Delta Air Passenger Unit Revenue Falls 3.5% in April

Delta Air Lines Inc. (DAL) said that its consolidated passenger unit revenue fell 3.5% in April as stable domestic unit revenue was offset by foreign-exchange pressures and lower surcharges in international markets.

Unit revenue, a key metric, is the amount of revenue taken in for each seat flown a mile.

The Atlanta-based airline said passenger traffic rose 1.8% last month from a year earlier. Capacity increased 3.7%, while the percentage of seats filled--or load factor--declined to 83.2% from 84.7%.

Bowing to pressure from the strong dollar and lower travel demand from oil-dependent economies, the nation's No. 3 airline by traffic said last month it would cut its overseas capacity by 3% this winter--or a 6% reduction from prior plans.

The biggest year-over-year cuts are anticipated on routes to Japan, Brazil, Africa, India and the Middle East, it said, along with the seasonal suspension of service to Moscow. The company said those moves, which will result in flat capacity overall in the fourth quarter, should help return its unit-revenue performance to growth after several quarters of declines.

The strong dollar shaved off about $105 million in Delta sales during the first quarter, which also was hurt by winter storms.

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