U.S. Tariffs Cloud Airline Industry Outlook as Stocks Plummet


Skift Take

The global nature of the airline industry means companies near and far will be impacted by Wednesday’s announcement.

Airlines are in uncertain territory after President Donald Trump announced the latest round of tariffs.

The tariffs will extend to nearly all imports from a long list of countries: A baseline of 10% for trading partners; 25% on all imported cars and reciprocal tariffs on at least 50 countries are as high as 50%. 

Major U.S. airline stocks plunged following the announcement. United Airlines shares were down 12%; Delta Air Lines shares fell 9%; and American Airlines was down 8%. 

Delta and American had already lowered their first quarter outlooks, citing economic uncertainty as a reason. 

“The outlook has been impacted by the recent reduction in consumer and corporate confidence caused by increased macro uncertainty, driving softness in Domestic demand,” Delta said in a regulatory filing. The Atlanta-based carrier is set to report first-quarter earnings April 9. 

Airlines Say They Still See Growth

It’s unclear