Alaska Air forecasts narrower-than-expected loss, says capacity plans in "flux"
(Reuters) -Alaska Air Group, the operator of the 737 MAX 9 jet that experienced a mid-air cabin panel blowout, forecast a narrower-than-expected first-quarter loss on Tuesday due to strong travel demand.
The company forecast a quarterly adjusted loss per share of 55 cents to 45 cents per share, compared with the average analysts' expectation of loss of $1.18 per share, as per LSEG data.
Alaska shares were little changed after the release.
The first-quarter forecast reflects an unspecified partial compensation the carrier received from Boeing following the mid-air blowout earlier this year and a 30 cent per share impact from the temporary grounding of MAX 9 jets after the incident, Alaska Air added.
"Given recent strength in demand through Spring Break travel periods and continued recovery of West Coast business travel, we now expect an even greater year-over-year improvement in Q1 2024 profitability," the company said in a filing.
But, the airline said its full-year capacity expectations were still in a "flux" due to uncertainty surrounding aircraft delivery timings stemming from increased Federal Aviation Administration and Department of Justice scrutiny of Boeing and its operations.
(Reporting by Abhijith Ganapavaram and Aishwarya Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
