DELTA AIR LINES INC
For the period ended Mar 31, 2025. Filed Apr 9, 2025.
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A company's report for each of its first three quarters. The financial statements are not audited. It shows how the business has moved since the last annual report, and what management says changed.
Mar 31, 2025 · Filed Apr 9, 2025
DAL$87.20+2.2%Stored close · as of Nov 6, 2026
What changed in Management’s Discussion and Analysis?
Read the current filingPrevious report: 10-Q
Period ended 2024-09-30; filed 2024-10-10.
0000027904-24-000012
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsCurrent report: 10-Q
Period ended 2025-03-31; filed 2025-04-09.
0000027904-25-000007
Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of OperationsThe baseline is this issuer’s latest earlier reporting period of the same form that was filed before the current report. A previous 10-Q is a different quarter, not a year-over-year comparison. Amendments are excluded.
Compared 116 previous paragraphs and 97 current paragraphs.
56 unchanged; 34 reworded; 7 added; 22 removed; 4 previous and 0 current paragraphs rearranged.
Tables are not compared: 36 previous and 27 current tables excluded. Dates, whitespace, punctuation and numbering changes are ignored; changes to financial figures remain significant.
A changed paragraph is not evidence that risk increased or decreased. An unchanged paragraph does not establish that risk stayed the same.
Added paragraphs (7)
Current report
Compared to the March 2024 quarter, total revenue increased $292 million, or 2%, due to strength in demand for premium products and long-haul international travel and a 4% increase in capacity.
Current report
Domestic passenger revenue increased 1% in the March 2025 quarter compared to the March 2024 quarter on a 4% increase in capacity. Domestic revenue growth was primarily driven by strength in demand for premium products, which was mitigated by softness in main cabin demand on reduced consumer and corporate confidence caused by increased macro uncertainty, particularly toward the end of the quarter.
Current report
Other Revenue
Current report
Regional Carrier Expense. The increase in regional carrier expense primarily resulted from higher volume of regional flights.
Current report
Item 2. MD&A - Supplemental Information
Current report
Item 2. MD&A - Supplemental Information
Current report
•Pension plan contributions. Cash flows related to pension funding are included in our GAAP operating activities. We adjust to exclude these contributions to allow investors to understand the cash flows related to our core operations.
Removed paragraphs (22)
Previous report
In July 2024, our operations were significantly disrupted by the CrowdStrike-caused outage. We estimate that this disruption led to a direct revenue impact of approximately $380 million related to approximately 7,000 flight cancellations over five days, which reduced our expected year-over-year capacity growth in the quarter by approximately 1.5 percentage points.
Previous report
Compared to the September 2023 quarter, total revenue increased $189 million, or 1%, due to increased revenue related to refinery sales to third parties, loyalty travel awards and a 4% increase in capacity resulting from strength in travel demand, particularly for our premium products, partially offset by a decrease in main cabin ticket revenue.
Previous report
Domestic passenger revenue was consistent between the September 2024 quarter and the September 2023 quarter on a 3% increase in capacity and a slight decrease in load factor. We experienced strong revenue results across the domestic network, with premium revenue growing more than main cabin revenue compared to the prior year period.
Previous report
Profit Sharing. Profit sharing decreased by $97 million compared to the September 2023 quarter due to lower projected profit for the year. Our profit sharing program pays 10% to all eligible employees for the first $2.5 billion of annual profit, as defined by the terms of the program, and 20% of annual profit above $2.5 billion.
Previous report
Results of Operations - Nine Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023
Previous report
Total Operating Revenue
Previous report
Unless otherwise discussed below, the changes in total revenue line items, as well as the underlying reasons for these changes, compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023 are consistent with the discussion above under Results of Operations - Three Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.
Previous report
Compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023, total revenue increased $2.3 billion, or 5%, due primarily to a 6% increase in capacity resulting from strength in travel demand, particularly for our premium products and increased revenue related to refinery sales to third parties, partially offset by a decrease in main cabin ticket revenue.
