News: Airlines report uptick in business travel

Alaska Airlines last week joined a few of its major rivals in saying business travel is rebounding. Mark Calvey of the San Francisco Business Times reports the carrier in a recent federal filing noted that it had seen a sharp jump in corporate travel since the second quarter ended June 30. “Yields turned positive year-over-year in August,” Alaska said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, “driven by premium cabin strength and a double-digit rebound in corporate revenue since [second quarter] 2025.”

The filing comes after United Airlines Chief Financial Officer Mike Leskinen earlier this month said his company also had seen a pickup in business travel. “It was like a light switch [in] late July, early August,” Leskinen said.

Delta Air Lines similarly is seeing strength in corporate travel. “People are back in the office. The country is open for business, and I think a lot of the hesitation that occurred when tariffs were first introduced is starting to unwind,” Delta President Glen Hauenstein said at this month’s annual Morgan Stanley Laguna Conference.

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