Delta says October traffic, capacity fell

ATLANTA - Delta Air Lines Inc., which became the world's biggest carrier last week, reported Thursday that systemwide traffic and capacity fell in October, while load factor rose.

It also reported separately traffic results for its Northwest Airlines subsidiary. At Northwest, traffic and capacity fell in October, while load factor rose.

Atlanta-based Delta said it flew 9.93 billion revenue passenger miles last month, a 2.2 percent decline from 10.16 billion in October 2007.

A revenue passenger mile is a widely watched industry measurement accounting for one paying passenger flown one mile.

Available seat miles, or capacity, fell 4.7 percent to 12.17 billion, compared with 12.76 billion in the same month a year earlier.

Load factor, or occupancy, rose 2 percentage points to 81.6 percent last month, compared with 79.6 percent in October 2007.

Year-to-date, Delta said systemwide revenue passenger miles totaled 104.39 billion, compared with 102.98 billion a year earlier, while available seat miles totaled 127.37 billion, compared with 127.11 billion a year earlier, and load factor came in at 82.0 percent, compared with 81.0 percent a year earlier.

At Northwest, Delta said systemwide revenue passenger miles totaled 6.38 billion last month, compared with 6.47 billion in October 2007, while available seat miles totaled 7.57 billion, compared with 7.73 billion in October 2007, and load factor came in at 84.3 percent, compared with 83.8 percent in October 2008.

Year-to-date, Northwest's systemwide revenue passenger miles totaled 67.49 billion, compared with 65.94 billion a year ago, while available seat miles totaled 80.01 billion, compared with 78.18 billion a year ago, and load factor came in at 84.4 percent, compared with 84.3 percent a year ago.

Delta completed its $2.8 billion stock-swap purchase of Northwest on Oct. 29. Northwest's operations are being integrated into Delta's over the next year or two.

Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.