This year’s hurricane season shows airlines climate fears coming to bear

Airlines are sounding the alarm that the four hurricanes that hit the US in four months this year are taking a bite out of profits. The impact on earnings shows that carriers' concerns about climate change are already materializing as storms, sea level rise and extreme heat interrupt operations and supply chains. American Airlines Group Inc. faced disruptions from Hurricanes Debby and Helene this year. These storms and other issues reduced third-quarter earnings by $90m for the airline’s third quarter, CEO Robert Isom said on a call with analysts last week. Southwest Airlines Co. said last week that flight cancellations caused by Hurricane Milton will cut into fourth-quarter revenue by about a half percentage point and increase non-fuel costs by the same amount, both on a per-mile basis. JetBlue Airways Corp. said on Tuesday that it expects the hurricane to contribute to unit revenue and cost headwinds of about one percentage point each. For United Airlines Holdings Inc., Hurricane Beryl's impact on Houston in early July helped increase non-fuel costs to fly each seat a mile — a gauge of efficiency — CFO Michael Leskinen said on a call with analysts earlier this year.<br/>