By Shivansh Tiwary and Rajesh Kumar Singh

Oct 23 (Reuters) - Alaska Air Group ( ALK ) lowered its

2025 profit forecast on Thursday as higher fuel costs and

operational challenges, including adverse weather, weighed on

its margins.

The carrier also forecast its fourth-quarter profit well

below analysts' expectations.

Refinery outages on the U.S. West Coast have significantly

tightened fuel supplies, sending prices sharply higher and

adding pressure to airlines already grappling with rising

operational costs.

"Fuel, it's volatile, and that's one of the things that

we're having to manage through in terms of making an estimate

for earnings in the fourth quarter," Alaska Air CFO Shane

Tackett told Reuters.

Operational disruptions have increasingly pressured U.S.

carriers this year, with storms and strained air traffic control

capacity leading to costly disruptions across the industry.

The company now expects its annual adjusted profit per share

to be at least $2.40, compared with its previous forecast of

more than $3.25.

It also expects fourth-quarter adjusted profit of at least

40 cents a share, compared with analysts' estimate of 88 cents,

according to data compiled by LSEG.

A major IT outage also hit Alaska Air ( ALK ) in July, disrupting

hundreds of flights and stranding thousands of passengers during

the peak summer travel season.

However, the industry's efforts to curb seat supply and

counter discounting pressures following a demand slump in the

first half of the year have started to bear some fruit.

"We expect to have positive unit revenues in the fourth

quarter," Tackett said.

The company's yields, a key gauge for pricing power, rose

about 1.4% in the quarter through September, while its unit

costs excluding fuel were up about 8.6%.

"Costs will meaningfully improve sequentially on a unit cost

basis from Q3," he added.

The carrier posted quarterly adjusted profit of $1.05 per

share, falling short of analysts' average estimate of $1.13

apiece.

Total third-quarter operating revenue rose 23% to $3.77

billion from a year ago, compared with expectations of $3.76

billion.