Delta’s cash dwindling

ATLANTA — Delta Air Lines Inc., the world’s biggest airline operator, said Monday its available cash on hand will continue to fall by the end of the year as demand for air travel has been hit hard by the economic downturn.

The Atlanta-based airline also said in a regulatory filing that its 2010 funding requirement for its defined benefit pension plans, which have been frozen for future accruals, is estimated to increase by $450 million as compared with 2009. The increase in required funding is due primarily to the decline in the investment markets in 2008.

On the positive side, Delta said it expects its year-over-year revenue per available seat-mile decline for the third quarter will show a slight improvement from the second-quarter year-over-year change. The airline expects the sequential improvement to continue in the fourth quarter.

Delta said system yields for September-December are expected to be 11 percent to 14 percent lower than the same period last year. Yield is the revenue airlines get per seat for each mile flown.

System capacity is expected to be down 7 percent to 9 percent for 2009 compared with 2008, Delta said.

Delta, which acquired Northwest Airlines last year, said it remains on track with its integration and expects to receive a single operating certificate from the FAA by the end of 2009.