Delta Air Lines Inc. is one of the world’s largest airlines by traffic. Through its regional carriers, the company serves about 320 destinations in about 60 countries. The airline serves nearly 180 million customers each year and offers more than 15,000 daily flights. („Company Profile,“ 2018). There are many internal and external factors that affect the company and the way the company operates, but for now, I will be focusing on the external factors, and those are companies threats and opportunities. In the first place, there are many opportunities facing the Transportation and Warehousing industry and mainly Air transportation which is a part of it.
Some of the recent opportunities facing Delta Air Lines Inc. are following:
- Delta will be the first US airline to take delivery of an A220.
- Delta wants to form a joint venture.
- Delta adds 1k-plus seats for Hurricane Florence evacuations.
- Delta Air Lines in no rush to hike baggage fees.
- Delta plans to start flying its new Airbus between Seattle and Tokyo as of March 1st, 2019.
- Delta is seeking to train the 8,000 new pilots.
- Delta Sky Miles members must renew for Seahawks rewards.
- Delta increases in August Traffic and Load Factor.
- Operating a new 127,000-square-foot-state-of-the-art engine repair shop.
- Delta named the most admired Airline for the seventh time in eight years.
Delta’s first A220 Airbus was presented at the final assembly line in Mirabel, Canada. Delta will put its first A220 into service in early 2019. (O’Keeffe, 2018). This is a huge innovation for a company. In 2012 Delta Air Lines has bought a refinery in Trainer, Pennsylvania and even though many observers did not believe that Delta will operate the facility profitably, it was proven wrong. (Levine-Weinberg, 2018). Now, Delta wants to maintain a stake in the refinery and take the plant’s jet fuel output for its operations in the Northeast. Meanwhile, they hired two investment banks to market a joint-venture. With Hurricane, Florence Delta has added more than 1,000 extra seats on larger aircraft and extra flights to and from the affected cities to assist with evacuation efforts. Fares were capped as low as $299 in the main cabin up to $799 in the forward cabin. The Atlanta-based airline also issued weather waivers that let customers traveling to, for or through affected cities through Sept. 16 make a one-time change without incurring a fee. (Mandel, 2018).
Basically, company is taking care of their customers, and offers afordable prices even in situations that demand so. Delta’s competitors are in a position where it was estimated that hurricane will leave damage and impact on the Charlotte Douglas International Airport which is American Airlines’ second largest hub. Also, on the Dulles International Airport which is United Airlines main hub. Delta is not rising up baggage fees like their competitors. This is a great opportunity for Delta to attract and keep their customers. Delta delivered impressive traffic figures for August. Consolidated traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles was at 22.4 billion, up 3.6% for the year. At the end of the first eight months of 2018, Delta generated 153.7 billion up 3.2% for the year. Load factor remained unchanged at 85.9% on a year-over-year basis. (Finance.yahoo.com, 2018). Operating a new 127,000-square-foot-state-of-the-art engine repair shop, which will support the next-generation Rolls-Royce powerplants featured on Delta’s Airbus A350, and installing seat-back entertainment on its 600th aircraft. (Morningstar.com, 2018).
Basically, customers will have a better and more comfortable connection for the entertainment that is included in flight for free. At the same time, there are some threats facing Delta Air Lines Inc. and those are the following:
- U.S. safety board investigates Delta engine failure
- Alaska Airlines beats Delta Air Lines in Airline quality ratings
- Delta Air Lines shares are down in early trade.
- Delta Air Lines down 3% after Reporting Record August Traffic
- Delta’s fuel and non-fuel costs have continued to grow in recent quarters
- The popularity of booking websites and smartphone apps affect airlines
- Barriers to entry in the airplane industry are remarkably high.
- CEO on Backlash with NRA
- Profit $161 million lower in the second quarter of August 2018 compared to 2017.
- Delta seeks a Threat Intelligence Analyst.
Delta flight, which was flying to Orlando, Florida experienced a maintenance issue with its right engine shortly after takeoff. The crew with 127 persons on board, shut down the engine and safely returned to Atlanta without any injuries to the passengers. (Finance.yahoo.com, 2018).
After a good report of August traffic for the 2018 year, Delta has experienced a down of 3%. They have reported that they flew 18.3 million passengers in August, and that is 4% more than the year before. Despite those numbers, Delta stock declined for 3.3% on September 5th due to the hurricane season. Also, other airlines took a „beating too“. American Airlines has declined by 3.12%, Southwest for 0.76%, and United has gained 0.12%. (Schmidt, 2018).
The popularity of booking websites and smartphone apps affect airlines in the way that people search the flight that is cheapest and they choose the best option for them. Delta can change that if they offer more direct flights at lower prices or maybe by promoting their flights and giving more options that are affordable for customers. Potential new entrants to the industry are not a huge threat since the operating costs are huge, and the government regulations a company must follow are great and complex. Delta’s profits for the second quarter of August are down $161 million or 14% compared to Q2 in 2017. Moreover, much of that can be attributed to the fact that Delta spent $654 million more on fuel than it did during Q2 last year. For the year, Delta says it expects to spend an extra $2 billion on fuel. (Zhang, 2018).
Therefore, that brings us to the fact that Delta’s fuel and non-fuel costs have continued to grow in recent quarters and it is making company to generate less profit. Delta is looking for a threat intelligence analyst, and as an analyst, workers will use their technical experience, in order to profile new threats to Delta’s IT landscape. Employees will be evaluating and setting the development of vulnerabilities in hardware and software, and resolve how to best defend against these threats.
