Businesses Look to Their Wealthiest Customers in Uncertain Economy

Companies are leaning on their wealthiest customers.

Businesses are hoping affluent Americans’ spending will carry them through an economic slowdown. Airlines are relying on “premium” ticket sales, while luxury retailers are optimistic that wealthy households’ finances will hold up—and propel them through the current uncertainty.

“The high-end cohort—in the past four months—we did not see any difference,” said Brunello Cucinelli, founder of an eponymous luxury clothing line. “There is still a lot of openness and desire for good taste and lifestyle,” he added.

Sales of inexpensive flights, such as those in the middle of business days, have slowed, Delta Air Lines (DAL) and United Airlines (UAL) said on first-quarter conference calls this month. But business is booming for international and first-class fares, executives said. 

“Premium” tickets are a bigger share of revenue than Delta President Glen Hauenstein said he could recall previously seeing. He doesn’t see these travelers downgrading, according to a transcript made available from AlphaSense.

Wealthy global travelers are buying premium tickets for global trips, said United Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nocella. “That’s really good for our business,” he said.

High-end apparel and leather goods sales have been strong, but segments that attract more “aspirational” shoppers, including alcohol and cosmetics, may have been impacted by tariffs, said LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, a French luxury goods company.

The company’s response to the import taxes may involve increasing production of Louis Vuitton and Tiffany in the US and raising prices, executives said on a quarterly earnings call last week. It’ll also concentrate on wealthy clientele who are less likely to suffer financially, at least initially, CEO Bernard Arnault said at an annual meeting last week.

“This affluent customer segment is far more sustainable,” Arnault said, according to a recording on LVMH’s website. “We are inclined to the view of: let’s favor growth of the highest-end of our products.”

Brunello Cucinelli plans to raise prices 3% to 4% in the second half of 2025 in response to the tariffs, according to a transcript of a recent earnings call.