A lot of people like to give airlines static for their constant grasping for fees and declining customer experience. But Delta Air Lines (DAL) won some credit back for itself with news that came out alongside an impressive earnings report and future outlook. Delta was up over 10% in Friday afternoon’s trading as a result.
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With a powerful winter storm currently rampaging across the Southern United States, Delta recently found itself forced to abort a takeoff at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, deploying emergency slides to get passengers off the plane. But the delay was not weather-related, a report from CNBC noted. Rather, it was an “engine issue” that shut down the flight.
But this flight was hardly alone, though not necessarily for the same reasons. Around 900 flights to and from Atlanta were shut down in the wake of the winter storm. That represents about 40% of all flights seen at the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, which is not only Delta’s primary hub, but also the world’s busiest airport.
A PR Win For Humanity
But another huge win for Delta came from a recent TikTok video that garnered over 10 million views and went a long way toward humanizing the airline. A report from The Independent detailed how Hannah White found herself on a Delta flight while her mother was in the hospital recovering from pneumonia.
However, that turned around, and Hannah’s mom went into “septic shock.” Hannah, meanwhile, was sitting at the Dallas Fort Worth Airport for an hour while her plane had “mechanical issues” addressed. But Delta staffers stepped in and got Hannah to a different flight, allowing her to see her mom one last time.
Is Delta Stock a Buy or Sell?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on DAL stock based on 17 Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 62.26% rally in its share price over the past year, the average DAL price target of $78.96 per share implies 17.5% upside potential.
