Alaska Air Group, Inc. has announced that its first quarter adjusted loss per share will exclude Boeing compensation due to changes in accounting treatment. The aerospace giant can expect losses ranging from approximately $1.15 to $1.05 per share. This figure includes around $0.95 in lost revenue caused by the grounding of Flight 1282 and the financial impact of the 737-9 MAX incident. Previously, the company projected losses of between $0.55 and $0.45 per share.
In an earlier investor update, Alaska Air Group expressed its intent to include the loss compensation in its profit calculations. However, an in-depth examination of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles and similar industry transactions led the organization to revise its accounting approach.
The company noted that its first quarter operations suffered significant blowbacks due to the grounding of Flight 1282 in January and the Boeing 737-9 MAX incident that continued into February. Should these events not have occurred, the company's first quarter adjusted pretax profit would have seen approximately an 80% increase over the first quarter of 2023. This significantly surmounts the 30% pre-grounding profit growth expectation.
