stockrowWhat it does
Delta Air Lines is a global airline based in the United States. Founded on 1925-03-02 and headquartered in Atlanta, it is led by Chief Executive Officer Edward H. Bastian. The company sells passenger air travel, primarily under the Delta brand, connecting domestic and international customers through its hubs, regional carriers and airline partners.
Its network is centered on Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Salt Lake City, with coastal hubs in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK and Seattle. Delta and its alliance partners serve more than 150 countries and territories and nearly 1,000 destinations; Delta offered up to 5,500 peak-day flights to more than 300 destinations on six continents at the end of 2025. Its fleet comprised 1,314 aircraft at December 31, 2025.
Delta Connection adds service to smaller and medium-sized domestic markets through contracted regional carriers. Delta controls scheduling, pricing, reservations, ticketing and seat inventory for capacity-purchase flights and receives the associated ticket, cargo, mail, in-flight and ancillary revenue.
The company also operates cargo services using space on scheduled passenger aircraft, sells vacation packages through Delta Vacations, and provides engine, component, airframe and other maintenance services to aviation customers through Delta TechOps. Monroe Energy operates the Trainer refinery and related logistics assets near Philadelphia to supply jet fuel to the airline’s northeastern operations.
Delta had 100,000 employees in FY2025.
How it makes money
Delta’s main source of revenue is passenger travel. It sells seats across products including Delta One, First Class, Delta Premium Select and Delta Comfort+, alongside main-cabin travel. Fares vary by route, timing, cabin, customer demand and capacity. The company also earns passenger-related revenue from lounge access, travel products booked through commercial partners, codeshare agreements and settlements with international joint-venture partners.
SkyMiles creates a second large revenue stream. Members earn miles by flying Delta, Delta Connection and partner airlines and through participating credit-card, retail, ridesharing, car-rental and hotel partners. Delta sells miles to non-airline businesses and other airlines; members can redeem them for flights, upgrades, other awards and donations. Its largest contract to sell miles is its co-brand credit-card relationship with American Express. American Express remuneration was $8.2 billion in 2025, and the company expects it to grow to $10 billion over the next few years.
Other revenue comes from refinery sales of non-jet-fuel products to third parties, maintenance work for outside customers, cargo operations and vacation packages. Delta TechOps generated $822 million of revenue in 2025. The refinery produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel, and can sell or exchange non-jet products to obtain jet fuel for airline use.
FY2025 operating income was $5.8 billion; in the September 2026 quarter, management said revenue grew 16% and pretax profit was $1.5 billion.
In that quarter, diverse revenue represented 61.0% of total revenue, while management said premium and loyalty revenue each grew nearly 20% from the prior year.
Customers and how it sells
Delta serves leisure and business travelers, including corporate customers, as well as SkyMiles members and customers of airline partners. It also sells maintenance services to aviation and airline customers, cargo capacity to freight customers, and vacation packages designed for SkyMiles members.
Its domestic network is organized around core hubs in Atlanta, Detroit, Minneapolis-St. Paul and Salt Lake City, complemented by coastal hubs in Boston, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK and Seattle. These airports support local travel, connecting traffic, premium products, loyalty activity and international services.
Internationally, Delta uses alliances, joint ventures, codesharing and other commercial arrangements to extend its reach. Its commercial relationships include Aeroméxico, Air France-KLM, China Eastern, LATAM, Korean Air, Virgin Atlantic and WestJet. Its North-and-South-America joint venture with LATAM gives passengers access to more than 300 destinations across the United States, Canada and countries in South America. The transatlantic joint venture covers traffic flows with Air France, KLM and Virgin Atlantic; other arrangements cover U.S.-Mexico and U.S.-Asia traffic.
SkyMiles also links Delta with customers outside the flight transaction. In 2025, 12% of Delta revenue miles flown were award travel, with program members redeeming miles for approximately 35 million award tickets.
Suppliers and costs
Aircraft fuel is a major operating input. Delta buys most fuel under contracts priced to market indices, as well as on the spot market, from offshore sources and under refinery contracts that permit refiners to set prices. These arrangements do not provide material protection against higher prices or assure supply availability. In 2025, fuel represented 17% of total operating expense.
Monroe Energy’s Trainer refinery, pipelines and terminal assets help supply jet fuel to northeastern operations, including the New York hubs. The facility can refine approximately 200,000 barrels of crude oil per day and sources domestic and foreign crude from multiple providers. The refinery also faces renewable-fuel compliance obligations and incurred $312 million in Renewable Identification Number compliance costs during 2025.
Other important costs include employee compensation, aircraft maintenance, airport landing fees and rents, regional-carrier payments, contracted services, technology, aircraft leases and capital spending. Higher employee costs, capacity-related costs and refinery sales expenses increased total operating expense in 2025, partly offset by lower aircraft fuel costs.
