Delta Air Lines Stock Falls After Seat Supply Growth Outpaces Demand

Shares of Delta Air Lines Inc. slumped 1.8% in premarket trade Thursday, after the air carrier's January performance data showed that supply growth outpaced demand. Total system traffic rose 0.4% to 15.34 billion revenue passenger miles, while capacity increased 0.6% to 19.26 billion available seat miles. That pushed load factor down to 81.2% from 81.3%., with domestic load factor declining 30 basis points to 80.8% and international load factor rising 10 basis points to 81.8%. Delta's stock had rallied 8.4% over the past 12 months through Wednesday, while the NYSE Arca Airline Index soared 43% and the S&P 500 gained 20%.