ATLANTA, Nov. 6, 2008 – Delta Air Lines (NYSE: DAL) today reported October traffic results for both Delta and Northwest operating units.

Delta
Delta reported record load factors for October 2008.  Load factors for system (81.6 percent), domestic (83.7 percent) and mainline domestic (84.9%) were higher than any previous October on record for Delta.

Delta’s system traffic in October 2008 decreased 2.2 percent over October 2007 on a capacity decrease of 4.7 percent.  Delta’s system load factor increased 2.0 points compared to the same period last year. International traffic increased 11.5 percent year over year on a 12.5 percent increase in capacity, and load factor declined 0.7 points. As a result of Delta’s global expansion, a record number of passengers flew internationally on Delta during the month of October.  The number of international and Atlantic passengers increased 5.2 percent and 11.7 percent, respectively, versus the same period last year.

Domestic traffic decreased 8.8 percent year over year on 13.0 percent lower capacity, and load factor increased 3.8 points.

Northwest
Northwest’s system traffic in October 2008 decreased 1.4 points on a capacity decrease of 2.0 percent.   Northwest’s system load factor increased 0.5 points compared to the same period last year.

International traffic increased 5.2 percent year over year on a 6.0 percent increase in capacity, and load factor declined 0.6 points. Domestic traffic decreased 6.1 percent year over year on a 7.4 percent decrease in capacity, and load factor increased 1.1 points. 

“Thanks in part to the capacity reductions taken earlier this year, October unit revenues for both Delta and Northwest were in line with forecast,” said Glen Hauenstein, Delta’s executive vice president -- Network Planning and Revenue Management.  “As expected, we are starting to see some signs of  international demand softness and are proactively adjusting our winter schedules to trim frequencies where warranted  while maintaining our broad global scope.”

Detailed traffic and capacity are attached.

Delta Air Lines is the world’s largest airline.  From its hubs in Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita, Delta, its NWA subsidiary and Delta Connection carriers offer service to more than 376 destinations worldwide in 66 countries and serve more than 170 million passengers each year.  Delta’s marketing alliances allow customers to earn and redeem either SkyMiles or WorldPerks on more than 16,000 daily flights offered by SkyTeam and other partners. Delta and its 75,000 worldwide employees are reshaping the aviation industry as the only U.S. airline to offer a full global network.  Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and flight status at delta.com.

Statements in this news release that are not historical facts, including statements regarding our estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections or strategies for the future, may be “forward-looking statements” as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  All forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the estimates, expectations, beliefs, intentions, projections and strategies reflected in or suggested by the forward-looking statements.  These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the cost of aircraft fuel; the impact that our indebtedness will have on our financial and operating activities and our ability to incur additional debt; the restrictions that financial covenants in our financing agreements will have on our financial and business operations; labor issues; interruptions or disruptions in service at one of our hub airports; our increasing dependence on technology in our operations; our ability to retain management and key employees; the ability of our credit card processors to take significant holdbacks in certain circumstances; the effects of terrorist attacks; competitive conditions in the airline industry; and our ability to achieve expected synergies from our merger with Northwest. 

Additional information concerning risks and uncertainties that could cause differences between actual results and forward-looking statements is contained in Delta’s Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including its Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007 and Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended September 30, 2008. Caution should be taken not to place undue reliance on Delta’s forward-looking statements, which represent Delta’s views only as of November 6, 2008, and which Delta has no current intention to update.
 

Endnote:
a Results include operations under our contract carrier arrangements. 

Endnote:
a Results include operations under our contract carrier arrangements.