Delta CEO braces flyers for higher fares amid surge in oil prices tied to Iran war
The CEO of Delta Air Lines, Ed Bastian, braced customers for higher fares following the surge in oil prices sparked by the US-Israel war on Iran, amid strong demand from passengers.Though rising oil prices have cost the company an extra $330m in fuel expenses, and it projected a $2bn increase in fuel costs in the current quarter, Delta forecast that revenue would grow 10% as flyers continue to book flights.It was a “healthy” time to travel, Bastian said on Wednesday.But as several carriers raise baggage fees, blaming volatility in the oil markets, Bastian hinted such moves could be permanent – increasing the cost of air travel.“At this level of fuel [pricing], it’s hard to call anything temporary,” he said.
Oil prices plunged after Iran announced the strait of Hormuz will be reopened as part of a two-week ceasefire agreement it made with the US,Brent crude, the global benchmark, dropped from $110 a barrel to under $95 a barrel, though prices are still about $20 a barrel higher than before the conflict began,Major US airlines have been rocked since the US-Israel conflict with Iran began in late February,American Airlines and United’s stock prices have jumped down 25% and 13% respectively since the start of the year,In late March, the United Airlines CEO, Scott Kirby, said that ticket prices could jump 20% if fuel prices remained high, though airlines are trying to prevent consumer demand from falling.
“Demand is the strongest it’s been,” Kirby said in March, noting that 2026 had been a record-breaking year for travel bookings.Though Delta’s share price rose 17% last year with soaring demand, its stock price has remained flat so far this year – a sign of both consumer resilience and that the conflict may have eaten into the company’s growth.Its shares rose 6% during early trading on Wednesday.Bastian said that Delta will cut some capacity, trimming midweek and overnight flights that have fewer passengers, but use up expensive fuel.United made a similar announcement of capacity cuts last month as it projected higher oil prices for the rest of the year.
But Bastian had previously said Delta had benefited from the impacts of the K-shaped economy, in which huge growth in the stock market has led to more spending from affluent Americans whose wealth is tied to markets, even as lower-income Americans pull back spending due to higher prices.Even before the conflict, he noted that most of the company’s growth came from wealthier customers buying business- and first-class seats.Now, those customers are still spending.“Our consumers, who sit at the top end of the K, are continuing to invest in travel,” Bastian told CNBC.“It’s their priority, and they want to have that experience.
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As I write this, I sigh and realise that despite the president of the United States dropping his threats to commit war crimes and destroy Iranian civilisation, he is always a chance to set the world on fire because it’s been more than 20 minutes since he had a Diet Coke.This, of course, is hyperbolic. I think.Economies are rather tough enough to predict without having to deal with the erratic actions of a man whose cerebrum is indistinguishable from a particularly rancid Chicken McNugget.So take all of that into consideration
Shell oil trading profits soar amid Iran war but Qatar strikes hit gas output
Shell is expected to report “significantly higher” profits from its trading desks in the first quarter of this year after weeks of market volatility triggered by the Iran crisis.The surge in energy commodity markets over recent weeks is expected to drive up trading results at Shell’s chemicals and products unit, which includes its main oil trading desk.The global oil price has climbed from about $61 a barrel in January to highs of $119 at the end of March, including some of the biggest daily price moves on record, owing to major disruptions to flows of oil and gas through the strait of Hormuz.The market volatility provides an opportunity for traders to make large profits, but also presents a risk of heavy losses.In addition to Shell’s oil trading windfall, it is also expected to report higher trading profits from its renewable energy division
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AI chatbots like ChatGPT, Gemini and Claude are now a part of everyday life.More and more people are using them to help make decisions in their lives, like sending text messages, deciding what to cook, or navigating relationships.We want to hear about your experiences of using chatbots. Are you addicted to them? And what type of decisions are you using them for?You can tell us your experiences of using chatbots using this form.Please include as much detail as possible
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Tens of thousands of people have been paid by a company part-owned by Meta to train AI by combing Instagram accounts, harvesting copyrighted work and transcribing pornographic soundtracks, the Guardian can reveal.Scale AI, 49%-controlled by Mark Zuckerberg’s social media empire, has recruited experts across fields such as medicine, physics and economics – putatively to refine top-level artificial intelligence systems through a platform called Outlier. “Become the expert that AI learns from,” it says on its site, advertising flexible work for people with strong credentials.However, workers for the platform said they have become involved in scraping an array of other people’s personal data – in what they described as a morally uncomfortable exercise that diverged significantly from refining high-level systems.Outlier is managed by Scale AI, which has contracts with the Pentagon and US defense companies
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The chief executive of the British Horseracing Authority, Brant Dunshea, has revealed the sport will consider more direct action protests as they continue to battle against government plans to introduce affordability tests for punters. A one-day strike last September that led to four scheduled meetings being cancelled played a pivotal role in the government abandoning the increase in tax on betting from 15% to 21%, which the BHA estimated would have cost £330m to the industry.The BHA have followed their “Axe the Racing Tax” campaign with a coordinated attempt to persuade the government to think again about affordability checks, which, if introduced, would require up to 120,000 regular gamblers to provide personal documentation in order to continue betting, according to research from the Betting and Gaming Council.Independent modelling conducted by the global accountancy firm EY has found that up to 44,000 could switch to black market operators as a result, which would cost tens of millions of pounds in racing’s betting turnover, already down £2bn since 2021.The Gambling Commission board is due to make a decision on whether to introduce the checks next month, with more than 400 racing figures including prominent trainers and MPs writing an open letter this week to the culture secretary, Lisa Nandy, urging her to intervene
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