Previous report
Passenger Revenue by Geographic Region
Previous report
Domestic passenger revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 increased on higher capacity compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023. International passenger revenue for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 increased 4% on 10% higher capacity compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023 due to strong demand for international travel, particularly to leisure destinations. The Pacific and Latin America regions accounted for the majority of international capacity growth on continued network restoration in the Pacific and the continued maturation of our joint venture with LATAM in South America.
Previous report
Operating Expense
Previous report
(1)Certain variances are labeled as not meaningful ("NM") throughout management's discussion and analysis.
Previous report
Unless otherwise discussed below, the changes in operating expense line items, as well as the underlying reasons for these changes, compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023 are consistent with the discussion above under Results of Operations - Three Months Ended September 30, 2024 and 2023.
Previous report
Aircraft Fuel and Related Taxes. Aircraft fuel and related taxes increased $29 million compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2023 due to a 5% increase in consumption on a 6% increase in capacity partially offset by an 8% decrease in the market price per gallon of jet fuel. The refinery also provided a benefit of two cents per gallon compared to a benefit of 13 cents per gallon in the nine months ended September 30, 2023.
Previous report
Pilot Agreement and Related Expenses. In the March 2023 quarter, Delta pilots ratified a new four-year Pilot Working Agreement effective January 1, 2023. The agreement includes numerous work rule changes and pay rate increases during the four-year term, including an initial pay rate increase of 18%. The agreement also includes a provision for a one-time payment made upon ratification in the March 2023 quarter of $735 million. Additionally, we recorded adjustments to other benefit-related items of approximately $130 million.
Previous report
In the September 2024 quarter we amended our purchase agreement with Boeing and received an updated delivery schedule for our Boeing 737-10 orders. We now expect to take delivery of our first 20 aircraft in 2026 and 80 aircraft thereafter.
Previous report
Short-Term Investments. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we redeemed a net of $1.1 billion in short-term investments. See Note 3 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on these investments.
Previous report
New York-LaGuardia Redevelopment. As part of the terminal redevelopment project at LaGuardia Airport, we are partnering with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to replace Terminals C and D with a new state-of-the-art terminal facility. Construction is ongoing with completion expected by the end of 2024.
Previous report
Using funding primarily provided by existing financing arrangements and other sources of funding, we expect to spend approximately $350 million on this project during 2024, of which $237 million was incurred in the nine months ended September 30, 2024.
Previous report
Capital Return to Shareholders. On August 20, 2024, we paid the dividend previously declared in the June 2024 quarter for total cash dividends of $96 million. Total cash dividends for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 were $225 million.
Previous report
•One-time pilot agreement expenses. In the March 2023 quarter, Delta pilots ratified a new four-year Pilot Working Agreement effective January 1, 2023. The agreement included a provision for a one-time payment made upon ratification in the March 2023 quarter of $735 million. Additionally, we recorded adjustments to other benefit-related items of approximately $130 million. Adjusting for these expenses allows investors to better understand and analyze our core cost performance.
Previous report
•Net redemptions of short-term investments. Net redemptions of short-term investments represent the net purchase and sale activity of investments and marketable securities in the period, including gains and losses. We adjust for this activity to provide investors a better understanding of the company's free cash flow generated by our operations.
Reworded paragraphs (34)
Previous wording
Our operating income for the September 2024 quarter was $1.4 billion, a decrease of $587 million compared to the September 2023 quarter.
Current wording
Our operating income for the March 2025 quarter was $569 million, a decrease of $45 million compared to the March 2024 quarter.
Previous wording
Revenue. Compared to the September 2023 quarter, our total revenue increased $189 million, or 1%, due to increased revenue related to refinery sales to third parties and a 4% increase in capacity. Passenger revenue was comparable to the September 2023 quarter on an increase in revenue for premium products and loyalty travel awards, offset by a decrease in main cabin ticket revenue. Total revenue, adjusted (a non-GAAP financial measure, which excludes revenue related to refinery sales to third parties) increased in the September 2024 quarter by $41 million compared to the September 2023 quarter.
