SEATAC, Wash. — The owners of several dogs returning from the prestigious Westminster Dog Show in New York say Delta Airlines lost their show dogs at JFK Airport.

One of those was a standard poodle named Paris. It was the responsibility of the owner’s grandfather, Greg Gorder, to bring Paris home to Seattle on Wednesday.

But as Groder was sitting on Delta’s 4:05 p.m. non-stop flight from JFK to Sea-Tac Airport, he and other show dog owners on the flight didn’t see their dogs being loaded into the cargo hold of their Boeing-737.

“We suddenly realized our dogs aren’t on there, even though the stewardesses were telling us they were,” said Gorder.

One dog owner used his FlyDelta app to determine the crates of some of the dogs were not loaded onto the plane. The app allows passengers to track the location of their tagged luggage. The dog owners complained.

“We just wanted to establish that our dogs where still on there,” Groder said. “They couldn’t do it, wouldn’t do it.”

Show dog owner Sarah Pearce says the plane sat at the gate for an hour while the owners waited for an answer from Delta personnel about their dogs.

“Once they realized they couldn’t find our dog and had no idea where they put him, we had to get off the plane and wait until they could find them,” she said.

The owners were given the choice to either fly on without knowing where their dogs were or take a later flight with their dogs. All the owners with dogs not accounted for got off the plane.

“They didn’t know where the dogs were, period,” said Gorder.

Pearce says the group waited four hours for Delta to deliver the dogs to them in the terminal. But owner Jenny Dawson didn’t see her dog. She was traveling with her service dog inside the cabin and her show dog was suppose to be on board in her crate in the cargo hold. She was surprised to see Delta bring up the empty crate that was for her service dog.

“I had an empty crate and a crate with a dog in it, and they pulled off the crate with no dog,” said Dawson.

Her show dog went on to Seattle on the plane. She had gotten off the plane thinking her show dog was lost with the other dogs.

“I was livid,” she said. “It was like, really, can you not look in there and see there is no dog?”

A Delta Airlines spokesman disputes some of the claims made by the dog owners.

In a statement to KOMO News, Mike Thomas says there was “limited space in the cargo compartment,” which prevented all the dogs from traveling on the same flight.

He also said “the dogs remained in Delta’s constant care while the airline worked to re-accommodate both the customers and their animals.”

Delta has apologized for the inconvenience and given the dogs and their owners a free overnight stay at a hotel near JFK, a refund of their $200 dog fees, VIP service at the airport and seats for the dogs in the cabin for the return flight to Seattle.

“More pets go missing than the airlines like to admit,” said Airline Travel Industry Analyst Steve Danishek.

He suggests passengers traveling with animals should try to fly on the same plane with their animals in the cargo compartment. Danishek says it’s worth paying the extra for a non-stop flight rather than risking issues with your pets on connecting flights.

Crated animals are considered luggage. Try telling that to a show dog owner who’s returning from the most prestigious dog show in the world.

With crude prices declining, many investors are getting interested in airline stocks. Delta Airlines (DAL), in particular, has seen many big name investors like Daniel Loeb (Trades, Portfolio), Julian Robertson (Trades, Portfolio), John Griffin (Trades, Portfolio), Mario Gabelli (Trades, Portfolio), Ken Heebner (Trades, Portfolio) and Whitney Tilson (Trades, Portfolio), buying its shares last quarter. The company’s stock price has gained ~300% since the beginning of 2013, but its relative valuation is still one of the lowest among all SP Industrial companies (see graph below).

Delta’s Relative Valuation versus SP industrials

Source: Investor Presentation

I believe Delta Airline’s stock offers a good buying opportunity at current levels. Here’s my key investment argument for the company.

Delta is one of the best airlines in terms of operational excellence. In 2014, the company had 95 days of no mainline cancellations, a completion factor of 99.8% and an on time rate of 85%, excluding the one time impact of winter storms in 1QFY2014. This excellent operational performance translates into revenue premium as customers are willing to pay for high quality services.

The company’s operational excellence coupled with the falling crude price is leading to improved profitability. Last quarter, Delta reported a $1 billion in pre-tax profit with EPS of $0.77 which beat consensus of $0.75. The company’s margin expanded by over 400 basis points. Delta is judicially using its cash flow from improved profitability. The company has paid down $2.1 bn in debt last year and its net debt level at year end was $7.3 bn. This translates in $200 mn of annual interest savings. The company is now just two notches away from investment grade rating and plans to further bring down debt levels in the next two years. In addition to bringing down its debt levels, the company also repurchased $1.35 bn in stocks and paid out $251 mn in dividends.

