The parent company of Alaska Airlines reported a higher-than-expected financial loss during the first three months of 2025 and stated Wednesday it is not releasing a 2025 outlook due to “recent economic uncertainty and volatility,” the latest indicator of a downturn in the airline and tourism industries due to actions by the Trump administration.
The $166 million net loss for the year’s first quarter compares to a $132 million loss a year ago and the company expects a 6% decline in its revenue for the second quarter this year due to “softer demand,” according to CNBC. Alaska Air Group shares have dropped 29% since the beginning of the year, with President Donald Trump beginning his second term Jan. 20.
Alaska Air, in an earnings summary, stated it still expects to be profitable this year, but is declining to provide some specifics it would normally due to economic uncertainties.
“Given recent economic uncertainty and volatility, we are not providing an update to our full year 2025 guidance,” the statement notes. “We are assessing a variety of scenarios, and expect to be solidly profitable in 2025 even if revenue remains pressured throughout the second half of the year. Absent the softer macroeconomic outlook, areas of our business within our control are performing well and in line with our prior expectations. We will provide further updates to full year guidance later this year.”
Other airlines, including Delta Air Lines and Frontier Airlines, have also stated recently they are not releasing outlooks for 2025.
“With broad economic uncertainty around global trade, growth has largely stalled,” Delta CEO Ed Bastian said in a prepared statement April 9. “In this slower-growth environment, we are protecting margins and cash flow by focusing on what we can control. This includes reducing planned capacity growth in the second half of the year to flat over last year while actively managing costs and capital expenditures.”
Delta President Glen Hauenstein said “2025 is playing out differently than we expected at the start of the year.”
Overseas visitors to the U.S. in March dropped nearly 12% compared to a year ago, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce. This month “airline bookings took a nosedive in the days immediately following President Trump’s April 2 tariffs announcement, suggesting that the administration’s import taxes had a dramatic, instant impact on discretionary spending,” according to Forbes.
About 7% of Juneau’s summer visitors arrived by air in 2023, according to a study by the McKinley Research Group. Local municipal and business officials have said they are seeing indicators this year’s tourism season may be adversely affected by economic uncertainty from tariffs and hostility due to foreign travelers being detained by immigration officials, but don’t have sufficient data to make solid predictions.
• Contact Mark Sabbatini at mark.sabbatini@juneauempire.com or (907) 957-2306.
