Delta Air Lines Plans To Slow Growth As Tariff Impact Starts To Hit Airline Bookings

China imposes 84% tariffs on US as leaders vow to hit back

President Donald Trump said countries were attempting to negotiate, while China imposed 84% tariffs on U.S. imports.

Delta Air Lines is bracing for the economic impact as tariff-driven uncertainty starts to affect the travel industry.

Ed Bastian, the airlines CEO, said Wednesday as the airline reported its first quarter earnings that it is scaling back growth plans for this year.

"With broad economic uncertainty around global trade, growth has largely stalled," he said in a statement.

Bookings are already softening from corporate and leisure customers, especially in domestic markets, although according to Delta, premium and international demand remains strong so far.

According to Cirium, an aviation data analytics firm, bookings are down for summer travel to Europe based on bookings from third-party platforms.

Contributing: Reuters

Zach Wichter is a travel reporter and writes the Cruising Altitude column for USA TODAY. He is based in New York and you can reach him at zwichter@usatoday.com.