Going forward, the company expects a significant increase in pretax profit in 2015 from fuel cost savings and the benefits of initiatives it is taking to increase its topline. The company plans to bring down its debt levels to $6 billion by the end of 2016. it also intends to significantly accelerate its capital returns and plans to spend a minimum of $1.5 bn in dividends and buy backs in 2015.

Delta’s shares are trading at 9.13 time FY2015’s consensus EPS estimates. Its forward annual dividend yield is 0.80%. Out of 18 analyst covering the company 16 are bullish and have buy recommendation, and two have hold ratings. Given the company’s operational excellence, history of returning cash to shareholders, fuel cost tailwinds and attractive valuation, I recommend buying the stock.

Jackson, MS (Mississippi News Now/YouTube) –

Don’t blink, an “Uptown Funk” flash mob could breakout near you. 

That’s exactly what happened in this video.

More than likely you’ve heard the smash hit by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars, and its epic call-out to “JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI.”

A flash mob video was posted on YouTube of Delta Airlines gate agents dancing at what certainly looks like Medgar Wiley Evers Jackson International Airport.

About 200 people have watched the video on YouTube, so far.

The dancing seemingly spanned the entire length of the airports concourse.

Dozens of passengers caught the four minute show on cell phones…. Let us know if you witnessed it in person!

Copyright 2015 MSNewsNow. All rights reserved.

Of the $1.1 billion, roughly $450 million will go to employees based in the airline’s Atlanta, Georgia headquarters, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported. 

In addition, Delta employees also earned $84 million in performance bonuses called “Shared Rewards” for helping the company meet corporate goals. 

Over the past five years, Delta has paid out roughly $2.9 billion in profit sharing and Shared Rewards. 

Cost conscious Delta has been one of the most profitable airlines in the business. In 2013, the world’s second largest airline made more than $10 billion in net profit Air Transport World reported. However, that figure dropped to just $659 million in 2014 due to losses caused by the company’s fuel hedging strategy.  

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• Delta Airlines

A major American airline CEO embroiled in a heated dispute against three Gulf airlines has blamed 9/11 terrorists “from the Arabian Peninsula” for his company’s bankruptcy bailout in 2005.

Delta Airlines’ Richard Anderson is one of three US carriers that claim they have evidence Dubai’s UAE-based Emirates Airline and Etihad Airways and Qatar Airways have received a total of more than $40 billion in government subsidies that breach the Gulf states’ open skies agreements with the US.

Denying the cash hand outs, Emirates CEO Tim Clark said Delta and United Airlines’ had benefited from US bankruptcy laws that allowed them to forgo debt and cut operating costs to continue flying in what amounted to “arguably the biggest subsidy of all”.

Speaking on CNN on Monday, Anderson inferred the Gulf states were responsible for those bankruptcies.

“It’s a great irony to have the UAE from the Arabian Peninsula talk about that given the fact that our industry was really shocked by the terrorism of 9/11, which came from terrorists from the Arabian Peninsula, which caused us to go through a massive restructuring,” he said.

Numerous airlines globally were forced to undertake unprecedented restructuring programs in the mid-2000s, including retrenching thousands of staff and cutting services when flight bookings plummeted following the New York City attacks in 2001.

Two of the 19 9/11 hijackers were from the UAE, while 15 were from Saudi Arabia and the others were from Egypt and Lebanon.

Anderson said although the restructured airlines had been allowed to forgo billions of dollars in debt, it was “categorically false” that they had received bailouts.

“And in the US our restructuring process is transparent and there is no government subsidy, and in fact there were billions of dollars of equity and unsecured debt that were wiped out through that process,” he said.

Anderson claimed Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways were “not airlines, they are governments”.

Delta, United and American Airlines have collaborated to call on the US government to review the open skies agreement with the Gulf airlines.

“[We want] our government to go in and request negotiations and negotiate a way to level the playing field to set off against $40 billion in subsides, most of which is just direct subsidies,” Anderson said.

“We have spent two years analysing their financials and we have found evidence of their actual financial statements from other places in the world that provide documented evidence that can’t be refuted of tens of billions of dollars of direct government subsidies.

“The Middle East carriers, the UAE and Qatar cannot deny huge government subsidies. They’re a violation of the WTO [World Trade Organization] definition of subsidy and they’re a violation of US open skies agreements.

“So let’s not be detracted by the huffing arguments that the UAE make.”

In a rare public rebuke of criticism of Emirates, Clark said in a statement last week that the complaining airlines’ call for political protection “makes absolutely no sense” and made a mockery of the country’s liberalist stance.

“As far as the airline industry is concerned, aero-political protection for airlines is arguably the biggest subsidy of all,” Clark said in a statement sent to Arabian Business.

“Therefore, it would be ironic, and a shame, if the US, who have been the forerunners of liberalisation and deregulation, would now contemplate a U-turn on its successful international aviation policies for the benefit of a narrow few, based on sweeping and unfounded subsidy allegations.”