Current wording
Revenue. Compared to the March 2024 quarter, our total revenue increased $292 million, or 2%, due to strength in demand for premium products and long-haul international travel and a 4% increase in capacity. Passenger revenue increased $349 million compared to the March 2024 quarter on an increase in revenue for premium products and loyalty travel awards. Total revenue, adjusted (a non-GAAP financial measure, which excludes revenue related to refinery sales to third parties) increased in the March 2025 quarter by $415 million, or 3.3%, compared to the March 2024 quarter.
Previous wording
Operating Expense. Total operating expense in the September 2024 quarter increased $776 million, or 6%, compared to the September 2023 quarter, primarily due to costs associated with the 4% increase in capacity, higher employee costs from increased wages, increased landing fees and other rents and costs associated with the CrowdStrike-caused outage. The outage and operational recovery resulted in approximately $170 million of additional operating expenses primarily due to customer expense reimbursements and crew-related costs. Fuel expense was approximately $50 million lower than it would have been as a result of the 7,000 flight cancellations over the five-day period. Total operating expense, adjusted (a non-GAAP financial measure, which primarily excludes expenses related to refinery sales to third parties) in the September 2024 quarter increased $631 million, or 5%, compared to the September 2023 quarter.
Current wording
Operating Expense. Total operating expense in the March 2025 quarter increased $337 million, or 3%, compared to the March 2024 quarter, primarily due to costs associated with the 4% increase in capacity, higher employee costs from increased wages, and increased landing fees and other rents partially offset by lower aircraft fuel and related taxes. Total operating expense, adjusted (a non-GAAP financial measure, which primarily excludes expenses related to refinery sales to third parties) in the March 2025 quarter increased $465 million, or 4%, compared to the March 2024 quarter.
Previous wording
Our total operating cost per available seat mile ("CASM") increased 2% compared to the September 2023 quarter, primarily for the same reasons as the increase in total operating expense. Non-fuel unit cost ("CASM-Ex", a non-GAAP financial measure) increased 5.7%.
Current wording
Our total operating cost per available seat mile ("CASM") decreased 2% compared to the March 2024 quarter, while non-fuel unit cost ("CASM-Ex", a non-GAAP financial measure) increased 2.6%.
Previous wording
Cash Flow. Our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and aggregate undrawn principal amount available under our revolving credit facilities ("liquidity") as of September 30, 2024 was $6.9 billion.
Current wording
Cash Flow. Our cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and aggregate undrawn principal amount available under our revolving credit facilities ("liquidity") as of March 31, 2025 was $6.8 billion.
Previous wording
During the September 2024 quarter, operating activities generated $1.3 billion, primarily from ticket sales. Total cash sales to American Express were $1.8 billion in the September 2024 quarter, an increase of approximately 6% compared to the September 2023 quarter.
Current wording
During the March 2025 quarter, operating activities generated $2.4 billion, primarily from ticket sales and the sale of SkyMiles to our partners. Total cash sales to American Express were $1.9 billion in the March 2025 quarter, an increase of approximately 13% compared to the March 2024 quarter.
Previous wording
Cash flows used in investing activities during the quarter totaled $1.1 billion primarily from capital expenditures. These operating and investing activities yielded free cash flow (a non-GAAP financial measure) of $95 million in the September 2024 quarter. Additionally, we had cash outflows of $263 million related to repayments of our debt and finance leases.
Current wording
Cash flows used in investing activities during the quarter totaled $1.2 billion primarily from capital expenditures. These operating and investing activities yielded free cash flow (a non-GAAP financial measure) of $1.3 billion in the March 2025 quarter. Additionally, we had cash outflows of $531 million related to repayments of our debt and finance leases.
Previous wording
International passenger revenue for the September 2024 quarter was consistent with the September 2023 quarter. The Atlantic region benefited from improved demand for travel to Paris following the summer Olympics. Our Latin America revenue reflects the continued maturation of our joint venture with LATAM in South America, while network restoration continues in the Pacific, with double-digit revenue growth driven by travel to South Korea and Japan.
Current wording
International passenger revenue for the March 2025 quarter increased compared to the March 2024 quarter in each geographic region. The Atlantic region continues to experience strong demand for travel. Our Latin America and Pacific regions revenue reflects the continued maturation of our joint ventures and network restoration.
