UPDATE 1-Delta Air posts lower quarterly profit

* Operating profit 28 cents/shr, in line with forecasts

* Revenue up 2 percent; expenses rise 8 percent

Jan 22 (Reuters) - Delta Air Lines reported a lower quarterly profit on Tuesday as Superstorm Sandy hurt its airline and refinery operations and it took various one-time charges.

Special items included a charge of $122 million tied to the company's restructuring of its aircraft fleet, and a $106 million loss on debt extinguishment.

Operating expenses rose 8 percent, with costs for fuel and related taxes up 18 percent.

Fourth-quarter net earnings fell to $7 million, or 1 cent a share, from $425 million, or 50 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, profit was 28 cents a share, in line with analysts' average forecast, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Operating revenue rose 2 percent to $8.6 billion.