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Delta Air Lines has pulled its guidance for record profits this year, blaming “a lack of economic clarity” about the fallout from President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs, as major US businesses weigh the damage from a deepening trade war. The Atlanta-based carrier on Wednesday went from forecasting its best financial year in January to warning of rising uncertainty from an escalating global trade war that is hurting already fragile consumer confidence. Presenting quarterly results on Wednesday, CE Ed Bastian said it would be “premature” to update the airline’s full-year guidance, having previously forecast pre-tax profits of $6bn this year. As US earnings season begins, the update offers an early insight into how major companies are navigating Trump’s tariffs, coming on top of warnings from US airlines earlier this year about falling demand for domestic travel amid rising uncertainty about the economic outlook. In January, Delta said it was expecting record annual profits this year, amid passengers’ continued willingness to pay for premium seats. But two months later, it sounded the alarm on corporate and consumer spending and slashed its first-quarter sales and earnings forecasts. On Wednesday, Bastian said that “with broad economic uncertainty around global trade, growth has largely stalled”, adding that the airline was “protecting margins and cash flow by focusing on what we can control”. As part of that aim, Delta will hold flying capacity at last year’s level in the second half of the year instead of increasing it, as well as “actively managing costs” and capital expenditure. The update follows warnings of a slowdown from airlines including American Airlines, United Airlines and Southwest Airlines in March, spurred by reduced travel by government workers and rising uncertainty among US households, which now face higher prices as a result of Trump’s trade war.<br/>

As of April 1, SkyTeam Elite Plus members can access the alliance’s lounges when traveling on domestic flights, not just international departures. However, a pesky caveat excludes Delta SkyTeam members on U.S. itineraries. Meanwhile, the three-hour cap on stays will be extended to more lounges, and the door policy for free guests has become stricter. SkyTeam has previously had a tougher door policy on its lounges than rival airline alliances oneworld and Star Alliance. When traveling in coach, Sky Team Elite Plus members—which include Delta SkyMiles Gold, Platinum, or Diamond Medallion members and Virgin Atlantic Flying Club Gold Members—have only been able to access lounges within the alliance’s network when flying on international itineraries, while the other alliances have rolled out the red carpet to their elites on many domestic flights.<br/>

Air France-KLM is slashing prices to maintain full economy cabins on its transatlantic flights as the airline faces weakening demand for international travel, the European carrier's top boss told Bloomberg News on Wednesday. The company is noticing a "slight softness" in economy-class fares, while its premium cabins enjoy "relative stability," the airline's CEO, Ben Smith, told Bloomberg TV. He added that the French airline has not yet altered its flight capacity in response to these trends, though an economic downturn could pose fresh challenges. Smith said travel is one of the first industries to get hit during economic downturns. "This is uncharted territory for us." Air France confirmed that Smith had made the comments. Shares of European airline groups have plunged after U.S President Donald Trump revealed on April 2 his "reciprocal" tariff plan that included an imposition of 20% tariffs on European Union products such as Airbus planes.<br/>

China Southern Airlines is to launch Thompson Aero Seating’s new VantageXL+ product, a seat iteration optimised specifically for the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 widebodies. The Chinese carrier is taking the Thompson seat for its new fleet of A350s, which are expected to be delivered in the fourth quarter of 2026. The new seat builds on the company’s existing VantageXL business class product. “The XL product has been a long-standing successful product for Thompson.” says Andy Jacobs, senior industrial designer at Thomson Aero Seating. ”This is the first time we have launched a product that specifically caters for the 787 and A350. It gives a wider footwell, it’s about half an inch wider on the seat, we’ve resculpted some of the geometry leading into the footwell and sculpted a wave on the top. There’s a lot of subtle geometry changes, even though it looks like quite a similar seat. We’ve just tried to make use of that extra space on the aircraft,” he adds. ”There have been tweaks in the past to try and adapt this to the platform, but never a ground-up [design].”<br/>