Overview
- American Airlines on Thursday trimmed its full-year 2026 guidance to a range of a 65-cent loss to a 65-cent profit and said the fuel shock will add about $6 billion to its 2026 costs.
- Alaska Air Group forecast third-quarter adjusted profit of $0.00 to $1.00 per share and disclosed roughly $600 million of incremental fuel cost for Q2, and it raised $1 billion of liquidity to weather the spike.
- Southwest cut its full-year midpoint and expects third-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.50 to $0.75, citing higher jet-fuel prices that erode gains from higher fares and new fees.
- Carriers are responding by raising fares, trimming or holding capacity, adding fees, shifting fuel supply sources and boosting cash buffers so they can manage volatile forward fuel curves.
- Jet fuel normally makes up about a quarter of an airline’s operating cost and disruptions to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz can quickly tighten global supply, a pattern that has driven the sudden swings in carrier forecasts and margins.