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DAL's International Air Travel Demand in Good Shape: Sign for Growth?
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Key Takeaways
Delta Air Lines saw strong Q4 2025 international demand, boosting unit revenues by 5 points.
DAL plans its largest transatlantic season for summer 2026 with 650 weekly Europe flights.
DAL's shares gained over 21% in six months in 2026 and 2027 EPS estimates improved.
Agreed that last year’s prolonged government shutdown hurt Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) significantly due to the multiple flight cancellations. Revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 was impacted by about 2 points due to the government shutdown. Despite the headwind, fourth-quarter passenger revenues, which accounted for 80.7% of total revenues, increased year over year.
International travel demand has bounced back very nicely from the COVID lows. In the fourth quarter of 2025, International performance improved significantly on a sequential basis, driven by the transatlantic and Pacific segments, more than offsetting the domestic weakness. The strong international performance resulted in unit revenue growth improving 5 points. Corporate sales improved across all sectors. In fact, 2025 was one of its top years for international profitability.
The recovery in international air travel demand can be gauged by the fact that DAL has announced the largest transatlantic season ever for the summer of 2026, to manage the anticipated surge in demand during the period.
In the current year’s summer, Delta aims to operate more than 650 weekly flights to nearly 30 European destinations. As part of the huge schedule, Delta has decided to introduce seven non-stop routes that offer direct options for exploring some of the most tourist-friendly destinations in Europe. Apart from the exciting summer schedule, Delta’s winter schedule is expected to attract significant traffic with service to popular destinations like Amsterdam, Paris, Marrakech, London-Heathrow, Dublin, Athens and Zürich.
Delta’s peer United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) is the largest carrier across the Atlantic with service to more than 45 cities planned for 2026. United Airlines has boosted its summer 2026 schedule with service to four new cities across Croatia, Italy, Scotland and Spain. Driven by its significant international network, United Airlines aims to offer nearly 3,000 weekly international round-trips in summer 2026.
Another heavyweight airline, American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) , has decided to add six new routes to Europe and expand service to South America for summer 2026. As part of the expansion plan, American Airlines intends to start operations to Prague. As part of its efforts to attract significant traffic, this summer, American Airlines also aims to add new routes to tourist-friendly destinations, including Athens, Greece, Milan and Zürich, along with expanded summer service to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
DAL’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Delta have gained in excess of 21% over the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Transportation - Airline industry.
6-Month Price Comparison
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, DAL trades at a 12-month forward price-to-sales ratio of 0.7X, higher than industrial levels.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2026 and 2027 earnings per share has improved in the past 60 days.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Shutterstock
DAL's International Air Travel Demand in Good Shape: Sign for Growth?
Key Takeaways
Agreed that last year’s prolonged government shutdown hurt Delta Air Lines (DAL - Free Report) significantly due to the multiple flight cancellations. Revenue growth in the fourth quarter of 2025 was impacted by about 2 points due to the government shutdown. Despite the headwind, fourth-quarter passenger revenues, which accounted for 80.7% of total revenues, increased year over year.
International travel demand has bounced back very nicely from the COVID lows. In the fourth quarter of 2025, International performance improved significantly on a sequential basis, driven by the transatlantic and Pacific segments, more than offsetting the domestic weakness. The strong international performance resulted in unit revenue growth improving 5 points. Corporate sales improved across all sectors. In fact, 2025 was one of its top years for international profitability.
The recovery in international air travel demand can be gauged by the fact that DAL has announced the largest transatlantic season ever for the summer of 2026, to manage the anticipated surge in demand during the period.
In the current year’s summer, Delta aims to operate more than 650 weekly flights to nearly 30 European destinations. As part of the huge schedule, Delta has decided to introduce seven non-stop routes that offer direct options for exploring some of the most tourist-friendly destinations in Europe. Apart from the exciting summer schedule, Delta’s winter schedule is expected to attract significant traffic with service to popular destinations like Amsterdam, Paris, Marrakech, London-Heathrow, Dublin, Athens and Zürich.
Delta’s peer United Airlines (UAL - Free Report) is the largest carrier across the Atlantic with service to more than 45 cities planned for 2026. United Airlines has boosted its summer 2026 schedule with service to four new cities across Croatia, Italy, Scotland and Spain. Driven by its significant international network, United Airlines aims to offer nearly 3,000 weekly international round-trips in summer 2026.
Another heavyweight airline, American Airlines (AAL - Free Report) , has decided to add six new routes to Europe and expand service to South America for summer 2026. As part of the expansion plan, American Airlines intends to start operations to Prague. As part of its efforts to attract significant traffic, this summer, American Airlines also aims to add new routes to tourist-friendly destinations, including Athens, Greece, Milan and Zürich, along with expanded summer service to Buenos Aires, Argentina.
DAL’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Delta have gained in excess of 21% over the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Transportation - Airline industry.
6-Month Price Comparison
From a valuation standpoint, DAL trades at a 12-month forward price-to-sales ratio of 0.7X, higher than industrial levels.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2026 and 2027 earnings per share has improved in the past 60 days.
DAL's Zacks Rank
DAL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.