With global economic issues creating uncertainty, Delta Air Lines tells investors that growth is expected to stall for the remainder of 2025.
As fears of an economic downturn grips global markets, Delta Air Lines’ leadership says they are reducing capacity for the second half of the year as a cost cutting measure.
The revised outlook comes as the airline released their 2025 first quarter results on April 9, reporting an operating income of $569 million with an operating margin of 4%.
Delta Says Growth “Stalled” Due to Financial Uncertainty
Speaking to investors and the media on Delta’s earnings call, chief executive Ed Bastian told listeners that although they expected another strong year, the recent financial pressures have forced them to re-evaluate their growth.
“Coming into 2025, we are positioned for another year of strong growth,” said Bastian, as quoted in a transcript. “However, given broad economic uncertainty around global trade, growth has largely stalled. The impact has been most pronounced in domestic and specifically in the Main Cabin, with softness in both consumer and corporate travel.”
As a result, leaders say they are taking measures to ensure cost management and protect their margins. Bastian said Delta will “keep second-half capacity growth flat over last year,” while reducing their outlook for the next quarter to between $1.5 billion and $2 billion of pretax income. The executives did not offer projections on the rest of 2025.
Although flight growth is affected, the Delta SkyMiles loyalty program and their relationship with American Express continues to be a bright spot. According to airline president Glen Haustein, their earnings from American Express grew in the quarter by 13% to $2 billion for the quarter. And while Main Cabin and corporate travel are soft, premium bookings, loyalty revenue, and international travel remain strong.
“Main Cabin demand softness in both domestic and international is persisting, particularly in off-peak times,” said Haustein. “Premium, Loyalty and International are continuing to show greater resilience. Internationally, approximately 80% of revenues are U.S. point of origin with bookings remaining strong for the peak summer period.”
When asked further about the changing airline environment, Haustein pointed to their continued investment in the passenger experience as a differentiating factor that could drive new business to the Atlanta-based airline.
“And as people continue to change their products to try and align more with full-service carriers, I think there are opportunities to go after some of their more loyal customers, which we will be taking advantage of as we move through here,” said Haustein. “We’ve had some very successful programs that have gotten us a lot of new members in places that other carriers are operating as the largest carrier, but maybe not the one people want to align with.”
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