Delta Air Lines vs United Airlines
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The short version
- Delta Air Lines is the larger business, with $63.4B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $59.1B for United Airlines.
- United Airlines grew revenue faster (3.5%, against 2.8%).
- Delta Air Lines kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (9.2% operating margin, against 8.0%).
- Delta Air Lines turned more of its sales into free cash flow (6.1% FCF margin, against 4.3%).
- Delta Air Lines earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (16.0%, against 15.3%).
- Investors pay more for each dollar of Delta Air Lines’s earnings: a P/E of 15.3x against 9.0x for United Airlines.
| Latest fiscal year | DAL · FY25 | UAL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $50.6B | $32.1B |
| Revenue | $63.4B | $59.1B |
| Free cash flow | $3.8B | $2.6B |
| Net income | $5.0B | $3.4B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 2.8% | 3.5% |
| 5-year growth | 30.0% | 30.9% |
| Share count change | 0.9% | −1.4% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 9.2% | 8.0% |
| Net margin | 7.9% | 5.7% |
| FCF margin | 6.1% | 4.3% |
| Return on capital | 16.0% | 15.3% |
| Return on equity | 27.7% | 24.0% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | $9.8B | $9.5B |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.2x | 1.2x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $440M | $637M |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | 15.3x | 9.0x |
| Piotroski F-score | 7 | 6 |
Revenue
FY16
DAL $39.6B
UAL $36.6B
FY17
DAL $41.2B
UAL $37.7B
FY18
DAL $44.4B
UAL $41.3B
FY19
DAL $47.0B
UAL $43.3B
FY20
DAL $17.1B
UAL $15.4B
FY21
DAL $29.9B
UAL $24.6B
FY22
DAL $50.6B
UAL $45.0B
FY23
DAL $58.0B
UAL $53.7B
FY24
DAL $61.6B
UAL $57.1B
FY25
DAL $63.4B
UAL $59.1B
DAL
UAL
Operating margin
FY16
DAL 17.7%
UAL 11.9%
FY17
DAL 14.5%
UAL 9.6%
FY18
DAL 11.9%
UAL 7.8%
FY19
DAL 14.1%
UAL 9.9%
FY20
DAL −72.9%
UAL −41.4%
FY21
DAL 6.3%
UAL −4.2%
FY22
DAL 7.2%
UAL 5.2%
FY23
DAL 9.5%
UAL 7.8%
FY24
DAL 9.7%
UAL 8.9%
FY25
DAL 9.2%
UAL 8.0%
DAL
UAL
Free cash flow
FY16
DAL $3.8B
UAL $2.3B
FY17
DAL $1.1B
UAL −$396M
FY18
DAL $1.8B
UAL $2.1B
FY19
DAL $3.5B
UAL $2.4B
FY20
DAL −$5.7B
UAL −$5.9B
FY21
DAL $17.0M
UAL −$40.0M
FY22
DAL −$3.0M
UAL $1.2B
FY23
DAL $1.1B
UAL −$260M
FY24
DAL $2.9B
UAL $3.8B
FY25
DAL $3.8B
UAL $2.6B
DAL
UAL
Return on capital
FY16
DAL —
UAL 17.4%
FY17
DAL 20.8%
UAL 15.5%
FY18
DAL 20.1%
UAL 13.6%
FY19
DAL 22.5%
UAL 16.0%
FY20
DAL −49.0%
UAL −23.5%
FY21
DAL 7.4%
UAL −3.9%
FY22
DAL 11.9%
UAL 8.3%
FY23
DAL 18.0%
UAL 14.1%
FY24
DAL 16.0%
UAL 16.2%
FY25
DAL 16.0%
UAL 15.3%
DAL
UAL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.