Previous wording
Refinery. Refinery sales to third parties increased $148 million compared to the September 2023 quarter. See "Refinery Segment" below for additional details on the refinery's operations, including third party refinery sales.
Current wording
Refinery. Refinery sales to third parties decreased $123 million compared to the March 2024 quarter. See "Refinery Segment" below for additional details on the refinery's operations, including third party refinery sales.
Previous wording
Loyalty Program. This relates to revenues from brand usage by third parties and other performance obligations embedded in miles sold, as well as redemption of miles for non-air travel and other awards. These revenues are mainly driven by customer spend on American Express cards and new cardholder acquisitions. Revenues from our relationship with American Express increased compared to the September 2023 quarter due to increased co-brand card spend and card account acquisitions.
Current wording
Loyalty Program. This relates to revenues from brand usage by third parties and other performance obligations embedded in miles sold, as well as redemption of miles for non-air travel and other awards. These revenues are mainly driven by customer spend on American Express cards and new cardholder acquisitions.
Previous wording
Ancillary Businesses. This includes revenues from aircraft maintenance services we provide to third parties and our vacation wholesale operations. The decrease in revenues compared to the September 2023 quarter was driven by lower aircraft maintenance services revenue during the September 2024 quarter.
Current wording
Ancillary Businesses. This includes revenues from aircraft maintenance services we provide to third parties and our vacation package operations.
Previous wording
Miscellaneous. This is primarily composed of revenues related to lounge access, including access provided to certain American Express cardholders, codeshare agreements and certain other commercial relationships. The increase in revenues compared to the September 2023 quarter was primarily driven by codeshare agreements and other commercial relationships.
Current wording
Miscellaneous. This is primarily composed of revenues related to lounge access, including access provided to certain American Express cardholders, codeshare agreements and certain other commercial relationships.
Previous wording
Salaries and Related Costs. The increase in salaries and related costs primarily resulted from the implementation of base pay increases for eligible employees of 5% effective June 1, 2024 and for Delta pilots on January 1, 2024. In June 2024 we also increased our minimum starting wage for domestic mainline employees to $19 per hour. Salaries and related costs also increased due to additional crew-related costs resulting from the CrowdStrike-caused outage.
Current wording
Salaries and Related Costs. The increase in salaries and related costs primarily resulted from the implementation of base pay increases for eligible employees of 5% effective June 1, 2024 and 4% for Delta pilots on January 1, 2025.
Previous wording
Aircraft Fuel and Related Taxes. Aircraft fuel and related taxes decreased $189 million compared to the September 2023 quarter primarily due to a 13% decrease in the market price of jet fuel offset by a 3% increase in consumption on a 4% increase in capacity. Fuel expense was also approximately $50 million lower than it would have been as a result of the 7,000 flight cancellations over the five-day period following the CrowdStrike-caused outage. We continue to expect that fuel consumption for the remainder of 2024 will increase compared to 2023 aligned with capacity, partially offset by increases in the fuel efficiency of our fleet. The refinery generated an operating loss resulting in incremental cost of three cents per gallon compared to a benefit of 11 cents per gallon in the September 2023 quarter. We expect jet fuel prices to remain volatile throughout the remainder of 2024 and into 2025.
Current wording
Aircraft Fuel and Related Taxes. Aircraft fuel and related taxes decreased $188 million compared to the March 2024 quarter primarily due to a 13% decrease in the market price of jet fuel offset by a 5% increase in consumption on a 4% increase in capacity. We expect that fuel consumption for the remainder of 2025 will increase compared to 2024 aligned with capacity, partially offset by improvements in the fuel efficiency of our fleet. The refinery generated a small operating loss resulting in no incremental cost per gallon compared to a benefit of five cents per gallon in the March 2024 quarter. We expect jet fuel prices to remain volatile.
Previous wording
Ancillary Businesses and Refinery. Ancillary businesses and refinery includes expenses associated with refinery sales to third parties, aircraft maintenance services we provide to third parties and our vacation wholesale operations. Refinery sales to third parties increased $148 million compared to the September 2023 quarter. See "Refinery Segment" below for additional details on the refinery's operations, including third party refinery sales.
