Delta Air Lines Inc. announced Friday that it replaced its auditor, Deloitte & Touche LLP, with Ernst & Young LLP to help it reorganize after filing for bankruptcy in September.
The carrier cited Ernst & Young's experience with airlines and with reorganizations. The switch followed a competitive bidding process and didn't result from any accounting disagreement with Deloitte & Touche, Atlanta-based Delta said in a statement Friday. The bankruptcy court must approve the change.
Delta, the third-largest U.S. airline and operator of a hub at Salt Lake City International Airport, filed for bankruptcy Sept. 14, after combined losses of $10 billion in the past four years. The carrier had hired Deloitte in 2002. Delta said the Deloitte will finish work on its 2005 financial statements.
Deloitte, based in New York, is the largest U.S. accounting firm and Ernst & Young is No. 2. Delphi Corp., an auto-parts maker that sought bankruptcy protection in October, also hired New York-based Ernst & Young in December to replace Deloitte as its auditor.
Delta Friday also said its January traffic in miles flown by paying passengers fell 4.5 percent from a year earlier as it cut seat and flight capacity 6.8 percent. U.S. traffic declined 7.3 percent on an 11 percent drop in capacity. International traffic rose 4.9 percent as capacity increased 7.6 percent.
Major U.S. carriers have been expanding international service as competition from discounters such as Southwest Airlines Co. makes it difficult to raise domestic fares.