If investors were questioning whether airline stocks could keep rallying, Delta Air Lines has provided an emphatic answer. The carrier’s fourth-quarter earnings and positive outlook for 2025 gave the sector’s stocks permission to take off again early Friday.

Delta Air Lines on Friday reported fourth-quarter fiscal 2024 revenue and adjusted earnings that topped analysts' estimates.

Delta Air Lines expects a strong appetite for high-end travel to fuel profit in 2025, said Chief Executive Ed Bastian. The forecast comes as the airline posted better-than-expected revenue growth in the latest quarter as demand picked up.