Airlines raised fares as fuel costs surged, but Delta’s CEO says those higher ticket prices could be here to stay as long as demand holds up
Source: Fortune ·
Oil prices are more than 70% higher than they were a year ago.
From the source
Airfare has shot up this year partly because of the war in Iran. But even if oil prices ease, higher ticket prices may be here to stay because travelers keep buying, said Delta CEO Ed Bastian. The CEO of one of America’s biggest airlines said in an interview with CNBC Friday that he was surprised the airline’s profits held up despite a 60% jump in fuel prices, as demand for tickets stayed resilient. In July, after the airline’s second-quarter results, Bastian told CNBC that Delta was passing along 60% of its higher fuel costs to consumers, and expected that to reach close to 100% in the third quarter. “To not dent those profits, to me is incredible,” said CEO Ed Bastian in an interview with CNBC. He added that the 60% increase in its jet fuel costs in the third quarter was a $1.6 billion increase. “In past cycles, past shocks, if we saw a 60% increase in fuel prices, we’d be flat on our back.” The company last week reported $17.6 billion in adjusted revenue for the third quarter, a…