Lindblad Expeditions is generating capacity growth in 2026 almost entirely through a reduction of non-revenue days, an initiative that CEO Natalya Leahy said is now delivering tangible results.

Speaking on the company’s fourth quarter and full year 2025 earnings call, Leahy said Lindblad has cut non-revenue days by more than 100, freeing up additional voyages and driving incremental capacity.

The effort, she said, is the primary engine behind the company’s low-single-digit capacity growth in 2026, achieved without adding new vessels.

“We are now realizing the benefits from last year’s deployment optimization work,” Leahy said. “Capacity growth in 2026 is driven almost entirely by drydock and deployment optimization that reduced non-revenue days by over 100, enabling us to release additional voyages.”

Available guest nights for 2026 are expected to increase 4.5 to 5 percent year over year, according to CFO Rick Goldberg, with roughly half of that gain coming directly from deployment optimization and the reduction of non-revenue days.

Leahy was clear that the initiative will continue.

“We’ve extended this work into our 2027 performance and beyond,” she said