Delta says June per-seat revenue rose 1 percent

ATLANTA (AP) -- Delta Air Lines Inc. said a key revenue measure rose 1 percent in June, held back by pressure from the weaker Japanese yen.

Delta has a hub in Tokyo and sells some of its tickets in yen, so when the value of the yen drops, so does the value of that ticket revenue.

Revenue per available seat mile rose for flights across the Atlantic, and to Latin America, according to the monthly report on Tuesday.

Traffic in June rose 0.7 percent, including a 6.1 percent increase to Latin America and a 4.8 percent increase in traffic across the Atlantic. Traffic across the Pacific fell 2.7 percent. Domestic traffic fell 0.8 percent as Delta continue to cut the amount of flying done under contract by regional airlines.

Flying capacity rose 1.4 percent, with gains in Atlantic and Latin America flying offsetting a decline in Pacific flying. Domestic capacity was up 0.7 percent.

Because Delta added more seats than passengers, its planes weren't quite as full. Load factor fell 0.6 percentage points to 87.5 percent.

Delta completed 99.6 percent of its flights in June.

Through the first half of the year, Delta traffic is flat, while it has cut flying capacity by 0.8 percent. Occupancy has risen 0.6 percentage points to 83.1 percent.

Delta shares fell 34 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $19.02 in morning trading Tuesday. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $8.42 to $19.73.