If you follow airlines even a little, mid-July is a fun stretch. This is when the big US carriers open their books for the April through June quarter, and it tells you a lot about how your summer flying is really going behind the scenes. Delta already went first. The rest line up over the next two weeks. So let's walk through who reports when, what Delta showed us, and the three things we'll be watching this season.
Delta reported on July 10, 2026, the first major US airline out of the gate for the quarter. The headline figures were solid. GAAP total operating revenue came in at $19.8 billion. On an adjusted basis, revenue was $17.7 billion, up 14 percent, or about $2.2 billion, versus the June 2025 quarter. GAAP diluted earnings per share was $2.44, and adjusted EPS of $1.56 topped Delta's original guidance. Operating margin was 9.4 percent.
Here is the part that matters most to us. Delta pulled that off while absorbing the highest quarterly fuel expense in its history. It still affirmed full-year 2026 guidance of adjusted EPS of $6.50 to $7.50 and free cash flow of $3 to $4 billion, and it guided the September quarter to mid-teens revenue growth with a double-digit operating margin. In a year where fuel has been the villain, beating guidance anyway is a genuinely good sign.
Delta is just the opener. As of July 13, the other big four had set their dates but had not yet posted actual numbers. Here is the run of show, all times in the US:
So the busy day is July 23, when Southwest and American both go. Grab a coffee.
1. Fuel, fuel, fuel. This is the whole story in 2026. A war involving the US, Israel, and Iran that began in late February, plus the closure of the Strait of Hormuz in early March, sent crude and jet fuel soaring earlier in the year. By July, crude had settled back to less than $75 a barrel, roughly where it stood before the conflict, but refined jet fuel stayed elevated. When Delta gave Q2 guidance back in April it assumed fuel of about $4.30 a gallon, and JetBlue guided its Q2 fuel to a range of $4.13 to $4.28. American warned of a jet fuel expense increase of more than $4 billion for the full year. Delta soaked up record fuel and still beat. The question now is whether United, American, Southwest, and Alaska passed those costs through in fares too.
2. Capacity discipline. When fuel gets expensive, airlines fly a little less so the planes they do fly stay full and fares stay firm. United already told us in April it would trim planned capacity by about 5 points for the rest of 2026, and that it expects the third and fourth quarters to be flat to up about 2 percent. Watch how much the others pull back. Fewer empty seats is how you protect margins when your biggest cost is climbing.
3. Guidance, and who stands behind it. Back in April the mood split. Delta and American held on to full-year outlooks, while Alaska suspended its full-year guidance entirely, citing fuel volatility. American went further and said it expected another record second quarter, with total revenue up 13.5 to 16.5 percent, so that is a specific promise we can check against the actual print. Watch who reaffirms, who quietly widens the range, and who stays vague.
Do not forget that Spirit shut down for good on May 2, right in the middle of this quarter. That is a big chunk of low-fare capacity that simply vanished. As the survivors report, listen for any hints about whether they are scooping up that demand and whether it is showing up in fares. It could quietly help the numbers.
Delta's start was encouraging, and beating guidance while paying the biggest fuel bill in company history is not nothing. But one airline is not the whole industry. The stretch from United on July 15 to American and Southwest on July 23 will tell us whether that was a Delta thing or an everybody thing. We'll be watching the fuel line, the capacity plans, and the full-year guidance. Check back after the 23rd and we'll see how it all shook out.
Reported from public sources. Figures were accurate around the time of writing and can change as airlines report new results.
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