Delta CEO Ed Bastian said Wednesday that the company's recent mixed earnings report came about because the airline industry "stretched itself" to capture as much demand as possible coming out of the pandemic, creating a "fair bit of operational stress."
"We pushed too hard," the head of Delta Air Lines ( NYSE: DAL ) told CNBC. "We've scaled back a bit, we've got our restraints in place. And in July, we're running a great operation."
Bastian explained that coming out of the pandemic, airlines were "starved for revenue for the last two years," leading them to aggressively ramp up operations once COVID restrictions began to lift. This led to complications, including well-publicized flight cancellations across the industry.
Bastian's comments followed the release of a mixed earnings report . Delta ( DAL ) beat projections on revenue, with a top-line figure that rose 94% from last year. However, the firm's bottom line came up short of expectations, amid a surge in fuel costs and operational snarls.
Looking ahead, the Delta chief said that corporate travel is now about "80% back" compared to the pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019. However, he expects that to pick up after the summer.
Bastian noted that international travel still lags behind domestic, sitting at about 60% of levels seen in 2019. Europe is the region closest to returning to pre-pandemic conditions, while Asia is "pretty far behind," according to the Delta head.
Turning to ticket prices, Bastian does not see a moderation coming in the near term, due to high fuel costs and "really high" demand.
The major airlines have had a choppy performance so far in 2022. Buoyed on strong post-pandemic demand, the industry has also battled significant headwinds, including high fuel prices and labor shortages.
All told, DAL has fallen about 23% in 2022, with much of that taking place in the past six weeks or so. Competitor American ( AAL ) has seen a similar performance, dropping about 21% for the year so far.
United ( UAL ) and Southwest ( LUV ) have held up better than many of their peers, although they have shown year-to-date declines of 16% and 12%, respectively. Meanwhile, JetBlue ( JBLU ) has dropped 44% since the end of 2021.
For more on DAL's prospects in a complicated economic environment, read a deep dive by Seeking Alpha contributor Juxtaposed Ideas, who sees a mixed outlook featuring "recovery tailwinds with recession turbulence ahead."
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Delta CEO: Airline industry 'pushed too hard' after the pandemic