An illustration showing a giant King Kong-style ape with U.S. airlines flying nearby.
North America

Bear Market in the Air Market? U.S. Airlines Face a Downturn

North America

Bear Market in the Air Market? U.S. Airlines Face a Downturn

March 2025
39 min read
Gordon Smith and Jay Shabat

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Skift Take

A longterm plan to rightsize the federal government and reindustrialize the U.S.? Or economic suicide? To large swathes of corporate America right now, it feels like the latter. Tariff uncertainty and mass layoffs are rattling consumer and business confidence while erasing trillions in value from stock markets. Are airlines affected? As America’s largest carriers made clear last week, the answer is an emphatic yes.  

Issue Overview

A longterm plan to rightsize the federal government and reindustrialize the U.S.? Or economic suicide? To large swathes of corporate America right now, it feels like the latter. Tariff uncertainty and mass layoffs are rattling consumer and business confidence while erasing trillions in value from stock markets. Are airlines affected? As America’s largest carriers made clear last week, the answer is an emphatic yes.