UAL, the parent company of United Airlines, reported better than expected results Tuesday on a mix of heightened fares and increased travel.
During the company's conference call Chief Executive Glenn Tilton said he was encouraged by what he sees as "early signs" of growing demand from business fliers, according to TradeTheNews.com. Regarding industry mergers, Tilton, a proponent of the benefits of consolidation said "UAL is carefully considering its options.
Wall Street has been anxiously awaiting word on possible merger and acquisition deals within the industry, particularly between United and Continental Airlines, but management did not comment specifically on its talks with Continental during the conference call. On April 22 US Airways said merger talks with United had broken off. US Air also reported first-quarter results Tuesday, announcing that it narrowed its loss to $45 million, or 28 cents per share.
UAL posted a first-quarter loss of $82 million, or 49 cents per share, Tuesday, a substantial improvement from the $382 million, or $2.64 per share, loss reported in last year’s corresponding period and better than the loss of 72 cents per share Wall Street expected. Sales of $4.2 billion were in line with expectations and up from $3.7 billion in the first quarter of 2009.
During the conference call the company said flight cancellations related to the Icelandic volcanic ash cost United between $30 million and $35 million, though it has already been incorporated into the April outlook.
In a memo Tuesday Kathryn Mikells, UAL's chief financial officer, told employees that the sales rise is a direct reflection of the company's efforts to control its capacity, change its international aircraft configuration and manage its inventory as well as its customer service, according to the Associated Press.
The improvement experienced during the first quarter came as UAL enjoyed a 19% year-over-year increase in consolidated passenger revenue per available seat-mile for the first quarter. It also saw a 4.8% year-over-year increase in consolidated unit cost per available seat-mile, for the quarter, excluding fuel and certain accounting charges, against a reduction in consolidated capacity of 3.3% year-over-year. United also announced that it made agreements with both Boeing and Airbus to buy 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft and 25 Airbus A350 XWB aircraft.
"We are pleased to report an operating profit in what is traditionally a weak quarter for United compared to our peers, clearly reflective of our commitment to drive systemic improvements that are delivering results across the company," said UAL's chief executive. "We are committed to margin leadership, having produced the best net margin of the five major carriers this quarter, and are doing the work to put our company on the path to sustained profitability."
