Here is something we usually do not think about when we buy a plane ticket: the airline selling it to us is having a year too. And early 2026 was a rough one to read. The big US carriers just closed the books on the first quarter, which runs January through March, and the results were all over the map. Some made real money. Some lost it. And nearly every one of them spent the earnings call talking about the same thing. So grab a coffee, and let us walk through who did what.
United had the cleanest win. When it reported on April 21, it posted total operating revenue of $14.6 billion, up 10.6% from a year earlier, which it called its highest-revenue first quarter ever. Net income came in at $699 million, and diluted earnings per share hit $2.14, up 84.5%. CEO Scott Kirby said the results show the resilience of United's long-term strategy even amid escalating fuel expense.
Delta is a little trickier, so stick with us. Its headline number, reported April 8, showed a net loss of $289 million. But that loss came from an accounting mark, an unrealized loss on some investments Delta holds, not from the flying business. Strip that out and Delta's adjusted pre-tax income was $532 million, up about 42%, with adjusted earnings per share of $0.64, up 40%. Adjusted revenue was $14.2 billion, up 9.4%. So on the part that matters, Delta made money.
Southwest rounded out the profitable group. On April 22 it reported record first-quarter revenue of $7.25 billion, up 12.8%, and net income of $227 million, or $0.45 a share. Its operating margin of 4.6% was an improvement of 8.1 points year over year, and it generated $1.4 billion in operating cash flow. Southwest called the quarter a turning point, saying its big transformation plan, including assigned seating and new ancillary revenue, is finally delivering.
American pulled in record first-quarter revenue of $13.9 billion, up 10.8%, but still landed a net loss of $382 million on April 23. Even setting special items aside, it lost $267 million. CEO Robert Isom pointed to a $320 million revenue hit from winter storms and said American still anticipates modest profitability for the full year, despite a jet fuel expense increase of more than $4 billion.
JetBlue reported on April 28 with revenue of $2.2 billion, up 4.7%, but a net loss of $319 million, wider than its $208 million loss a year earlier. Alaska made the most eye-catching move. It reported April 20 with revenue of $3.3 billion, up 5%, and a net loss of $193 million. Then it suspended its full-year 2026 guidance entirely, saying it simply could not see far enough ahead because of fuel price volatility. Frontier, reporting May 5, posted a GAAP net loss of $272 million, though $139 million of that was one-time charges, including a TSA fee charge and the early lease termination of 24 A320neo jets. Adjusted, the loss narrowed to $68 million.
Here is the thread tying it all together. A war between the US, Israel, and Iran began on February 28, 2026, and Iran closed the Strait of Hormuz on March 4, disrupting roughly 20% of the world's oil supply. Brent crude jumped from about $72 a barrel in late February to a peak of $112.57 on March 27, a gain of about 55%. Jet fuel got hit even harder, reportedly up about 106% year over year.
The timing is the key. That spike landed at the very end of the quarter, so the Q1 numbers themselves were only lightly singed. The real worry showed up in the guidance:
The clearest casualty was Spirit. It shut down completely on May 2, 2026, ceasing all operations before dawn, the first major US airline to fail from financial problems in more than 20 years. Spirit blamed the oil price surge from the war, noting that the fuel it paid went from about $2.50 a gallon in late February to $4.88 by early April. About 17,000 workers lost their jobs.
Early 2026 was not a disaster for the big carriers, but it was a warning shot. The airlines with the strongest balance sheets and the highest-value customers, United and Delta, kept making money. The ones with thinner margins felt the strain fast. And the whole industry spent the quarter bracing for a fuel bill that had not fully hit yet. If your summer fares felt a little higher, now you know part of the reason. The airlines were suddenly paying a lot more to fill the tanks, and some of that always finds its way to us.
Reported from public sources. Figures were accurate around the time of writing and can change as airlines report new results.
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