Delta’s “Rich Guy Row” Bails Everyone Out Again… $5.8B From Fancy Flyers Sends Profits Vertical

Don’t you dare for a second think Delta Air Lines’ (+6%) CEO Ed Bastian doesn’t know how to work a crowd.

The man who once swore he’d run a marathon if Delta’s New York routes ever made money (and then actually laced up and did it) just showed shareholders he is, in fact, THAT GUY. After a year of tariffs, empty middle seats, and way too many flights to nowhere, Bastian essentially looked straight into the camera and said, “Relax. Daddy’s got this.”

Needless to say, Delta dropped a banger of an earnings report. Q3 adjusted earnings came in at $1.71 per share, beating the $1.53 estimate, while revenue hit $15.2 billion, topping forecasts. Profit jumped 11% to $1.42 billion, and adjusted profit rose 15%. Translation: Ed’s still cooking. And for dessert, Delta served up Q4 guidance between $1.60 and $1.90 per share, easily beating analyst expectations and putting full-year EPS on track to hit the high end of its $5.25-$6.25 range.

Without naming names (but definitely meaning American and United), Bastian reminded everyone that Delta trimmed flights on the slow midweek days… because why fly half-empty planes when you can sell out Friday to Sunday? Turns out, that little efficiency tweak helped Delta dodge the overcapacity mess that’s been grounding profits at other airlines all year.

(Source: Marketwatch)

Delta’s moneymaker, though, isn’t the discount crowd… it’s the people in lie-flat seats. Premium travel revenue jumped 9% to $5.8 billion, while main cabin fell 4%. Translation: the people ordering $20 cocktails before the “peasants” even find overhead bin space are still footing the bill for everyone else’s pretzels. Bastian even said there’s “no sign of consumer pullback” on high-end fares. In other words, the expense-account warriors haven’t put their cards away just yet.

He wrapped things up with a little shareholder sweet talk: “Looking to 2026, Delta is well positioned to deliver top-line growth, margin expansion, and earnings improvement.” Mr. Market ate it up. DAL stock jumped 6%, and even United and American got a sympathy shot in the arm just for being in the same industry.

And that’s no small feat. Airlines are supposed to be a terrible business… everyone knows it. Even Donald Trump swore he’d never touch the sector again after his “Trump Shuttle” burned through about $128 million in just 18 months. Between oil prices, unpredictable weather, and enough government red tape to strangle a 747, most carriers are just trying not to go broke.

But somehow, Delta’s cracked the code (at least for now). While everyone else is praying for clear skies, Ed Bastian’s out here making the whole thing look easy. Hopefully Spirit Airlines executives are taking notes.

At the time of publishing this article, Stocks.News holds positions in United Airlines as mentioned in the article.