With Delta Air Lines slated to report fourth-quarter earnings January 13, U.S. airlines are optimistic about 2026 as they focus more on appealing to wealthy travelers.
Carriers were able to weather 2025 better-than-expected. Initially, tariff shocks and geopolitical instability were expected to dampen travel demand. However, most airline executives said they found spending among wealthy travelers to be the most resilient and they expect that trend to continue into 2026.
“The higher up the income spectrum you go, the better you are, relatively more so now than maybe ever,” said Delta CEO Ed Bastian at an event in Washington, D.C. in September.
“We do see on the lower end of the economic spectrum there is, there’s definitely a lot of price sensitivity.”
Travel spending among lower-income households decreased over past year, and airlines started shedding domestic capacity in response. A study from the Bank of America Instit