Delta Air Lines Q1 2026 earnings

Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian said the carrier will “meaningfully reduce” its capacity growth plans in the near term as fuel costs soar, solidifying a pullback from airlines that have been roiled by a historic run-up in jet fuel due to the Middle East war.

Delta on Wednesday forecast adjusted per-share earnings of $1 to $1.50 in the second quarter, compared with the $1.41 a share analysts were expecting, with revenue up in the “low-teens” percentage points compared with a year earlier, above the roughly 10% Wall Street forecast. Capacity will likely be flat on the year, Delta said.

Delta said its fuel bill will be $2 billion higher this quarter because of the spike in costs.

Delta is the first of the major U.S. airlines to report first-quarter results, though United Airlines, Delta and others had already been trimming capacity for the current quarter.

Less capacity can mean higher airfare, which is already on the rise. Delta also joined JetBlue Airways and United in raising its checked bag fees on Tuesday. Carriers around the world are even more affected by the rise in fuel costs because of their countries’ reliance on imports and have added fuel surcharges or announced fare increases.

Bastian said that demand remains strong, despite the higher travel costs, and that Delta’s customer base continues to spend on travel, particularly for higher-end products like more spacious seats.

Speaking to reporters, Bastian said it isn’t clear if or when customers will pull back.

Here’s what Delta reported for the first quarter compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on consensus estimates from LSEG:

• Earnings per share: 64 cents adjusted vs. 57 cents expected
• Revenue: $14.2 billion adjusted vs. $14 billion expected

Delta owns a refinery where it turns crude oil into jet fuel and other products, like gasoline and diesel, giving it an advantage over other carriers.

“We don’t know where fuel is going to go, but to the extent fuel stays elevated, that refinery will continue to help us,” Bastian told reporters.

Delta expects to post $1 billion in pretax profit in the second quarter and receive a $300 million benefit from its refinery, the carrier said, a major tail wind for the facility near Philadelphia that it acquired in April 2012 from Phillips 66.

The rise in jet fuel prices since the U.S. and Israel attacked Iran on Feb. 28, has been sharper than the run-up in crude oil. Jet fuel prices in major U.S. cities were up nearly 88% since Feb. 27, through April 6, according to the Airlines for America industry group, citing Argus data.

Delta expects all-in fuel costs of $4.30 per gallon in the second quarter.

Bastian said the airline isn’t walking back its full-year forecast but isn’t updating it either because of uncertainty of fuel prices. Delta projected potentially record earnings this year when it released its last earnings in January.

“As we gain more knowledge of the impact of the duration of the fuel spike over the course of the next couple months, we’ll…