In the March 31st quarter, revenue for Chicago’s airline was $7.67 billion. This was 21% less than the first quarter 2019.
It still operates fewer flights than it did before the pandemic. It said that it had reopened all its lounges and resumed 19 international routes. Six cities have not been served since the outbreak.
After-hours trading saw shares of United Airlines Holdings Inc. jump almost 8% following the earnings report.
Paying passengers flew 27% less miles than a year ago. United has 73% of its seats filled. Although it’s not as high as 81% of all available seats prior to the pandemic it is still better than the 2021 first quarter when approximately half of all available seats were filled by paying passengers.
The airline seemed optimistic that pandemic-related losses would be behind them. United stated that it expected to make a profit in the second quarter as well as for the entire year 2022. This is despite United paying an average of $2.88 per gallon for fuel this quarter, an increase of 40% over the previous year.
Scott Kirby, United Airlines CEO, stated that “the demand environment is the strongest in my 30 year career in the industry” and added that there was clear evidence that the quarter to come will be a historic turning point for the company.
United’s quarterly loss was $4.24 per share. This compares to the loss of $1.36 Billion, or $4.29 per share, in that same period last year. According to FactSet, analysts had expected a loss of 4.22 cents per share for the most recent quarter.