Current wording
Ancillary Businesses and Refinery. Ancillary businesses and refinery includes expenses associated with refinery sales to third parties, aircraft maintenance services we provide to third parties and our vacation package operations. Refinery sales to third parties decreased $123 million compared to the March 2024 quarter. See "Refinery Segment" below for additional details on the refinery's operations, including third party refinery sales.
Previous wording
Landing Fees and Other Rents. The increase in landing fees and other rents primarily resulted from higher rates charged by airports following extensive redevelopment projects at numerous facilities and more flights compared to the September 2023 quarter that contributed to our increased capacity.
Current wording
Landing Fees and Other Rents. The increase in landing fees and other rents resulted from higher rates charged by airports following extensive redevelopment projects at numerous facilities and more flights compared to the March 2024 quarter.
Previous wording
Other. The increase in other is primarily due to the impact of service recovery costs including customer expense reimbursements from the CrowdStrike-caused outage and higher volume-related expenses associated with increased capacity, such as flight crew and other employee travel and incidental costs.
Current wording
Other. The increase in other is primarily due to higher volume-related expenses associated with increased capacity, such as flight crew and other employee travel and incidental costs.
Previous wording
Interest expense, net. Interest expense, net includes interest expense and interest income. This decreased compared to the prior year primarily due to reduced interest expense resulting from our debt reduction initiatives. During 2023, we made payments of approximately $4.1 billion related to our debt and finance lease obligations. We have continued to pay down our debt during the nine months ended September 30, 2024 with $2.4 billion of payments on debt and finance lease obligations, including approximately $900 million of early repayments. This included early extinguishment of $744 million in principal related to a portion of the SkyMiles Term Loan and various secured and unsecured notes, and approximately $150 million on finance leases that were scheduled to be paid later in 2024. We continue to seek opportunities to pre-pay our debt, in addition to periodic amortization and scheduled maturities.
Current wording
Interest expense, net. Interest expense, net includes interest expense and interest income. This decreased compared to the prior year primarily due to reduced interest expense resulting from our debt reduction initiatives. During 2024, we made payments of $4.0 billion related to our debt and finance lease obligations. We have continued to pay down our debt during the three months ended March 31, 2025 with $531 million of payments on debt and finance lease obligations. We continue to seek opportunities to pre-pay our debt, in addition to periodic amortization and scheduled maturities, and refinance higher cost debt.
Previous wording
Miscellaneous, net. Miscellaneous, net primarily includes employee benefit plans net periodic cost, charitable contributions, our share of our equity method investments' results and foreign exchange gains/(losses).
Current wording
Miscellaneous, net. Miscellaneous, net primarily includes employee benefit plans net periodic cost, charitable contributions, our share of our equity method investments' results, dividends received from our equity investees and foreign exchange gains/(losses).
Previous wording
The refinery operated by Monroe primarily produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Monroe exchanges non-jet fuel products the refinery produces with third parties for jet fuel consumed in our airline operations. The jet fuel produced and procured through exchanging gasoline and diesel fuel produced by the refinery typically provides approximately 200,000 barrels per day, or approximately 75% of our consumption, for use in our airline operations. The refinery regularly optimizes its sales and exchange activities based on market conditions. The refinery generated lower operating income in the nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to operating income in the nine months ended September 30, 2023, primarily as a result of lower pricing.
Current wording
The refinery operated by Monroe primarily produces gasoline, diesel and jet fuel. Monroe exchanges non-jet fuel products the refinery produces with third parties for jet fuel consumed in our airline operations. The jet fuel produced and procured through exchanging gasoline and diesel fuel produced by the refinery typically provides approximately 200,000 barrels per day, or approximately 75% of our consumption, for use in our airline operations. The refinery regularly optimizes its sales and exchange activities based on market conditions. The refinery generated a small operating loss in the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to operating income in the three months ended March 31, 2024, primarily as a result of lower pricing of refined products.
Previous wording
The table below summarizes the aircraft operated by regional carriers on our behalf at September 30, 2024.
Current wording
The following table summarizes the aircraft operated by regional carriers on our behalf at March 31, 2025.
