it was in line with what was forecast and it also is in line with what other carriers have said.
The reason why it was a negative for other carriers was because other carriers underperformed the industry - which means that some carriers did better than others.
let's see how other airlines fare relative to DL and if other carriers did better than DL, then DL does deserve to reap criticism.
given that DL stock was upgraded yesterday and is a "buy" or "strong buy" by 89% of the analysts covering it, then there doesn't appear to be a lot of concern that DL's financials will deteriorate.
DL's January results, even though it did include some impact from last year's winter weather (which may take place this year in Feb), do indicate that the industry is likely reaching limits of how much fares can rise, esp. in the int'l arena - which says that int'l expansion will be much less likely to generate revenue growth - and that is what we have seen for the past several months across the board.
DL noted that the domestic system remains strong which says that this is likely the year to reap financial rewards in the domestic sector instead of expand internationally.