ATLANTA (AP) Delta Air Lines Inc said yesterday that raising fares should allow it to make up for the higher fuel prices that drove a $318 million loss in the first quarter.Delta president Ed Bastian said “aggressive fare actions” should allow it to cover the higher cost of fuel. The airline’s goal is to raise fares enough to cover “the full cost of fuel on every flight, every day”, according to a memo to employees from chief financial officer Hank Halter.Delta’s fuel bill rose 29 percent, or $483 million, compared to a year earlier. Those higher ticket prices boosted revenue 13 percent, to $7.75 billion.Airlines have raised fares seven times this year as their fuel bills have increased. They’re walking a line between covering their higher costs and scaring away price-sensitive customers.Besides higher fares, Delta is making plans to cut the amount of flying it does in the second half of the year by four percentage points. It said reductions would be focused in markets where fare increases have not kept up with rising fuel costs. However, it increased flying capacity five percent during the first quarter, and capacity will rise as much as four percent during the second quarter, compared with the same periods last year.The loss for the quarter that ended March 31 worked out to 38 cents per share. A year ago, Delta lost $256 million, or 31 cents per share. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected a loss of 50 cents a share and revenue of $7.61 billion.Other factors in the loss included winter storms that hurt revenue by $90 million, and the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Japan, which hurt first-quarter revenue by $35 million.