Ed Bastian, CEO of Delta Airlines, has historically been an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump.
Shortly after Trump’s re-election, Bastian said Trump will be a “breath of fresh air” after airlines suffered from government “overreach.” In February, Bastian defended the Trump administration’s firing of Federal Aviation Administration workers, saying he’s “not concerned” about the move “at all.”
As Trump took office, Bastian’s company predicted 2025 could be its best year yet. While Delta Airlines is still expected to have “solid profitability” this year, Bastian conceded that its growth has stalled, in part, thanks to Trump.
“It looks like at the present time, growth has stalled,” Bastian said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Bastian then noted Trump’s wide-reaching tariffs have created “a chaotic period, which is what we’re going through right now.”
Delta isn’t alone. Several airlines are seeing downturns in sales as consumers put off travel amid concerns about rising prices and a weak economy, according to the Journal. Even government travel travel has dropped amid Elon Musk and DOGE’s cost-cutting driver, while lucrative corperate bookings have also slowed.
U.S. tourism hotspots are also suffering. The tourism industry predicted 2025 to be another good year for foreign travelers visiting the U.S., but now international arrivals are plummeting, ABC News reports. Some analysts are attributing this drop to anger over Trump’s tariffs and concerns about reports of tourists being arrested at the border, according to the outlet.
Jed Meyer tells the Journal he’s one of those consumers concerned about making travel plans amid an uncertain market.
“I’ve been sitting on my hands and not planning as much for summer or the latter part of the year because I don’t know what’s going to happen,” Meyer said.
Airlines are, however, still hoping for a busy summer season.
“We’ve definitely seen a consumer that is clearly being a little more cautious about how they’re spending their money,” said Andrew Levy, CEO of budget-airline startup Avelo Airlines told the Journal. “I feel good about summer, but I know it’s way too early to feel really good about it.”
The stock market has suffered over the last week after Trump announced at least 10 percent blanket tariffs on almost all countries, calling it America’s “Liberation Day.” Many countries saw tariffs much higher than the 10 percent baseline.
The market closed with a bloodbath Friday as the Dow Jones lost 2,231 points and the S&P 500 dropped 6 percent. As a result, last week marked the worst week for the stock market since 2020, and only the fourth time in history that the Dow lost 2,000 points in a single day.
Monday’s market was volatile following false news reports that the president was considering a 90-day pause on his tariffs. The rumor caused the market to jump, but they quickly fell again once the claim was proven false. The market gained — then lost — an estimated $2.4 trillion in a matter of minutes as a result.
On Tuesday and early Wednesday, stocks began to gain again, with the Nasdaq Composite jumping over 1.5%, according to the Journal.
JPMorgan’s Chief Economist Bruce Kasman said Friday the investment bank now sees a 60 percent chance of the global economy entering a recession in 2025, up from 40 percent. The last time the increase in chance was that large was in 1968 — and it was followed by a recession, JPMorgan economists noted.
The Republican plan to silence millions of voters
IRS chief resigns after deal with ICE to share undocumented taxpayer data
China mocks Trump tariffs with AI clip of US sweatshop workers ‘making America great’
Trump tells world to ‘be cool’ as China introduces 84% retaliatory tariffs: Live
‘We got our a***s kicked’: Steve Bannon shreds Elon Musk after Wisconsin loss
Jamie Dimon tells Maria Bartiromo that recession is ‘likely’ and he expects defaults
