today are our CEO Ed Bastian, our Chief Operating Officer Dan Janki, our Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito, and our Chief Financial Officer Eric Snell.

Ed will open the call with an overview of Delta's performance and strategy.

Dan will cover the operation, Joe will provide an update on the revenue environment, and Eric will discuss costs in our balance sheet.

After the prepared remarks, we'll take analyst questions and we ask that you please limit yourself to one question with a brief follow-up so that we can get to as many of you as possible.

As a reminder, today's discussion contains forward-looking statements that represent our beliefs or expectations about future events.

All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to materially differ from forward-looking statements.

Some of the factors that may cause such differences are described in Delta's SEC filings.

We'll also discuss non-GAAP financial measures and all results exclude special items unless otherwise noted.

You can find a reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures on the Investor Relations page at ir.delta.com.

With that, I'll turn the call over to Ed.

Ed Bastian, Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Julie.

Good morning everyone.

We appreciate you joining us today.

This morning we reported our June quarter results and it's clear that Delta's brand and industry position are stronger than ever.

We generated record revenue, which grew 14%, increasing more than $2 billion over last year.

This reflects sustained strength in demand and momentum across our diversified business.

We delivered pre-tax profits of $1.4 billion, earnings of $5.56 per share, and an operating margin of 9%, all better than the guidance that we provided at the start of the quarter.

Return on invested capital was 11%, well above our cost of capital.