Delta Air Lines (DAL) 1Q 2025 earnings

Delta Air Lines It will not expand flights later this year due to disappointing bookings amid President Donald Trump’s changing trade policy.

Career said it would be too early to update its 2025 financial guidance a month after reviewing its targets at the investor meeting, but Delta said Wednesday it expects it to be profitable this year. Last month, Delta cut its first quarter revenue outlook, citing weaker corporate and leisure travel demand than expected.

This is a shift for Delta, the most profitable US airline, with another year of strong travel demand set in 2025, with Bastian predicting that it will be “the best fiscal year in our history.”

Bastian’s new comments show growing concern among CEOs about the sour appetite on consumer spending and the impact of Trump’s policies. In November, Bastian said the Trump administration’s approach to industrial regulation is likely to be a “breath of fresh air.”

Wall Street analysts have significantly reduced airline revenue estimates and price targets in recent weeks, fearing a drop in demand.

“In the past six weeks, we have seen a wide range of consumer trust and business trust respond to this,” Bastian told CNBC. He said demand was “very good” in January overall and “started to be really late” in mid-February.

Bastian said bookings for the main cabin are weaker than previously expected. He said travel demand, which had risen about 10% at the start of the year, has slowed as some businesses reconsidered their business and the Trump administration cut government workforce and markets are upset. The White House did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Bastian said international and premium travel, which is growing faster than sales from the coach cabin, is relatively resilient.

Delta was scheduled to increase its flight capacity by about 3% to 4% in the second half of 2025, Bastian said in an interview. Currently, career abilities remain flat year by year.

“We expect this to be the first of many 2H25 capacity reductions from the airline this quarter,” TD Cowen Airline analysts Tom Fitzgerald and Helane Becker wrote after Delta released the outlook.

Some future capacity reductions could include Canada, where US travel has decreased, said Mexican Delta President Glenhauenstein. For Mexico, he said there was less demand for travelers visiting friends and family, not less business trips.

“Growth is largely stuck due to widespread economic uncertainty regarding global trade,” Bastian said in a revenue release Wednesday. “In this slow growth environment, we are protecting margins and cash flows by focusing on what we can control.”

Delta is the first of the leading US major airlines to report revenue. United, Americans, Southwest Others will report later this month.

Tariffs and potential retaliation obligations could raise the costs of imported components in the US aerospace industry.

But Delta’s Bastian said the company would postpone Airbus aircraft, which are affected by tariffs. Airbus produces planes in Europe, but also uses imported components at its mobile, Alabama plants.

Delta stocks, along with other airlines, gathered after a surprising announcement that Trump would lower tariff rates for 90 days. This year, the stock has still fallen nearly 27%, but its stocks have risen more than 23%.

Here’s how the company performed in the three months ended March 31st, Based on consensus estimates from the LSEG, compare it to what Wall Street was expecting.

• Earnings per share: 46 cents adjusted and 38 cents expected
• Revenue: An adjustment of $12.98 billion and a $12.98 billion projected

In the first quarter, Delta’s net profit rose to $240 million, up from $37 million last year, with revenue rising 2% year-on-year to $140.4 billion.

With the removal of Delta refinery sales, Delta posted revenue adjusted per share of 46 cents, up 2% over last year, exceeding analyst expectations, up 3% from last year, and adjusting revenues in line with Wall Street expectations.