Delta Air Lines, Inc.

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the Delta Airlines September Quarter 2026 Financial Results Conference Call. My name is Matthew, and I'll be your coordinator. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode until we conduct a question-and-answer session following the presentation. As a reminder, today's call is being recorded. If you have any questions or comments during the presentation, you may press star 1 on your phone to enter the question queue at any time. I would now like to turn the conference over to Julie Stewart, Vice President of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Please go ahead.

Thank you, Matthew. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us for our September quarter 2026 earnings call. Joining us from Atlanta today are our CEO, Ed Bastian, our Chief Operating Officer, Dan Janki, our Chief Commercial Officer Joe Esposito, and our Chief Financial Officer Erik Snell. Ed will open the call with an overview of Delta's performance and strategy, Dan will cover the operation, Joe will provide an update on the revenue environment, and Erik will discuss costs and our balance sheet. After the prepared remarks, we'll take analyst questions. We ask you please limit yourself to one question and a brief follow-up so we can get to as many of you as possible. 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.

Thank you, Julie. Good morning, everyone. We appreciate you joining us today. Our results demonstrate the structural durability that we have built and the strategic decisions that we have made over many years to reduce earnings volatility and enable us to navigate today's high fuel costs. In the September quarter, revenue grew 16% and we delivered pre-tax profits of $1.5 billion, consistent with last year, while absorbing $1.6 billion of higher fuel costs. Earnings were $1.72 per share, on an operating margin of 9.4%. Our earnings are continuing to translate into strong cash generation and attractive returns for our shareholders. Year to date, we have generated $1.9 billion of free cash, and our return on invested capital is 11%, well above our cost of capital. These results reflect discipline, capital allocation, and the durability of our business model.