Delta Board of Directors Names William H. Easter III as Newest Member

Dec 3, 2012

ATLANTA, Dec. 3, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Delta Air Lines' (NYSE: DAL) board of directors today announced William H. Easter III as its newest member, effective immediately.

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"We are delighted to have Bill Easter join the board of directors," said Daniel A. Carp, Delta's non-executive chairman of the board.  "Bill brings deep and broad-based experience in the oil and natural gas industry, including refining and transportation.  He will enhance the strategic depth and range of Delta's already strong and independent board of directors."

Easter was chairman, president and CEO of DCP Midstream LLC from 2004 until 2008, following a 32-year career in natural gas, crude oil and refined product supply, transportation, refining and marketing for Conoco and ConocoPhillips. Easter serves as a member of the board of directors of Concho Resources, Inc., and the Memorial Hermann Hospital System in Houston, Texas. He is also a past member of the board of directors of Sunoco, Inc.

Easter received his Bachelor of Business Administration degree in Finance from the University of Houston and his Master of Science in Management from the Sloan Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Delta Air Lines serves more than 160 million customers each year. During the past year, Delta was named domestic "Airline of the Year" by the readers of Travel Weekly magazine, was named the "Top Tech-Friendly U.S. Airline" by PCWorld magazine for its innovation in technology, won the Business Travel News Annual Airline Survey and was the recipient of 12 Executive Travel Magazine Leading Edge Awards for U.S. airlines. With an industry-leading global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to nearly 313 destinations in 58 countries on six continents. Headquartered in Atlanta, Delta employs 80,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of more than 700 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France-KLM and Alitalia. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 13,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-LaGuardia, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, a world-class airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Delta is investing more than $3 billion through 2013 in airport facilities and global products, services and technology to enhance the customer experience in the air and on the ground. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines

For press inquiries: Delta Corporate Communications, +1-404-715-2554, news archive at news.delta.com

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Delta Air Lines Board of Directors Names Edward H. Bastian as Newest Member

Feb 9, 2010

ATLANTA, Feb. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Delta Air Lines' (NYSE: DAL) board of directors named Edward H. Bastian, currently president of Delta, as its newest member.  

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"We are pleased to welcome Ed to the Delta board," said Daniel A. Carp, chairman of the board for Delta Air Lines.  "Ed's track record speaks for itself. He is a valuable member of the Delta leadership team, and we look forward to benefiting from his insight, superior management skills and broad range of expertise."

In addition to his role as president, Bastian served as chief executive officer of the Northwest Airlines entity until the airlines merged at the end of last year.  Prior to that, he served as the chief financial officer for Delta, a role in which he led the airline through one of the largest and most successful Chapter 11 restructuring cases in U.S. history.

A 1979 graduate of St. Bonaventure University with a bachelor's degree in business administration, Bastian serves on the board of directors of Habitat for Humanity International and Woodruff Arts Center in Atlanta.  

Daniel A. Carp will remain chairman of the 13 member board, continuing Delta's current governance practice of having a non-Delta executive as chairman of the board of directors.  Richard H. Anderson will continue to serve as chief executive officer and as a member of the board of directors.

Delta Air Lines, the world's No. 1 airline, serves more than 160 million passengers each year. With its unsurpassed global network, Delta and the Delta Connection carriers offer service to 367 destinations in 66 countries on six continents. Delta employs more than 70,000 employees worldwide and operates a mainline fleet of nearly 800 aircraft. A founding member of the SkyTeam global alliance, Delta participates in the industry's leading trans-Atlantic joint venture with Air France KLM. Including its worldwide alliance partners, Delta offers customers more than 16,000 daily flights, with hubs in Amsterdam, Atlanta, Cincinnati, Detroit, Memphis, Minneapolis-St. Paul, New York-JFK, Paris-Charles de Gaulle, Salt Lake City and Tokyo-Narita. The airline's service includes the SkyMiles frequent flier program, the world's largest airline loyalty program; the award-winning BusinessElite service; and more than 50 Delta Sky Clubs in airports worldwide. Customers can check in for flights, print boarding passes, check bags and review flight status at delta.com.

SOURCE Delta Air Lines

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Still Time To Get On Board Spirit Airlines After Hitting Two-Year High

The airlines are flying high and so are their stocks. Spirit Airlines (SAVE) recently posted record third quarter results as revenue jumped double digits over a year ago. This Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy) is expected to see double digit earnings growth in both 2013 and 2014.

Spirit Airlines operates a low-cost airlines based on ultra-low base fares which allows customers to buy the extras they value. The company has a $9 Fare Club program that costs $59.95 per year but gives customers access to special low fares and deals on baggage fees.

Spirit operates about 250 flights to 50 destinations in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America. It is one of the few airlines offering service from the United States to the expanding markets of Panama and Colombia.

On Oct 30, Spirit reported its third quarter results and blew by the Zacks Consensus by $0.10. Earnings were $0.79 compared to the Zacks Consensus of $0.69. It was the fourth earnings beat in a row.

Revenue jumped 33.4% to $456.6 million. Total revenue per available seat mile (“RASM”) was 12.55 cents, up 8.9% compared to the year ago quarter. The gain was due to higher load factors and higher average passenger yields. Adjusted pre-tax margin rose to 20.3%, the highest quarterly adjusted pre-tax margin in the company’s history. Spirit is expected to have strong double digit earnings growth of 57% in 2013 and another 20.2% in 2014.

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In the third quarter, Spirit added one new A320 aircraft, bringing its total fleet to 51 aircraft. It recently started several new routes, including Dallas/Fort Worth to Phoenix Sky Harbor, Phoenix Sky Harbor to Chicago and Minneapolis/St. Paul to Tampa.

After another solid earnings beat, shares jumped to new highs.

Even though shares are hitting new highs, the stock isn’t super expensive. It trades with a forward P/E of 18.9 but given its strong earnings growth it has a PEG ratio of just 0.7. A PEG under 1.0 usually indicates that a company is undervalued.

For investors looking for a way to play the low-cost airlines, Spirit is one to keep on the short list.

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Tracey Ryniec is the value stock strategist for Zacks.com. She is also the editor of the Turnaround Trader and Value Investor services. You can follow her on twitter at @TraceyRyniec.

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