Delta Air Lines Inc.’s chief executive isn’t going to let a garden-variety recession get in the way of a sustained rebound in travel.
“We know how to handle recessions,” Ed Bastian said during an investor day the carrier staged Tuesday in Atlanta. “We feel very comfortable saying this surge you’re seeing has got multi years to go, certainly to carry through any kind of near-normal recession climate that will continue.”
Never shy about his airline’s ability to stay aloft despite economic headwinds, the CEO told investors that there’s still plenty of pent-up demand after “the worst recession of our lifetime” when travel flatlined during the coronavirus pandemic.
Read more: Delta Sees 2023 Profit at High End of Range on Steady Demand
Delta has acknowledged corporate travel is one sector that hasn’t fully recovered, with volume stuck around 25% below pre-pandemic levels. But air travel revenue as a percentage of gross domestic product should return to its historic average of 1.3% this year after falling as low as 0.7% in 2020, Bastian said.
Shares of Delta rose 6.8% to close at $46.09 in New York — the highest level since June 11, 2021. The stock is up 40% so far this year.
(Updates with closing shares in last paragraph.)
