Common-Size Income Statement
Quarterly Data
Delta Air Lines Inc., common-size consolidated income statement (quarterly data)
Based on: 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2022-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2021-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2021-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2020-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2020-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2019-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2019-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2018-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2018-03-31), 10-K (reporting date: 2017-12-31), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-09-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-06-30), 10-Q (reporting date: 2017-03-31).
The financial performance from early 2017 through mid-2022 is characterized by a period of stability followed by an unprecedented collapse and a subsequent gradual recovery. Revenue streams and cost structures exhibited extreme volatility between 2020 and 2021, reflecting the impact of global disruptions on the aviation industry.
- Revenue Composition
- Passenger revenue served as the primary income driver, consistently ranging between 82% and 91% of operating revenue prior to 2020. A sharp decline occurred in the second quarter of 2020, where passenger revenue dropped to 46.19% of the total. During this period, "Other" revenue spiked to 46.46%, indicating a reliance on non-core income streams or external support. By mid-2022, passenger revenue recovered to 79.27%, though it remained below pre-pandemic peaks.
- Cargo revenue remained a marginal contributor, generally staying below 2% of operating revenue until 2020, when it peaked at 7.36% in the second quarter, highlighting a temporary shift in operational utility.
- Operational Cost Analysis
- The cost of operating revenue was historically stable, averaging between 40% and 45%. However, in the second quarter of 2020, this figure surged to 121.93% of operating revenue, reflecting the inability to scale down fixed costs as rapidly as revenue declined. By the second quarter of 2021, costs returned to a more normalized level of 48.92%.
- Aircraft fuel and related taxes represented a significant and volatile expense, fluctuating from a low of 13.42% in 2017 to a high of 25.34% in 2020 and 23.31% in 2022, demonstrating sensitivity to commodity price swings.
- Salaries and related costs showed a similar pattern to total operating costs, maintaining a baseline of 21% to 27% before reaching an extreme peak of 142.10% of revenue in the second quarter of 2020.
- Pandemic Anomalies and Extraordinary Items
- Significant restructuring charges were recorded in 2020, peaking at 174.56% of operating revenue in the third quarter, indicating aggressive cost-cutting and organizational realignment.
- These losses were partially offset by government grant recognition, which appeared in the second quarter of 2020 at 87.19% of operating revenue and continued as a support mechanism through the third quarter of 2021.
- Profitability and Bottom Line Trends
- Operating income margins were healthy and consistent between 2017 and 2019, typically ranging from 8% to 18%. This trend reversed sharply in 2020, with a catastrophic low of -328.00% in the second quarter. A return to positive operating income was achieved by the second quarter of 2021 (11.45%), though margins remained volatile through 2022.
- Net income followed a similar trajectory, moving from consistent profitability (roughly 5% to 12% of revenue) to a deep deficit in 2020, with the second quarter showing a net loss of 389.44% of operating revenue. Profitability was restored by mid-2021, though it faced another dip in early 2022 before recovering to 5.32% by June 30, 2022.
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