US leisure market likely to endure ‘downward pressure on demand’: Sun Country CEO

Cost-conscious air travellers will likely tighten spending on vacations as a result of US-imposed tariffs roiling global markets, from the perspective of Sun Country Airlines chief Jude Bricker. Speaking on 3 April during CAPA’s Airline Leader Summit in Grand Cayman, Bricker commented on growing fears of a sustained economic downturn and how “that pertains to my business”. ”Mostly, the concern is probably how everybody’s thinking about the US consumer and the effect of the tariffs on their pocketbook, and whether that squeezes out discretionary spending on leisure activities,” he says. “I think that’s probably going to happen and I think it’s going to put downward pressure on demand.” Much of the North American airline sector’s focus has recently fallen on demand for Canada-to-USA air travel, which is sagging amid geopolitical tensions between the two countries – largely related to an escalating trade war – and the rise of the “buy Canada” movement encouraging Canadians to spend domestically. Carriers such as Toronto’s Porter Airlines and Calgary-based low-cost carrier Flair Airlines have recently boosted domestic flying in response to lower demand for US flights. From Sun Country’s vantage, suppressed transborder travel could “benefit us somewhat” because Canadian travellers “drive up the trip costs in Florida and the desert southwest and Southern California”, Bricker says. <br/>