Previous wording
(1)We own 194 and have operating leases for two of these regional aircraft. The remainder are owned or leased by SkyWest Airlines, Inc. or Republic Airways, Inc.
Current wording
(1)We own 197 and have operating leases for two of these regional aircraft. The remainder are owned or leased by SkyWest Airlines, Inc. or Republic Airways, Inc.
Previous wording
(2)Excluded from the total operating count above are nine CRJ-700 and two CRJ-900 aircraft which are owned and temporarily parked as of September 30, 2024.
Current wording
(2)Excluded from the total operating count above are six owned CRJ-700 aircraft and one operating leased CRJ-900 aircraft which are temporarily parked as of March 31, 2025.
Previous wording
As of September 30, 2024, we had $6.9 billion in cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and aggregate undrawn principal amount available under our revolving credit facilities. We expect to meet our liquidity needs for the next twelve months with cash and cash equivalents and cash flows from operations. We expect to meet our long-term liquidity needs with cash flows from operations and financing arrangements.
Current wording
As of March 31, 2025, we had $6.8 billion in cash, cash equivalents, short-term investments and aggregate undrawn principal amount available under our revolving credit facilities. We expect to meet our liquidity needs for the next twelve months with cash and cash equivalents and cash flows from operations. We expect to meet our long-term liquidity needs with cash flows from operations and financing arrangements.
Previous wording
Undrawn Lines of Credit. As of September 30, 2024, we had approximately $2.9 billion undrawn and available under our revolving credit facilities.
Current wording
Undrawn Lines of Credit. As of March 31, 2025, we had approximately $3.1 billion undrawn and available under our revolving credit facilities.
Previous wording
We generated cash flows from operations of $6.1 billion and $5.9 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We expect to continue generating positive cash flows from operations during the remainder of 2024.
Current wording
We generated cash flows from operations of $2.4 billion in both the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024. We expect to continue generating positive cash flows from operations during the remainder of 2025.
Previous wording
Fuel. Fuel expense represented approximately 20% and 21% of our total operating expense for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. The market price for jet fuel is volatile, which can impact the comparability of our periodic cash flows from operations. For example, the market price for jet fuel was 13% lower in the September 2024 quarter compared to the September 2023 quarter after it was 5% higher in the June 2024 quarter compared to the June 2023 quarter. Fuel consumption was higher during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2024 compared to the prior year periods due to the increase in capacity. We continue to expect that fuel consumption for the remainder of 2024 will increase compared to 2023 aligned with capacity, partially offset by increases in the fuel efficiency of our fleet.
Current wording
Fuel. Fuel expense represented approximately 18% and 20% of our total operating expense for the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively. The market price for jet fuel is volatile, which can impact the comparability of our periodic cash flows from operations. Fuel consumption was higher during the three months ended March 31, 2025 compared to the prior year period due to the increase in capacity. We expect that fuel consumption for the remainder of 2025 will increase compared to 2024 aligned with capacity, partially offset by improvements in the fuel efficiency of our fleet.
Previous wording
Profit Sharing. We paid $1.4 billion in profit sharing payments in February 2024 related to our 2023 pre-tax profit in recognition of our employees' contributions toward achieving the year's financial results. This is an increase compared to our profit sharing payment made in February 2023 of $563 million related to our 2022 pre-tax profit.
Current wording
Profit Sharing. We paid $1.4 billion in profit sharing payments in February 2025 related to our 2024 pre-tax profit in recognition of our employees' contributions toward achieving the year's financial results.
Previous wording
Our broad-based employee profit sharing program provides that for each year in which we have an annual pre-tax profit, as defined by the terms of the program, we will pay a specified portion of that profit to eligible employees. In determining the amount of profit sharing, the program defines profit as pre-tax profit adjusted for profit sharing and certain other items. During the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we accrued $964 million in profit sharing expense based on the year-to-date performance and current expectations for 2024 profit.
Current wording
Our broad-based employee profit sharing program provides that for each year in which we have an annual pre-tax profit, as defined by the terms of the program, we will pay a specified portion of that profit to eligible employees. In determining the amount of profit sharing, the program defines profit as pre-tax profit adjusted for profit sharing and certain other items. During the three months ended March 31, 2025, we accrued $124 million in profit sharing expense based on the year-to-date performance and current expectations for 2025 profit.
