Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Stewart, Vice President of Investor Relations. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Matthew. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us for our June quarter 2024 earnings call. Joining us from Atlanta today are CEO Ed Bastian, our President Glenn Hauenstein, and our CFO Dan Jenke. Ed will open the call with an overview of Delta's performance and strategy. Glenn will provide an update on the revenue environment, and Dan will discuss costs and our balance sheets. After the prepared remarks, we'll take analyst questions. We ask that you please limit yourself to one question in the brief follow-up so that we can get to as many of you as possible. And after the analyst Q&A, we'll move to our immediate questions. Today's discussion contains forward-looking statements that represent our beliefs or expectations about future events. All forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements. Some of the factors that may cause such differences are described in Delta's SEC filing. We'll also discuss non-GAAP financial measures, and all results exclude special items unless otherwise noted. You can find a reconciliation of our non-GAAP measures on the investor relations page at ir.delta.com. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Ed.

Well, thank you, Julie, and good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Earlier this morning, we reported our June quarter results, posting pre-tax earnings of $2 billion, or $2.36 per share, on record quarterly revenue up 5.4%, over last year. These results are the second highest quarterly earnings in our history. We achieved a 15% operating margin and generated $1.3 billion of free cash during the quarter, bringing our first half free cash flow to $2.7 billion. With strong cash generation, we continue to progress our balance sheet back towards investment grade metrics and announced a 50% increase to our quarterly dividend. We delivered a return on invested capital of 13%, five points above our cost of capital and in the top half of the S&P 500. Delta's leadership is increasingly being recognized alongside some of the world's best companies. Just last month, Delta was ranked fourth in the Fortune 500 return on leadership by Fortune and Indigo, just behind Nvidia and Microsoft. Through the year, Our teams have delivered industry-leading operational performance month in and month out, with Delta leading across all key metrics, including completion factor, on-time departures, and arrivals. This performance builds on our long-standing position as the most reliable airline in the U.S., and I'd like to thank all 100,000 members of our team for their exceptional work taking care of our customers each and every day. They are truly the best in the business. Recognizing the extraordinary skill and care of our people, Delta was named the 2024 Global Airline of the Year by Air Transport World at the recent IATA annual meeting. And for the sixth year in a row, the Point Sky ranked Delta as the best U.S. airline. Delta was also recently named the top-ranked carrier across all premium cabins in J.D. Power's North American Airline Satisfaction Study. Sharing our success with our people is core to our culture. and we are at the forefront on total rewards for our employees. We provided a 5% pay raise on the 1st of June to eligible employees, and we have accrued more than $640 million in profit sharing through the first half of the year. I am confident our profit sharing payout next February will continue to lead the industry by a wide margin. Our people are the foundation that enables Delta to deliver elevated experiences to our customers. To further differentiate our service excellence, we are making high return investments that make travel more seamless and connected, including generational airport rebuilds, the most comprehensive lounge network in the industry, expanded premium offerings, and fast, free Wi-Fi onboard. Just a few weeks ago, we opened our new Delta One Lounge in JFK, the first of its kind. It offers a variety of world-class amenities for our customers, from fine dining to spa treatments and later this year we'll open Delta One lounges in Boston and Los Angeles and in Seattle early next year. We're also enhancing existing Delta Sky Clubs with the recent expansion of the Miami and LaGuardia Clubs. On board, we have upgraded service in our Delta Premium Select Cabin and we'll expand this popular product to select transcontinental flights this fall. We recently released the most comprehensive refresh of the FlyDelta app in the last five years. Updates to the app added new features and functionality to save customers time and manage their travel even when the unexpected happens. Since the launch, a record number of customers have visited the app with self-service usage during periods of disruption up five full points, improving the customer experience. And more and more customers are joining our SkyMiles loyalty program and deepening engagement beyond flight. with about 30% of our active members carrying a Delta SkyMiles American Express credit card in their wallet. New card acquisitions are skewing younger, and the overall portfolio continues to shift to a more premium mix, positioning us well to achieve our long-term remuneration goal of $10 billion. Finally, just this week, we are excited to announce an exclusive partnership with Riyadh Air, a new global carrier that will begin service in Saudi Arabia next year. Riyadh Air will be the premier international airline for Saudi Arabia, and its partnership will expand connectivity and premium travel options for both airlines across North America, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and beyond. The agreement comes amid large-scale investments in the region that are rapidly transforming the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia into a popular destination for leisure and business travel, with tremendous opportunity for growth. All of our continued investments across the travel ribbon strengthen Delta's trusted brand and build on our long-term journey to elevate the travel experience and increase our financial durability. Delta's industry leadership has never been greater, and while demand for air travel remains strong, with record TSA travel volumes up 7% from last year's levels, domestic industry sea growth has accelerated through the summer months, impacting yield performance in the main cabin. As the carrier of choice with a diversified revenue base, Delta is the most insulated from this dynamic. We are delivering double-digit margins and strong returns in this environment, with Delta expected to generate 50% of the industry's profitability in the first half of the year, despite only representing 20% of the market's capacity. That said, we are encouraged by the actions the industry is taking. Sea growth is decelerating, and there appears to be increased focus on improving financial performance. While our returns are strong, I'm confident that we'll see an even more constructive industry backdrop through the back half of the year and into 2025. Turning to our outlook, travel remains a top purchase priority, and Delta's core customers are in a healthy position. The secular shift in consumer spend to prioritize experiences align perfectly with Delta's strategy and premium focus across our global network. Air travel demand is at record levels, with this past Sunday marking Delta's highest ever summer revenue day. For the September quarter, we expect continued demand strength, a double-digit operating margin, and a pre-tax profit of approximately $1.5 billion. Glenn and Dan will provide more details on our third quarter outlook. With strong first half performance and good visibility into the second half, we remain confident in our full year guidance for earnings of $6 to $7 per share, free cash flow of $3 to $4 billion, and leverage of 2.5 times. In closing, as we approach our 100-year anniversary in 2025, Delta is in a stronger position than ever before. Our industry-leading performance reflects the strength of Delta's differentiated brand, and returns-focused strategy. And with our clear prioritization of free cash flow and debt reduction, Delta is exceptionally well-positioned to deliver significant shareholder value. We look forward to sharing more about our long-term strategic and financial goals at our upcoming Investor Day in New York this November. Thank you again. And with that, let me hand it over to Glenn for more details on our commercial performance.