April 18 Reuters Alaska Air Group on Thursday forecast strongerthanexpected earnings in the current quarter on the back of a pickup in business travel demand, sending its shares higher.

The airline, the operator of the Boeing plane that suffered a midair cabin blowout in January, also reported a smaller loss in the first quarter, despite a 162 million impact from the morethantwoweek grounding of its 737 MAX 9 aircraft.

Alaska39;s shares were up about 5 at 44.95 in morning trade.

In an interview, Chief Financial Officer Shane Tackett said while leisure travel demand remains strong, corporate travel spending is now gathering steam.

Business travel is better than we expected, he told Reuters.

Other U.S. carriers have also reported a pickup in corporate travel, which is seen as a cash cow for the industry.

As a result, Alaska expects the outlook for the remainder of the year to be more stable that it had predicted coming into the year, Tackett said.

The airline now expects fullyear earnings to be in the range of 3.25 to 5.25 a share, an upgrade from 3 to 5 a share, Tackett said.

However, Tackett also flagged higher fuel costs as a concern for the company. Alaska suspended its oil hedging program late last year as its hedges were not able to protect it from refining margin volatility.

Tackett said the airline would examine if restarting the hedging program makes sense.

The company reported an adjusted loss of 92 cents per share in the March quarter, compared with…