Traffic stats show Delta's cutbacks

By Kelly Yamanouchi

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

Delta Air Lines' passenger traffic fell 6.7 percent in the first 11 months of the year, refelcting how much it has shrunk operations to adjust to soft travel demand.

The decline, disclosed in the airline's latest monthly traffic report, came as Atlanta-based Delta cut its flight capacity by 6.3 percent. Its planes averaged 82.1 percent full in the year through November, down from 82.5 percent in the year-ago period. Traffic is measured in revenue passenger miles, or one person flown one mile, while capacity is measured in available seat miles, one seat flown one mile.

Delta's domestic passenger traffic declined 5.7 percent, roughly on par with its domestic capacity cut. Its international passenger traffic fell 8.3 percent, a greater drop than its 7.1 percent international flight capacity cut.

"The revenue is coming back," Delta chief financial officer Hank Halter said during an investor conference Wednesday. "But it’s taking time."

For the month of November, Delta said traffic fell 7.1 percent on an 8.4 percent cut in capacity.

Archrival AirTran Airways had a 2.5 percent drop in passenger traffic for the year through November compared with the same period of 2008. It cut capacity by 3 percent in the period. AirTran said its planes averaged 80 percent full in the first 11 months of the year, up from 79.6 percent a year earlier.

But for the month of November, AirTran had a 10.5 percent increase in passenger traffic on a 9.2 percent increase in capacity, as the carrier expanded in Milwaukee. That was a record for traffic for the month of November for AirTran, which is based in Orlando and has its largest hub in Atlanta. The airline plans conservative growth.

"This has been a very good year for us," said AirTran chief financial officer Arne Haak during a presentation at an investor conference Thursday. Still, he added, "we have seen softer demand."