On January 13, 2026, Delta Air Lines hosted its investor earnings call and it seemed to point to more and continued emphasis on premium products.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the key takeaways from Delta’s latest earnings call, highlighting year-over-year trends for 2025 vs. 2024.

For posterity, here is the earnings document they shared.

Delta’s growth is from its investments and not flying passengers

If you listen to the Delta earnings release verbiage, it certainly seems like all is well with Delta. They have a knack for highlighting news in a positive way:

For the full year, Delta delivered record revenue that increased 2.3 percent over 2024, on 3 percent capacity growth. In the December quarter, Delta grew revenue by 1.2 percent year-over-year on 1.3 percent capacity growth and flat adjusted total unit revenue (TRASM). December quarter revenue growth was impacted by about 2 points from the government shutdown, largely in Domestic, consistent with the company’s disclosure in early December.

And, yes, if you look at their graphic, you will indeed see those numbers come through.

However, what they’re not telling you is that operating expenses also went up. In fact, the increase in operating expenses more than offset the increase in operating revenue, leading to a YOY decrease in operating income.

Where does Delta’s financial success come from in 2025? A substantial gain on its investments to the tune of $1.2 billion.

To be clear, we’re not saying the Delta only makes money from its investments and that they don’t make money flying passengers. However, it’s fair to say that if it weren’t for the money it made off investments, growth for Delta in 2025 would be flat over 2024.

A renewed focus on premium products

Delta sure seems to be getting a pretty penny on its premium products, at least based on the graphic they shared below.

Naturally, the increased revenue from “premium products” comes at the expense of main cabin. This dynamic is perhaps consistent with what the overall airline industry trends have been lately. With Spirit Airlines going through yet another bankruptcy, the leftover travel rush from the pandemic era is gone. And with it were the travelers who were looking for the cheapest ride possible.

The latest fad is skewed more towards premium travel, which hasn’t dipped… yet. Delta seems committed to securing this segment, with investments in Delta One lounges and increasing the number of seats in first class. But as companies continue to increase the price for premium travel, it’ll get harder to find people willing to pay for it.

For those in the market to use miles cheaply to travel comfortably, this is specifically what you want to break. You want weakness in premium travel demand, which will open up more opportunities to use miles for those seats.

Delta’s impact from the government shutdown

Delta specifically called out that Q4 domestic growth took a 2% hit due to the lengthy U.S. government shutdown.

December quarter revenue growth was impacted by about 2 points from the government shutdown, largely in Domestic, consistent with the company’s disclosure in early December.

We knew that there would be some impact from the government shutdown, but the magnitude of the impact is important. Many flights are booked months in advance, well before the shutdown started. Those who had flights already booked likely weren’t looking to give up their seat but instead waited it out to see how it would turn out. However, it would likely deter those making last-minute bookings.

The other complication was driven by the government-mandated reduction in flights due to air traffic controller shortages. This forced cancelation of flights may have pushed customers into delaying trips until the future or fully canceling their flights for a refund.

Delta makes $8.2 billion from American Express

Want to know why Delta tries so hard to get you to spend on your credit card? Because they’re making bank on the deal.

Strong co-brand credit card performance reflects growing brand preference: American Express remuneration in 2025 grew 11 percent to $8.2 billion, driven by double-digit growth in co-brand spend in each quarter of the year. Card acquisition momentum continued, with more than 1 million acquisitions for the fourth consecutive year.

With this growth, Delta will continue to place emphasis on earning status and lounge access via credit cards. They’re also going to continue to have high leverage over American Express, which they’ve had since Costco left their portfolio.

This double-digit growth they’re seeing might be the reason they didn’t move the goalposts for earning status in 2026. The last time they tried moving them, there was significant backlash in the community, forcing the company to back off.

Of course, Delta expected revenue from their co-brand deal to be $10 billion as a long-term goal. That means they haven’t yet reached that goal and will continue to squeeze every bit out of this deal as they can.

It should be noted that credit card spend is going to tie closely to annual inflation rates. As things cost more, increased spending will naturally go onto their cards. Per the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual inflation rate as of December 2025 was 2.7%. Normalizing for inflation, that means American Express growth was closer to 8%. Still growth, but not quite as lofty the double-digit growth they claim.

An industry-leading $1.3 billion in profit sharing

Delta employs over 100,000 individuals and one of the more honorable things the company does is share in its profits with employees. By getting employees financially motivated to buy into the company’s goals, it can better achieve them.

With the 2025 financial results in the books, Delta announced a massive $1.3 billion in profit sharing to be paid out in February. Per Delta’s separate announcement, this represents roughly 8.9% of eligible pay and amounts to about a month’s worth of earnings.

Delta earned $5 billion in after-tax net income (total profit) and $6.2 billion in pre-tax income. This already includes the $1.3 billion in profit sharing. If you remove the profit sharing, that gives you $7.5 billion in adjusted pre-tax profit. The $1.3 billion profit sharing amount then represents roughly 17% of the company’s profit. This aligns with Delta’s profit sharing structure:

Delta employees receive 10% of the first $2.5 billion the airline earns and 20% above $2.5 billion.

The longer Delta can continue to offer up large profits to employees, the longer the company can resist efforts to unionize flight attendants.