Delta Air Lines (OTC Pink Sheets: DALRQ) (IATA: DL, ICAO: DAL, and Callsign: Delta) is a major U.S. airline headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operating a large domestic and international network that spans North America, South America, Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean.

When non-stop flights begin in December 2006 to Dakar, Senegal (from where direct flights will continue to Johannesburg, South Africa), Delta will be the only U.S. airline to operate scheduled flights to Africa. Delta flights will also be serving Ghana.

Delta operates hubs at Atlanta (the world's busiest airport)[1], Cincinnati, New York-JFK, and Salt Lake City. Delta also has large operations in many other cities, including Boston, Fort Lauderdale, Los Angeles, New York-LaGuardia, Orlando, and Washington-Reagan. Delta is also the leading carrier in Florida. Its major international gateways are Atlanta, Cincinnati, Los Angeles, and New York-JFK[2].

In terms of passengers carried (approximately 119 million in 2005)[3], Delta is the second-largest airline in the world (behind American Airlines). In terms of total operating revenues, Delta is the fourth-largest airline in the world (behind Air France-KLM, American Airlines, and United Airlines) Effective June 29, 2006, Delta (including its wholly owned subsidiary Comair, Inc., which operates as Delta Connection) will serve 240 domestic cities and become the first airline to host operations in all 50 U.S. states[4]. The airline also serves Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands, in addition to 45 countries.

Delta awards the annual Delta Prize for Global Understanding in conjunction with the University of Georgia.

Bankruptcy

Unfortunately for the airline, none of these actions could prevent a bankruptcy filing, and on September 14, 2005, Delta filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the first time in its 76-year history. The company cited high labor costs and record-breaking jet fuel prices as factors in its filing. At the time of the filing, Delta had $20.5 billion in debt, $10 billion of which accumulated since January, 2001. Northwest Airlines' bankruptcy filing on the same day added grist to months of speculation that the two airlines might merge. A major challenge in such a scenario however, would be that unlike Delta, Northwest has failed to simplify its fleet in any meaningful way and as a result, the two airlines' fleets are almost completely dissimilar.

The future

On September 22, 2005, Delta announced the acceleration of restructuring activities, targeting an additional $3 billion per year in cost reductions by 2007. $970 million of this amount will come from debt relief, lease and facility savings, and previously commenced fleet modifications. Non-union workers' salaries will be reduced by a minimum of 9% across the board, with a 15% reduction for executive officers and a 25% pay cut for CEO Gerald Grinstein. Additionally, the company plans to lay off between 7,000 and 9,000 of its 52,000 employees.

As for its route network, Delta plans to alter its structure by reinforcing hub presence in Atlanta, Cincinnati, New York, and Salt Lake City, while at the same time increasing point-to-point routes, reducing domestic capacity by up to 20% while growing more profitable international route capacity up to 25%.

However, on February 24, 2006 Delta, along with Continental Airlines and FedEx, saw future operations to Venezuela severely affected by President Hugo Chávez's decision to restrict flights coming into that South American country from the United States [9]. As of March 23, 2006, U.S. and Venezuelan aviation authorities were able to negotiate a solution to their dispute, likely ensuring that Delta's operations to Venezuela will not be curtailed in the future.

On March 7, 2006, Delta announced expanded service from its prominent hub at New York-JFK. In addition to the expansion of mainline service at the airport, Delta will partner with Mesa Air Group to provide regional flights throughout the northeast under the Delta Connection banner. At the same time the airline announced an expansion to a number of new cities from its Salt Lake City hub like Bellingham, WA and Victoria, British Columbia among others.

On June 16, 2006, the airline announced that it would seek in bankruptcy court permission to terminate its pilot pension plan, a move similar to that taken by both United Airlines and US Airways as those airlines struggled to reorganize under bankruptcy protection.

Based on all of these new initiatives, Delta projects a return to profitability by late 2007, based on a crude oil price model of $66 per barrel, in contrast to other bankrupt carriers' restructuring modeled on $55 per barrel.