Something highly unusual happened in the first quarter of 2015: Mighty Delta found itself dead last in its contest with American and United for profit margin supremacy among U.S.-based global airlines. How unusual was this? It was, in fact, the first Q1 since 2011 in which Delta’s operating margin, excluding special items, wasn’t No. 1 among the Big Three—it was No. 2 that year behind United. But more significantly, looking at full years rather than individual quarters, Delta has now bested American and United (including results from pre-merger partners) for eight straight years—every year, in fact, since 2006, when Delta…
