By Shivansh Tiwary

April 18 (Reuters) - Alaska Air Group ( ALK ) forecast

current-quarter profit above estimates on Thursday, driven by

expectations of a strong summer season as travel demand soars.

The airline, the operator of the Boeing ( BA ) plane that

suffered a mid-air cabin blowout in January, also reported a

smaller loss in the first quarter, despite a $162 million impact

from the more-than-two-week grounding of its 737 MAX 9 aircraft.

In an interview with Reuters on Thursday, CFO Shane

Tackett said Alaska has deployed more of its inspectors at

Boeing's ( BA ) factories since the January incident to ensure the

jetmaker produces the highest quality aircraft that it can

confidently fly safely.

Alaska Air ( ALK ) reported an adjusted loss of 92 cents per share,

compared with analysts' average estimates for a $1.05 loss,

according to LSEG data.

The Seattle, Washington-based airline would have reported an

adjusted profit of about $5 million for the quarter, absent the

groundings of its MAX 9 jets.

To address the financial damages, Alaska Air ( ALK ) received $162

million in initial cash compensation from Boeing ( BA ), which has been

excluded from its first-quarter results.

Many airline executives have highlighted robust travel

demand across both domestic and international routes during the

upcoming summer season.

Alaska Air ( ALK ) forecast a second-quarter profit of $2.20 to

$2.40 per share, compared with analysts' average estimate of

$2.12 per share.

"Thanks to thoughtful capacity planning, network

optimization, and diligent cost control, we are well-positioned

to carry our strong performance into the second quarter and

beyond," CEO Ben Minicucci said.

Its operating revenue rose 1.6% to $2.23 billion, beating

Street expectations of $2.19 billion.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio

D'Souza and Devika Syamnath)