Freight Forecast

Freight revenue will be $850 million to $875 million this year, said Neel Shah, the vice president in charge of Delta Cargo, who outlined the $1 billion revenue target. Anderson and President Ed Bastian view cargo as a pillar of their efforts to end two straight annual losses, Shah said.

"Whether that profitability comes from cargo or passenger, they're indifferent about that," he said.

Shah said that even as Delta cut capacity by parking the last 10 of Northwest's Boeing 747 freighters, which averaged about 30 years old, the airline was able to more than double its cargo profit margins to "well north of 50 percent" because a bigger network and improving economy helped pump up rates.

A Tokyo hub acquired through the Northwest purchase lets Delta ship auto parts and electronic components by Motorola Inc. and Intel Corp. between Asia and Latin America on routes neither airline had on its own, Shah said.
'Tremendous Amount'
"I don't only have to talk about trans-Atlantic, one lane in the Pacific and Latin America," he said. "We talk the world, and that really gives you a tremendous amount of leverage."

At least you're not dyslexic and add like most of us