Warren Buffett spent years telling anyone who would listen that airlines were a terrible business to own. Buffett called them a "capital trap," a place where fuel costs and fare wars could erase profits almost overnight. Then Covid hit, and Berkshire Hathaway dumped its entire airline portfolio in 2020, locking in steep losses.
"The world has changed for airlines," Buffett said at the time. So it says something that Berkshire (BRK.A) has now done the opposite. The conglomerate has been steadily building a position in Delta Air Lines, and the numbers show real conviction.
According to recent 13F filings, Berkshire's stake in Delta jumped 44% during the second quarter of 2026, climbing to 57.3 million shares. That position was worth roughly $5.4 billion at the end of June. Back in May, I reported that Berkshire had already built a Delta position worth about $2.6 billion as of the end of March 2026.
That earlier purchase came during Greg Abel's first quarter running Berkshire after taking over as chief executive from Buffett in January. Abel had laid out his approach to shareholders in February. He wrote that Berkshire has "core" positions it will not sell, but outside those, the firm plans to stay disciplined and concentrated.
The Delta buy, and the decision to nearly double down on it a quarter later, fits that description closely. Delta's numbers help explain the appeal. The airline reported record second-quarter revenue of $17.7 billion, up 14% from a year earlier, even though capacity only grew about 1%.
It reported a unit revenue growth of 12.4% in Q2. Pretax profit stood at $1.4 billion, with earnings of $1.56 per share and an operating margin of 9%, all ahead of the guidance Delta gave at the start of the quarter. Return on invested capital stood at 11%, comfortably above the company's cost of capital.
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