United Airlines on Tuesday posted a net profit of $273
million for the quarter, its first quarterly profit since 2007, building on the
profitable second-quarter earnings season predicted by analysts and kicked off
on Monday by Delta Air Lines.
Executive vice president and CFO Kathryn Mikells, during the carrier's
earnings call on Tuesday, said United's second-quarter performance was driven
by "our strong revenue recovery," with consolidated passenger revenue
per available seat mile increasing by nearly 27 percent, representing growth of
more than $1 billion in revenue compared with the same quarter in 2009. Total
passenger traffic volume grew nearly 4 percent during the quarter, compared
with the same period last year. "We feel pretty good right now about our
trajectory for the second half of the year," Mikells said.
CEO Glenn Tilton said United reported particularly strong revenue performance
for Asia and Latin America—both of which saw PRASM growth in excess of 50
percent—while premium cabin traffic also made strong gains, surging 46 percent
across the Pacific and 38 percent across the Atlantic.
Noted United president John Tague during the call, "Corporate contracts,
premium travel—those types of things that are normally the sources of strong
performance—are currently performing very well."