Alaska Airlines is canceling more than a dozen flights a day as tariffs hinder its ability to accept delivery of new aircraft, according to the carrier.
The Seattle, Washington-based airline said it wouldn’t immediately accept delivery of two Embraer 175 regional jets in order to avoid incurring the extra tariff-related costs. The aircraft were meant to serve Horizon Air, a regional subsidiary of Alaska Airlines.
President Trump’s tariff agenda has upended supply chains for a range of businesses, and has forced many companies to raise prices on consumers in order to protect their margins. The aviation industry has also warned that the levies will affect its business.
“We deeply regret the impact this situation will have on our guests this summer,” Alaska Airlines said in a statement to CBS News Wednesday.
“Amid the ongoing uncertain economic environment, we are focused on controlling what we can control — including costs, productivity, operational performance and taking care of our guests to the best of our ability. As part of this effort to control our costs, Alaska will not accept additional costs imposed by tariffs throughout our supply chain,” it added.
Without the new aircraft, Alaska said it must cancel 14 flights a day through the end of July. Horizon operates all of its flights on Embraer jets. Alaska operates an all-Boeing fleet.
The delayed aircraft were expected to arrive from Brazil in May. Brazilian imports to the United States have been subject to a 10% tariff since April.
Delta Air Lines also took steps to avoid paying tariffs on new aircraft earlier this year. In April, it had new Airbus A350 airlines delivered from France to Japan, and flew the planes internationally first, before bringing them to the U.S. Because the aircraft were not new on arrival in the U.S., the airline was not on the hook for paying tariffs on them.
Which routes is Alaska canceling?
The new planes had been scheduled to arrive by the end of May and were expected to go into service during the summer season for Horizon, which serves the Pacific Northwest, Alaska, California, Colorado, Utah and western Canada.
Alaska said it is cutting routes that are served by multiple flights, so that no single route is eliminated entirely, even temporarily.
“When deciding which flights to cancel, we put our guests at the center of consideration. We don’t take these decisions lightly as we know it means disruption for our guests and their travel plans. We assessed our network and protected the communities we serve that already have limited service. Our teams are working to reaccommodate all impacted guests on the next best option for their travel plans,” Alaska said in a statement.
Kris Van Cleave
contributed to this report.
