Delta Air Lines and Southwest Airlines reported fourth quarter gains but annual losses for cargo revenue in 2007. US Airways saw freight drops for both.

At Southwest, quarterly freight revenue increased approximately 9.4 percent to $35 million while annual revenue dropped approximately 3 percent to $130 million. Delta reported a quarterly increase in cargo revenue of 5 percent to $132 million, but the airline saw a 3 percent annual drop in cargo to about $482 million.

Southwest said it was able to offset some of the rising fuel costs with financial hedges. Also it often takes months for cargo fuel surcharges initiated early in the year to have an effect on a carrier's balance sheet.

US Airways reported $36 million in cargo revenue for the quarter, a 7.3 percent drop. For the year, cargo revenue dropped 9.4 percent to $138 million.

Overall, Southwest nearly doubled its quarterly profit to $111 million. Revenue rose about 9 percent to $2.49 billion.

Delta reported an overall quarterly loss of $70 million, compared to about $1.98 billion for the same period last year. Excluding the reorganization items of the 2007 bankruptcy, Delta said it lost $105 million for the quarter. It reported a 10 percent quarterly increase in revenue to $4.68 billion.

US Airways posted a quarterly loss of $79 million, compared to a profit of $12 million for the same period last year. Revenue dropped about 0.4 percent to $2.78 billion.

Michael Fabey
Traffic World