Alaska Air Group, a company that operates the 737 MAX 9 jet, recently announced that it expects a smaller loss for the first quarter of 2021 than previously anticipated. The company has attributed this to strong travel demand, which has boosted its revenue.
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According to LSEG data, the airline predicts a quarterly adjusted loss per share of between 55 and 45 cents per share, less than analysts had initially expected. Analysts had expected the airline to report a loss of $1.18 per share.
The company has taken into account an unspecified partial compensation that it received from Boeing after a mid-air cabin panel blowout earlier this year, as well as a 30 cent per share impact from the temporary grounding of MAX 9 jets after the incident.
In a recent filing, Alaska Air Group said, "Given the recent increase in demand during Spring Break travel periods and the ongoing recovery of West Coast business travel, we now anticipate an even greater year-over-year improvement in Q1 2024 profitability." However, the company has also expressed concerns about the uncertainty surrounding the delivery timings of aircraft, due to increased scrutiny from the Federal Aviation Administration and the Department of Justice of Boeing and its operations. As a result, the airline said that its full-year capacity expectations were still uncertain.