Delta Expects Loss of $500 Million

Delta Air Lines Inc., the third-largest U.S. carrier, expects a fourth-quarter loss of about $500million before items that include costs of as much as $700million related to the Sept. 11 attacks.

Delta included the outlook in a letter to shareholders without specifying a per-share forecast. The loss would equal about $4.06 a share based on more than 123.2 million shares outstanding at the end of October, exceeding the average forecast loss of $3.64 in a Thomson Financial/First Call analyst poll.

Delta kept more people on its payroll longer than rivals as it tried to persuade senior, higher-paid workers to retire early, said Jon Ash, managing director of Global Aviation Associates. That will be costly now and benefit Delta later, he said.

Delta rose $1.11 to $28.97 on the NYSE.

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Bloomberg News