Delta withdraws 2025 outlook, cites ‘current uncertainty’

Need a sign these are uncertain times?

Delta Airlines is so sure about uncertainty that the company withdrew its full-year guidance for 2025, citing “current uncertainty.” Now, the airline says it “will provide an update later in the year as visibility improves.”

It wasn’t always like this. At the end of 2024 (many, many lifetimes ago), the company expected sales to grow in 2025 thanks to a “resilient economy.” Was Delta ever so young? If you really want to feel bad: Back then, CEO Ed Bastian predicted 2025 would be the “best financial year in [Delta’s] history,” according to CNBC.

And now we’re…here.

In addition to withdrawing its 2025 outlook, the company also cautioned that “growth has largely stalled” on the back of “broad economic uncertainty around global trade.”

“The level of uncertainty that we’re facing coming out of the global trade discussions and skirmishes is a bit unprecedented,” Bastian told Yahoo Finance. He noted that while the “next 60 to 90 days” looked clear, “beyond that, it’s a bit murky.”

Delta warned that revenue could fall for the current quarter, now expecting it“to be down 2 percent to up 2 percent over prior year,” while Wall Street anticipated growth of 1.9%. “2025 is playing out differently than we expected at the start of the year,” the company said (and they could say it louder for the people in the back).

As a result of the slower growth environment, the company said it’s “protecting margins and cash flow” by focusing on controllable factors, like “reducing planned capacity growth in the second half of the year.” Previously, Delta planned to increase its flying capacity between 3% and 4%. The carrier now expects it to be flat year over year, Bastian told CNBC.

And when asked if the US economy could still avoid a recession, wellllll…

“I don’t know. I think we’re acting as if we’re going into a recession,” he told CNBC. “I think everyone is going into a defensive posture. As a result of that, if that continues, and we don’t get resolution soon, we’ll probably end up in a recession.”