Delta Air Lines Inc. said Tuesday that its profit declined by 18 percent in the third quarter of 2011 as fuel cost climbed.

In the third quarter, earnings excluding special items dropped 18 percent to 765 million U.S. dollars from the same period of last year, the world's second-largest airline carrier reported, saying that earnings per share (EPS) were 0.91 dollars.

However, the company's total operating revenue in the quarter was 9.8 billion dollars, up 10 percent from the previous year.

"We are successfully adapting Delta to the challenging economic environment by producing a solidly profitable quarter in the face of 1 billion dollars of fuel price pressure," said Richard Anderson, the company's chief executive officer.

In the same period, Delta's load factor increased to 86.1 percent, while capacity decreased by 1 percent.

In addition, the company said that it will cut available seating capacity by 5 percent this quarter to further lower costs.