The loss, equal to $2.13 per share, included $104 million after taxes from a government bailout package Congress authorized for the industry. Delta earned $133 million, or $1.01 a share, a year ago.

Excluding one-time items, Delta lost $295 million, or $2.43 per share, for the July-September period. Analysts had expected Delta to lose $2.70 per share.

Quarterly revenue was $3.398 billion, down from $4.345 billion in the same period of 2000.

Delta applied only $171 million of the $346 million taxpayers gave the company to its third-quarter report, for accounting purposes. The airline expects to receive another $344 million from the $15 billion bailout package Congress passed after the attacks.

The company estimated that the terror attacks shaved $400 million from revenues as the government closed U.S. airspace for nearly three days and millions of people stopped flying.

In early trading on the New York Stock Exchange, Delta shares were up 44 cents at $23.30.