[Text/Observer Network Deng Jun Editor Zhao Qiankun]

The ever-changing tariff policies of US President Trump have brought a new round of uncertainty to the aviation market.

According to comprehensive reports from Bloomberg and travel industry media Skift, Delta Air Lines has refused to release its full-year outlook for 2025 on the grounds of economic uncertainty. At the same time, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian has clearly expressed his stance to Airbus, stating that it will delay all aircraft deliveries involving additional tariff costs and is negotiating with Airbus to minimize the impact.

"We will not pay any tariffs for aircraft deliveries," Bastian emphasized. "The current situation is highly uncertain. If an extra cost of 20% is added to the price of an aircraft, the calculation just doesn't add up."

Dalai Airlines Visual China

Although Delta Air Lines' first-quarter revenue was basically in line with estimates, Ed Bastian said during the Wednesday conference call that due to widespread economic uncertainty in global trade, the airline's growth has "stalled." Glen Hauenstein, president of Delta Air Lines, stated that due to the slowdown in demand, Delta Air Lines will reduce capacity growth in the second half of this year.

For the second quarter, Delta Air Lines forecasts a year-over-year decline of up to 2% or growth of up to 2%, while Wall Street's previous expectation was growth of 1.9%. It expects adjusted earnings per share to be between $1.70 and $2.30, while analysts expected $2.23 per share.

In addition, Delta Air Lines originally planned to increase capacity by about 3% to 4% in the second half of 2025, but now plans to maintain the same level as last year.

In the reduction plan, Delta Air Lines currently only plans to receive 10 aircraft in 2025, all from Airbus. According to company documents, Delta currently owns 490 Airbus aircraft and has ordered another 194. However, Airbus has made no comment on Bastian's remarks.

Ed Bastian further pointed out that the company is "operating as if we are entering a recession" and "everyone is going into defensive mode." He did not shy away from attributing everything to Trump's trade policies, calling them "the wrong approach," which contrasts sharply with his statement last November that the Trump administration's regulatory approach might be "a breath of fresh air."

In March, the Financial Times reported that major U.S. airlines, including Delta Air Lines, issued warnings. Some companies lowered their revenue and profit expectations for the first quarter. Southwest Airlines lowered its seat-mile revenue expectation (an important industry indicator) by 3 percentage points, and United Airlines positioned its profitability at the lower end of its expected range.

Now, the latest round of comprehensive tariffs from the Trump administration may raise concerns among Wall Street about a potential downturn in the aviation industry.

After Delta Air Lines announced its first-quarter earnings data, several institutions and analysts on Wall Street have successively downgraded the target stock prices of Delta Air Lines and even American Airlines.

Among them, Morgan Stanley lowered Delta Air Lines' target price from $95 to $88. Barclays analyst Brandon Oglenski lowered Delta Air Lines' target price from $80 to $58, United Airlines' target price from $140 to $94, and Alaska Airlines' target price from $80 to $62.

On Monday, Larry Fink, CEO of the U.S. asset management giant BlackRock, said that one CEO specifically mentioned that the aviation industry is like a canary in a coal mine, possibly indicating problems. "And I was told that this canary is sick."

This analogy is because the aviation industry is very sensitive to changes in the economy, and when a recession occurs, the aviation industry is often one of the first industries to be affected.

This article is an exclusive contribution from Observer Network and cannot be reprinted without permission.

Original source: https://www.toutiao.com/article/7491927650202649125/

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