Market Analysis Report for Delta Air Lines Inc.

1. Page 1
A Market Analysis for
Delta Air Lines Inc.
Rachel Bril
Full Sail University
Project & Portfolio II: Business and Marketing
26th
August, 2021

2. Page 2
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
This analysis report looks at the current market status and future outlook for Delta
Airlines, Inc. and provides an evaluation of the current financial state. The report has an
overview of the company, as well as some information about top competitors in relation to
market share. The end of the report includes recommendations on how Delta could expand
market growth and bring in more revenue after it’s huge 2020 profit loss.

3. Page 3
OBJECTIVE
The objective of this report is to identify potential opportunities in the Business Travel
Asian airline market.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The information used in this report is both internal and external as sources from the
company were used as well as secondary research on the internet. There is a mixture of both
qualitative and quantitative research. This research was gathered during the month of August and
all of the sources are as current as 2018. The COVID-19 Pandemic was taken into account when
reflecting on figures from 2020.
RESEARCH AND KEY FINDINGS
Delta Air Lines is one of the world’s
largest airlines. They have a network of over
300 destinations in more than 50 countries,
(Yahoo!, 2021). Delta currently has four
subsidiaries. The company’s headquarters is
based in Atlanta, GA with Ed Bastian as the current CEO. It was founded in 1928 to provide
CEO Ed Bastian

4. Page 4
scheduled air transportation for passengers and cargo. Delta’s industry segments are Airline and
Refinery. The refinery segment goes hand and hand with the airline services. “It provides jet fuel
to the airline segment from its own production and through jet fuel obtained through agreements
with third parties,” (Thomson Reuters).
Delta is one of the leading brands in the aviation industry. Their top competitors are
American Airlines, United, and Southwest Airlines. However, Spirit and Frontier have recently
become fierce competition with their low-cost airfares. The ideal target market for Delta is
frequent business travelers of the middle/upper middle class. Comparing the reported Total
Revenue to its competitors in 2021 Delta’s revenue increased by 385.42% year on year. Their
sales growth was recorded with a revenue growth of 309.49% which is above their competitors
(“Delta air Lines Inc’s Competitiveness”).
In 2019, the US Airline Industry
was $152B. Trends have shown an
averaged 3% revenue growth per year.
According to the US Bureau of
Transportation Statistics (BTS) from
February 2019 to January 2020 Delta
market share was 17.5% coming in second
place to American Airlines at 17.6% (“US airline market share”). The industry’s revenue
declined in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic which posed a major threat because of travel
regulations and restrictions. The annual revenue report from March 2021 reported Delta’s
revenue has decreased by 71.96% which is a tremendous loss to the company.
One of Delta’s weaknesses is their dependance on the North American Market. North
America is the companies main target however more opportunities are opening to expand into

5. Page 5
different foreign markets. This could be necessary to generate more revenue in the company
especially after the huge hit that was taken due to the COVID-19 Pandemic.
CONCLUSIONS
Delta Airlines Inc. is a leading competitor in the Aviation Industry. Due to the COVID-
19 Pandemic they took a huge financial plunder, but the company already has made cuts and
have reported a rise in revenue since March of 2021. As low-cost airlines such as Spirit, WestJet,
and Frontier become more popular Delta faces the threat of losing passengers due to their higher
ticket pricing. The company needs to investigate new ways to generate revue and expand their
market share.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on the research and conclusions, Delta Airlines, Inc. needs to find other markets to
generate more revenue as well as make it more marketable to compete with its low-cost
competitors. Delta should focus on growing in the Asian Business Travel market. According to
Phocus Wire, “corporate travel spending in Asia Pacific is expected to soar over $900 billion by
2025” (Travelstop, 2019).
By January of 2022, Delta should launch a TikTok account that shares business travel
tips and tricks. This could increase their brand awareness towards Generation Z, who is primarily
flocking towards the low-cost carriers. They can also use the account to highlight their advanced
technology like their in-flight entertainment, or their high-speed internet which helps add to the
high value image.
In addition to TikTok, Delta should take advantage of its other media platforms to
advertise their advanced technology and gain more passengers. People are willing to pay more

6. Page 6
when they know they are getting more out of their experience. Putting out a campaign about their
high-speed internet will attract more business travelers, which is the company’s target market.
Delta should aim to launch their own low-cost subsidiary in Asia for business travel by
2026. In doing so they would add another stream of revenue and expand their market growth
internationally. Asia is expected to account for approximately 40% of future airliner production.
Their foreign partnerships have resulted in over $2 billion in impairments and equity losses
during the 2020 quarter. These numbers show that it would be in Delta’s best interests to launch
their own subsidiary rather than trying to form a merger.
In addition, a plan to expand into this area would be a separate study, as it would entail
the review of what geographic segments to penetrate first for best return on investment. Issues
like accessing space in worldwide terminals, logistics to supply planes with fuel and flight
supplies, additional local advertising and cultural acceptance will be important factors to
consider in any major expansion plans. These are the strategic recommendations. Another
analysis report should be produced in 2026 to dissect the revenue and losses accumulated
through the Asian subsidiary.

7. Page 7
REFERENCES
Aviation Business News. (2019, December 20). Asia-Pacific region fastest-growing in world for
AIRLINE ACTIVITY. Aviation Business News.
https://www.aviationbusinessnews.com/low-cost/asia-pacific-region-airline-activity-
aviation/.
Delta air Lines Inc 's Competitiveness . CSIMarket. (n.d.).
https://csimarket.com/stocks/compet_glance.php?code=DAL.
Thomson Reuters. (n.d.). DAL.N - Delta Air Lines, Inc. Profile. Reuters.
https://www.reuters.com/companies/DAL.N.
Travel planning center. Delta Air Lines. (n.d.). https://www.delta.com/us/en/about-
delta/overview.
Travelstop. (2019, November 26). Business travel in Asia is only going to get bigger and better.
PhocusWire. https://www.phocuswire.com/Business-travel-Asia-bigger-better.
US airline market share. T4. (n.d.). https://www.t4.ai/industry/us-airline-market-share.
Yahoo! (2021, August 28). Delta air Lines, Inc. (DAL) stock research & reports. Yahoo!
Finance. https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/DAL/reports/.

8. Page 8
IMAGES
Delta Air Lines Logo. (2015). BCG.com. https://www.blackcelebritygiving.com/delta-air-lines-
giving-back-good-people/.
Delta CEO Ed Bastian. (2016). Can new Delta CEO Ed Bastian continue the airline’s success?
https://www.atlantamagazine.com/news-culture-articles/can-new-delta-ceo-ed-bastian-
continue-the-airlines-success/.
US airline market share. T4. (n.d.). https://www.t4.ai/industry/us-airline-market-share.