Skift Take
Delta, which has become one of the largest e-commerce retailers, said it expects to see strong travel demand become a lasting trend for the industry.
The spotlight is on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines. But Delta Air Lines had some interesting things to say last week as well.
Chief executive Ed Bastian and president Glen Hauenstein delivered a presentation to investors at an event in New York City hosted by Morgan Stanley. Unusual for an airline, it was an event focused not on transportation companies or even industrial companies but rather consumer retailers — Delta presented alongside the likes of Walmart, Starbucks and Krispy Kreme Donuts.
Delta boasted that it’s now the country’s fifth largest e-commerce retailer behind only Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Apple. Half of the airline’s sales, it added, are now sold directly to consumers rather than via third parties like Sabre or Expedia.
What’s more, Delta customers holding a SkyMiles-branded credit card, issued in tandem with American Express, use those cards to spend something close to $280 billion annually, which is roughly 1% of total U.S. GDP. Wow.
Delta's Business OutlookAlright, so Delta made its point about why it belongs at a confer