The Gulf carriers have rapidly expanded globally but service a maximum of nine US cities and Clark said there was “virtually no” overlap with flights offered by the complaining US airlines.

Those services also allowed passengers one-stop connectivity to 60 other cities in the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific – destinations he said were not currently served by American carriers, except perhaps via their alliance partners “where routings are often relatively convoluted or inconvenient”, Clark said.

Meanwhile the Gulf carriers provided billions of dollars annually to the US economy by providing consumer and business connections.

Delta Airlines has reported a significant increase in its earnings for the year ended 2014.

Its results just released showed that the company recorded a pre-tax income of $4.5bn, excluding special items, representing a $1.9bn increase over the previous year.

The company’s net income for the year was $2.8bn with an operating margin of 13.1 per cent, excluding special items.

The company’s strong cash generation allowed it to accelerate its capital deployment plans by reducing its adjusted net debt to $7.3bn, and returning $1.35bn to shareholders through a combination of $251m of dividends and $1.1bn of share repurchases in 2014.

The Chief Executive Officer, Delta Airlines, Mr. Richard Anderson, said, “Our 2014 performance – an industry-leading operation, superior customer service, and a 70 per cent increase in profits – shows that Delta is focused on delivering growing value for its employees, customers and investors.

“As we begin 2015, we have a significant opportunity from lower fuel prices, which will drive more than $2bn in fuel savings over 2014. Through our capacity discipline, pricing our product to demand, and the fuel savings, we expect to drive double-digit earnings growth, along with increased free cash flow and a higher return on invested capital in the upcoming year.”

Meanwhile, the company has unveiled the newest expansion to Terminal 4 at the New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

The company said in the statement that the $175m project addeds 11 new gates and 75,000 square feet to the Terminal 4’s Concourse B and continued Delta’s $1.2bn investment to enhance and expand the terminal.

It said, “Delta is significantly improving the customer experience at Terminal 4 and Terminal 2 by streamlining travel for those with connecting flights at the JFK and enhancing access to amenities at both terminals.

“With the 11-gate expansion, Delta is relocating a majority of its Delta Connection flights from Terminal 2 to the expanded Concourse B in Terminal 4.”

It added that the new gates at Terminal 4 would feature enclosed jetways and it was expected to offer customers a proximity to a flagship Delta Sky Club and an access to chef-inspired restaurants.

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On the back of falling oil prices and a healthy industry growth, the airline behemoth Delta Air Lines (DAL), is definitely soaring high and conveniently exceeding the Street expectations. One of the largest passenger and cargo airlines in the U.S., Delta serves 165 million customers each year to 225 domestic and 97 international destinations.

Exhaustive view of the results

The revenue for the reported quarter marked a steady increase of 6% Y-o-Y to $9.65 billion. Airline traffic, measured in revenue passenger miles, went up 4% Y-o-Y to $48 billion. Capacity or available seat miles increased 4% to $58 billion whereas the load factor (percentage of seats filled with passengers) improved 20 basis points to 82.8%. Passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) or unit revenue also rose 1%, led by a 1% increase in yield. Consequentially the company recorded an EPS of $0.78, i.e. an increment of 20% from $0.65 in Q4 2013. For full-year 2014 Delta posted earnings of $3.31 per share and revenues of $40.36 billion, a 7% surge from F.Y. 2013.

It is significant to note that though the given quarter’s top-line has increased relatively as compared to the same period in 2013, the company’s revenues have fallen a great deal on comparison to the immediately preceding quarter. The decline of almost 16% can be attributed to a loss of $712 million or 86 cents per diluted share, due to the fuel hedge settlements. To add to that, Delta saw a weak performance in the international markets. Besides reduced service to Venezuela, its international revenue saw a negative impact resulting from the strengthening dollar against the euro and the yen.

In terms of expenditures, Delta’s total operating expenses including special items, escalated by 25% to $10.4 billion. Due to the aforesaid, the net income took a hurt. The net income showed a negative growth and ebbed from $8.48 billion to a loss of $0.712 billion in the quarter. For full year 2014, Delta reflected a pretax net income of $1.07 billion- a straight decline from last year’s $2.53 billion due to increased SGA expenses.

Robust numbers

Delta has consistently exceeded analyst estimates since past two years. Yet again, Delta’s Q4 2014 earnings exceeded consensus analyst earnings estimates. Wall Street had estimated an earnings of 77 cents a share on sales of $9.5 billion, whereas Delta soared ahead of this forecast conveniently. Additionally, on the date of the announcement of the result, Delta’s share price rose by 7.3%. Also the airline index rose by 3% as share prices of all major U.S. airlines increased. During the quarter, the company returned $575 million to its shareholders. The carrier paid $75 million in cash dividends and bought back 12.2 million shares for $500 million.

