Delta reports $55M profit for February

Delta Air Lines Inc., the largest U.S. carrier in bankruptcy, said it earned $55 million in February as its non-fuel costs declined.

Last month's net income compared with a loss of $209 million a year earlier, the Atlanta-based carrier said Thursday in a statement. Excluding unspecified one-time items related to its bankruptcy, Delta said it had a February loss of $43 million.

"February's results demonstrate the significant momentum we have created with our restructuring," chief financial officer Ed Bastian said in the statement.

Delta, which operates a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, plans to exit bankruptcy April 30 and list new shares on the New York Stock Exchange in early May. It cut annual costs $2 billion, shifted much of its flying to international routes and shrank its aircraft fleet.

Delta's cost to fly each seat a mile in February was 7.61 cents, a 7.6 percent improvement compared with a year earlier, while passenger unit revenue rose 1.4 percent, Delta said. The airline is required to file monthly financial reports with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York.

Delta ended February with $2.7 billion of unrestricted cash. Bastian said at an investor conference March 27 that the airline would create $5 billion in free cash flow over the next three years to help improve liquidity.

Separately, Delta said Thursday it entered an agreement with Gibraltar-based WheelTug Plc, a subsidiary of Chorus Motors Plc, to jointly develop technology allowing planes to move from gate to runway without using their engines. Delta acquired 600,000 warrants for shares of WheelTug at an average price of $36 a share.

The system could be installed on some of Delta's Boeing Co. 737 jets by the end of 2009, Delta said. It would install motors on the front landing gear to allow the aircraft to push back and taxi. Delta would save on fuel expense by not using jet engines to push planes.