- Revenue$63.4B
- Cost of revenue−$41.7B
- Selling, general and administrative−$5.0B
- Other operating costs−$10.8B
- Operating income$5.8B
Competitive position
Air travel competition centers on routes, fares, schedules, reliability, products, service and loyalty programs. In the United States, Delta competes with network carriers American Airlines and United Airlines; point-to-point carriers Alaska Airlines, JetBlue Airways and Southwest Airlines; and discount carriers Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines and Spirit Airlines. Competition is particularly significant at Delta hubs, key airports and nearby hubs operated by other carriers. Regional operations also compete in smaller and medium-sized markets.
International competition includes domestic and foreign airlines, point-to-point international carriers, alliances and joint ventures. United Airlines participates in the Star Alliance with Lufthansa German Airlines and Air Canada, while American Airlines participates in oneworld with British Airways and Qantas. These arrangements can coordinate or extend network access, customer loyalty benefits and sales activities where permitted.
Our reading: Delta’s hub system and international partnerships are a meaningful network moat because they connect its domestic operations to partner destinations and coordinated commercial arrangements. [item1]
Our reading: SkyMiles and its American Express relationship are a meaningful loyalty moat because the program earns revenue from miles sold and gives members ways to earn and redeem beyond Delta flights. [item1]
Our reading: Operational reliability and service investments can support customer retention, but airlines can compete on the same dimensions, so this moat is less durable than network access and loyalty relationships. [item1]
| Competitor | Where they compete | Threat (our reading) |
|---|---|---|
| American Airlines | U.S. network-carrier routes and hubs | High |
| United Airlines | U.S. network and international alliance markets | High |
| Southwest Airlines | U.S. point-to-point domestic markets | Medium |
| Alaska Airlines | Domestic routes, hubs and key airports | Medium |
| JetBlue Airways | U.S. point-to-point domestic markets | Medium |
| Allegiant Air | U.S. low-cost domestic markets | Medium |
| Frontier Airlines | U.S. low-cost domestic markets | Medium |
| Spirit Airlines | U.S. low-cost domestic markets | Medium |
Growth opportunities
Delta’s growth plans focus on premium seating and services, loyalty, international flying, maintenance work, technology and fleet renewal. The company is adding aircraft with more premium-seat capacity, modifying cabins to expand premium offerings and replacing retiring aircraft with next-generation models. It states that premium yield growth has outpaced main-cabin growth as demand for premium products expands.
SkyMiles is intended to deepen customer engagement through travel and non-travel partnerships. Delta expects American Express remuneration, which totaled $8.2 billion in 2025, to grow to $10 billion over the next few years. Management said in the September 2026 quarter that it had completed the rollout of Delta Concierge to all SkyMiles members.
International network expansion is another vector. Management said it had announced new Philippines service and expanded service to Tokyo, Paris, Athens and Venice from key U.S. gateways. The company also plans to launch Amazon Kuiper connectivity beginning in 2028.
Delta TechOps has contractual agreements covering legacy and next-generation engines, airframes and components. MRO revenue rose to $822 million in 2025 from $658 million in 2024. Delta also expects technology investments to improve customer interactions, operational decisions, baggage routing, maintenance scheduling and disruption management.
The company is pursuing net-zero greenhouse-gas emissions from airline operations by 2050, while stating that progress depends on greater sustainable aviation fuel supply, technology development and industry partnerships.
- $29.9BFY2021
- $50.6BFY2022
- $58.0BFY2023
- $61.6BFY2024
- $63.4BFY2025
Structural risks
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A serious accident involving Delta aircraft or aircraft operated by airline partners could cause losses and adverse publicity.
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Information-technology disruptions could interfere with operations and have a material adverse effect on the business. The company uses technology across customer service, operational decision-making and flight-disruption management.
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Fuel prices and availability can materially affect results. Most fuel contracts are priced to market indices and do not materially protect Delta from higher prices or assure supply; an extended disruption in fuel supply, including from Monroe, could adversely affect the business.
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The airline industry is highly competitive on fares, routes, schedules, reliability, services and loyalty programs. Lower-cost carriers can offer lower fares, and competitors’ hubs can compete with Delta’s hubs and nearby airports.
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Airline operations are subject to environmental, emissions, sustainable-fuel and noise rules. Future climate, aircraft-emissions and noise regulations could significantly affect the industry, including through taxes, permits, allowances, fuel costs or required investment.
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Disease outbreaks and other public-health threats, together with measures taken to combat them, have had and may in the future have a material adverse effect on the business.
Bottom line
Our reading
Our reading: Delta is a network airline whose passenger operations are supplemented by loyalty-mile sales, maintenance services, cargo, vacation packages and a refinery; the American Express relationship is central to the mix of recurring non-ticket revenue. [item1, item7]
Our reading: Its core operating exposure remains airline demand, competition, fuel availability and fuel prices, while the refinery partly addresses supply and refining-margin exposure rather than eliminating fuel-market risk. [item1, item1a]
Our reading: The hub network, international partnerships, premium products and SkyMiles ecosystem are the principal elements that distinguish how it serves and retains customers. [item1]