Debt reduction

Delta reduced its adjusted net debt by $2.1 billion during the year to $7.3 billion, which resulted in interest savings of $200 million in 2014. Delta plans to reduce its debt further to $6 billion in 2015 and $5 billion in 2016. This debt reduction should decrease Delta’s interest expense from $1.3 billion in 2009 to $475 million in 2015- a savings of close to $1 billion. Delta Air Lines’s leverage is lower than competitors American Airlines (AAL), United Continental Holdings (UAL), and JetBlue Airways Corporation (JBLU).

Wide domestic presence

In the domestic arena, Delta Air Lines competes with not only the legacy carriers but also with low cost carriers such as Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV) and JetBlue Airways Corp. These smaller domestic carriers operate under a direct flight model and typically offer cheaper fares than their larger peers.

Southwest Airlines has been the dominant player in the industry in terms of number of passengers carried on domestic flights. Delta Air Lines, however leads the industry in terms of domestic Passenger Revenue Per Available Seat Miles (PRASM) with 70% of its sales being generated from North America alone. Furthermore, Delta Air Lines plans to add capacity in its strong domestic markets, including New York, Seattle and Los Angeles. The company also plans to adjust gauge and frequency to better match demand.

Astute cost management

Delta’s profit will witness a rise in 2015 as gains from its sales growth will be enhanced by lower fuel costs, which constitute nearly a third of its total operating costs. Delta anticipates that it will spend about $2.40-2.50 per gallon on jet fuel in 2015, compared to around $3.08 per gallon that it spent in the nine months ended September 30, 2014. This significant decline in fuel prices driven by the fall in global crude oil prices will expand Delta’s operating margin and profit in 2015.

Delta’s non-fuel costs are also expected to grow modestly in 2015, remaining below 2%, on a year-over-year basis. Delta has been able to limit growth in its non-fuel costs by initiating several cost-cutting measures such as domestic re-fleeting and employee productivity enhancement. This has improved the carrier’s operating cost per aircraft seat, and as such re-fleeting remains underway, growth in Delta’s non-fuel costs will remain suppressed in 2015, boosting its margins and profit.

Final words

Delta Airlines has elevated its market capitalization by $30 million in the past two years and is now standing at $38.07 billion. On a lateral comparison with industry competitors such as American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc, Delta seems to have the highest P/E ratio of 59.15 times, which substantiates investors’ willingness to invest in the company and is also indicative of the company’s strong fundamentals.

Solid demand for air travel in the domestic market and in certain international markets including Latin America and the trans-Pacific market to Asia will enable Delta to grow its top line in 2015. The strong demand environment will allow Delta to expand capacity and raise fares, resulting in top line growth. The carrier has said that it will expand capacity by about 2% next year – by 3% in the domestic market and by less than 1% in the international market. (For the entire transcript click here.)

From an investment viewpoint, the future of Delta Air Lines seems to be very bright with a price target of $64.84. The carrier could outperform itself and is very likely to meet the future expectations. Hence a strong buy option is recommended for investors to earn great returns backed by the company’s primary outlook on continuously striving at creating shareholder value through dividends and buy backs.

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WILMINGTON, NC (WECT) –
Officials with Wilmington International Airport (ILM) announced Monday that American and Delta airlines will offer additional non-stop flights beginning this spring.

American Airlines will begin offering a non-stop flight to New York (LGA) on Feb. 12. Delta Airlines plans to offer an additional non-stop flight to Atlanta (ATL) beginning May 1 and will re-instate a non-stop flight to LGA on June 5.

The re-instatement of Delta’s non-stop flight to LGA will increase service to New York to three daily non-stop flights which will add the early morning departure time back to ILM’s schedule. After June 5, the LGA departures will be 6 a.m. (Delta), 10:55 a.m. (American), and 5:35 p.m. (American).

The additional Delta flight to ATL will increase service to Atlanta to six daily non-stop flights.

“We know that convenience is very important to our passengers,”  said Gary Broughton, ILM’s Operations Director. “And we are very pleased to announce this increase in service. ILM’s current non-stop flights to LaGuardia and Atlanta average 80% load factors and we anticipate that the additional flights will provide a much needed increase in available seats and departure options, particularly for our business travelers.”

These new flights are available for booking via their respective carrier’s website.

Copyright 2015 WECT. All rights reserved.

Chris Brown

Chris Brown arrives at the 2015 Clive Davis Pre-Grammy Gala at the Beverly Hilton Hotel on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015, in Beverly Hills, Calif.

To read about Bob Dylan‘s bold speech at the pre-Grammys MusicCares gala, click here.