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Delta, Northwest Stocks Struggle As Airlines Slide Toward Bankruptcy

Posted on: Tuesday, 6 September 2005, 18:00 CDT

Sep. 3--Delta Air Lines stock slid to an even $1 a share Friday as hurricane-heightened fuel prices continued to erode hopes the carrier can avoid a Chapter 11 bankruptcy case.

Delta shares lost 4 cents on the day, or 3.85 percent. They traded as low as 98 cents before recovering a bit.

Northwest Airlines also continued to drop, shedding 34 cents to $3.63. Its shares were down 8.5 percent for the day.

Both Delta and Northwest are the subject of growing speculation about bankruptcy filings after years of losses and turnaround efforts undercut by this year's rise in fuel costs. Since Hurricane Katrina hit the Gulf Coast, spot market jet fuel prices have spiked to about $2.20 a gallon Friday, up from $1.86 one week earlier.

The spike could cost fliers. United Airlines -- already in Chapter 11 proceedings -- raised fares $10 to $30 round-trip to fight fuel costs. Delta matched on some routes.

"Fuel is going up; it's about time somebody made a move," fare guru Terry Trippler, who monitors prices for the online travel Web site CheapSeats.com, told Bloomberg News. "They've got to raise" fares.

Airlines also are watching fuel supplies in light of pipeline damage from Katrina, though capacity is being restored.

Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport still has a week's supply at its tank farm, plus three days' worth off-site, spokeswoman Felicia Browder said.

Even so, Delta acknowledged that on Thursday it sent several Europe-bound flights from Atlanta to its Cincinnati hub, where fuel is "abundant," before heading overseas. Also, Delta has been "tankering," or filling tanks on its Atlanta-bound jets more than necessary, to avoid drawing down Atlanta reserves, spokesman Anthony Black said.

The moves are precautionary, Black said. "We have plenty of fuel in Atlanta right now."

The Atlanta airport could operate for 10 days if it were cut off from the pipelines, but that hasn't been the case and "we do not expect it will be," Browder said.

Katrina knocked out refineries that produce 13 percent of the jet fuel consumed in the United States, as well as some pumping stations in Mississippi and Alabama. The disruption comes on top of near-shortages this summer at some airports. Hartsfield-Jackson, the world's busiest airport, has had an ample supply throughout the summer.

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DAL, NWAC,

Source: The Atlanta Journal and Constitution

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