Downward trends for Delta, LATAM traffic continue into September 

In the Americas, both Chile-based LATAM Cargo and Atlanta-based Delta Air Lines reported year-over-year declines for the month of September.  

Declines in these carriers’ traffic for the month suggest a continued impact of weak trade stemming from global political economic conditions on these carriers’ cargo business. LATAM’s overall y-o-y cargo volumes continue the downward trend for the carrier that began last month. Meanwhile, Delta Cargo entered its sixth consecutive month of declines that began in April, worsening its year-to-date decline.   

LATAM Cargo’s traffic for September declined by 4.2% year-over-year to 281 million RTKs. Year-to-date, traffic is down 1.1%. Load factors decreased 1.5 percentage points to 53.5% for the month, while available ton kilometers (AFTKs) for September saw a decrease of 1.5% y-o-y. Through the first nine months of 2019, AFTKs have decreased by 2.5%.   

Delta Cargo saw a drop in traffic of 10.5% y-o-y for the month, to about 168 million cargo ton miles (or about 270 million FTKs). Year-to-date, Delta’s cargo traffic is down by 9.0%.