(Reuters) - Alaska Air Group forecast its fourth-quarter profit below analysts' expectations on Thursday, as higher costs associated with overstaffing and aircraft delivery delays dented margins.

The Seattle, Washington-based carrier has been hit by delayed jet deliveries, which have reduced its aircraft utilization and left it with excess staffing, adding to its cost burden.

"We remain resourced for higher capacity and are experiencing the lowest attrition rates across the company since 2019," Alaska Air said.

It expects a high single-digit percentage increase to its unit costs in the fourth quarter over the year earlier.

Alaska expects the cost pressure from excess staffing and lower capacity to be transitory and to return to resource levels relative to its capacity throughout 2025.

The carrier, which completed the acquisition of its peer Hawaiian Airlines last month, forecast a fourth-quarter profit of 20 cents to 40 cents per share. Analysts on average estimated 63 cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Third-quarter adjusted profit of $2.25 per share, however, surpassed estimates of $2.17 per share, aided by improved pricing power in the latter half of the period.

Total operating revenue rose 8% to $3.07 billion for the three months ended Sept. 30, also beating Wall Street expectations of $2.99 billion.

Shares of the company were up 3% in morning trading.

(Reporting by Shivansh Tiwary in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)