2025 State of Mobile is Live!
Sensor Tower · Seema Shah · April 2024
MMM: Delta Airlines Q1 2024 Earnings Results and Industry Advertising Trends; UK Neobank Advertising Spurs App Growth
Delta Air Lines exceeded street expectations in 1Q24. ST data shows that Fly Delta app MAUs increased single-digit YoY, in line with growth in its reported revenue passenger miles. Southwest Airlines led its peers in MAU growth and ad spend during the quarter. UK neobanks focused ad spend on YouTube and TikTok, likely targeting a younger demographic compared to traditional banks which advertised heavily on Facebook.
Key Takeaways:
Delta Air Lines’ 1Q24 EPS and revenue exceeded street estimates on strong spring travel demand. Delta’s reported revenue passenger miles (RPMs), an industry standard used to gauge air passenger volume, increased 9% YoY in 1Q24, in line with a 7% YoY increase in ST MAUs for Fly Delta
ST MAUs for US airline apps generally correlate quite well with airline companies’ reported RPMs, boasting a collective average correlation coefficient of .84 for American Airlines, United, Southwest, Delta, Spirit, Frontier, and JetBlue between 2019-2023, which shows that ST data can be utilized to effectively gauge passenger volume for US airline carriers
ST data shows that Southwest outspent its peers on digital advertising in the US in 1Q24, harboring more than a third (37%) of total ad spend vs United (19%), Delta (18%), Frontier (9%), JetBlue (8%), American (6%), and Spirit (2%), which may have contributed to Southwest likely reaching more consumers and successfully converting them into customers
Southwest Airlines app MAUs increased 20% YoY in 1Q24, ahead of peers such as United (+8%), Fly Delta (+7%), American Airlines (-2%), Frontier (-7%), JetBlue (-20%) and Spirit (-27%). Southwest’s stellar growth may have also been driven by the lapping of a weak comp in the previous year’s winter travel season (4Q22) when the carrier was plagued by flight delays and cancellations
In 1Q24, UK neobanks Starling, Revolut, and Monzo earmarked at least 86% of their advertising spend for YouTube and TikTok. This was in stark contrast with traditional banks, including Barclays and HSBC which allocated less than 50% of their ad spend to these platforms
Neobanks' preference for video-centric advertising aligns with the demographic makeup of their mobile user base, with ~70% of Monzo and Revolut mobile users under the age of 35 in 1Q24, vs 54% among traditional banks
Monzo’s ad spend surged by over 90% YoY in 1Q24, even as most peers saw a reduction in their ad investments during the same period. YouTube and TikTok continue to dominate Monzo’s advertising channels by spend, however, Facebook has emerged as its fastest-growing channel, with ad spend up 160% YoY in 1Q24
For more information, request the full report from reports@sensortower.com.
