Earnings brief: Delta sees momentum through year end driven by premium customers

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NEW YORK (AP) — Delta Air Lines on Thursday reported strong profit and revenue growth for the busy summer travel season and expects that momentum to carry through to the end of the year.

Revenue momentum picked up during the quarter as some uncertainty started to clear concerning tariffs and the economy, said CEO Ed Bastian, in a interview with CNBC. Domestic air travel was under the most stress throughout the year and that experienced a recovery. Corporate travel increased.

Premium consumers remain the company’s focus and have been fueling revenue and profit. Lower-end consumers have been “clearly struggling,” Bastian said.

“There were way too many seats in the marketplace earlier this year chasing low-end consumers,” he said.

The third-quarter results topped Wall Street forecasts and Delta shares rose 4.3%.

Bastian doesn't expect the U.S. government shutdown to currently have much of an impact, but that could shift depending on the duration. He expects strong holiday travel along with improvements in transatlantic travel.

“There is so much momentum in the marketplace to travel,” he said.