Previous wording
Sale of Miles to Participating Companies. Customers earn miles based on their spending with participating companies such as credit card, retail, ridesharing, car rental and hotel companies with which we have marketing agreements to sell miles. Payments are typically due to us monthly based on the volume of miles sold during the period. Our most significant contract to sell miles relates to our co-brand credit card relationship with American Express. Total cash sales to American Express were $5.4 billion in the nine months ended September 30, 2024, an increase of 6% compared to the prior year period. See Note 2 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information regarding the cash sales from marketing agreements.
Current wording
Sale of Miles to Participating Companies. Customers earn miles based on their spending with participating companies such as credit card, retail, ridesharing, car rental and hotel companies with which we have marketing agreements to sell miles. Payments are typically due to us monthly based on the volume of miles sold during the period. Our most significant contract to sell miles relates to our co-brand credit card relationship with American Express. Total cash sales to American Express were $1.9 billion in the three months ended March 31, 2025, an increase of 13% compared to the prior year period. See Note 2 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information regarding the cash sales from marketing agreements.
Previous wording
Capital Expenditures. Our capital expenditures were $3.8 billion and $3.7 billion for the nine months ended September 30, 2024 and 2023, respectively. We have committed to future aircraft purchases and have obtained, but are under no obligation to use, long-term financing commitments for a substantial portion of the purchase price of the aircraft. Our expected 2024 capital spend of approximately $5.0 billion, excluding the New York-LaGuardia airport project discussed below, will be primarily for aircraft, including deliveries and advance deposit payments, as well as fleet modifications and technology enhancements.
Current wording
Capital Expenditures. Our capital expenditures were $1.2 billion for both the three months ended March 31, 2025 and 2024. We have committed to future aircraft purchases and have obtained, but are under no obligation to use, long-term financing commitments for a substantial portion of the purchase price of the aircraft. Our expected 2025 capital spend of approximately $5.0 billion will be primarily for aircraft, including deliveries and advance deposit payments, as well as fleet modifications and technology enhancements.
Previous wording
Debt and Finance Leases. In the nine months ended September 30, 2024, we had cash outflows of $2.4 billion related to repayments of our debt and finance lease obligations, including approximately $900 million of early repayments. This included early extinguishment of $744 million in principal related to a portion of the SkyMiles Term Loan and various secured and unsecured notes, and approximately $150 million on finance leases that were scheduled to be paid later in 2024. We continue to seek opportunities to pre-pay our debt, in addition to periodic amortization and scheduled maturities.
Current wording
Debt and Finance Leases. In the three months ended March 31, 2025, we had cash outflows of $531 million related to repayments of our debt and finance lease obligations. We continue to seek opportunities to pre-pay our debt, in addition to periodic amortization and scheduled maturities, and refinance higher cost debt.
Previous wording
In February 2024, Moody's credit rating agency affirmed our credit rating and upgraded its outlook for Delta to positive. In July 2024, Fitch upgraded Delta's credit rating to BBB-, an investment-grade metric. See Note 5 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on the effect of these ratings changes on our debt agreements.
Current wording
In February 2025, Moody's credit rating agency upgraded its rating for Delta to Baa2, an investment grade rating. See Note 5 of the Notes to the Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements for further information on our debt agreements.
Previous wording
On September 19, 2024, the Board of Directors approved and we will pay a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share on October 31, 2024 to shareholders of record as of October 10, 2024.
Current wording
Capital Return to Shareholders. In the March 2025 quarter, the Board of Directors approved a quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share which we paid on March 20, 2025 for total cash dividends of $99 million.
Rearranged previous paragraphs (4)
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
(1)Total amounts in the table above may not calculate exactly due to rounding.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
(2)TRASM, adjusted is a non-GAAP financial measure. For additional information on adjustments to TRASM, see "Supplemental Information" below.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
See "Refinery Segment" below for additional details on the refinery's operations.
Previous report — wording carried elsewhere
(1)Market price for jet fuel at airport locations, including related taxes and transportation costs.