Delta Air Lines reported second-quarter net income of US$198 million, down 58% from a US$467 million net profit in the year-ago period. CEO Richard Anderson said Wednesday that "high fuel prices are putting significant pressure on the industry" and touted DL's "solid profit ... despite more than US$1 billion in higher fuel expense." DL stated that it is "recalibrating its business to succeed in a permanent, high fuel price environment."

Part of the adjustment is reducing fourth-quarter capacity 4% -5% year-over-year, an incremental 1 point reduction from previous guidance. The cuts will come "in markets where revenues do not cover higher fuel costs," DL explained. Domestic December quarter capacity will be down 1%-3% and international capacity will be 4%-6% lower.

Second-quarter revenue lifted 12% year-over-year to US$9.15 billion while expenses heightened 19% to US$8.67 million, including a 36% jump in fuel costs to US$2.66 billion. Operating income was down 44% to US$481 million. Consolidated traffic increased just 0.9% to 50.37 billion RPMs on a 2.5% rise in capacity to 60.14 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 83.7%, down 1.3 points. Passenger yield improved 11.5% to 15.67 cents.