United Airlines reported a double-digit increase in corporate revenue year over year in the third quarter as passenger revenue rose 11.6 percent to $10.1 billion.
COO and EVP Greg Hart said that as operational performance has improved, the carrier has won back some corporate business. Across its network, United reported the best July in its history in terms of, for example, on-time performance. Completion factors at its Houston, Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington, D.C., hubs set third-quarter records. United executives also said the carrier has increased its payments to travel agencies to win corporate business, though it was "a responsive measure, as opposed to a leading measure."
United's new revenue management system has had a hand in boosting revenue, as well. With improved forecasting, the carrier has cut down on lower-priced tickets booked farther out from travel and still was able to push mainline load factors in July to around 90 percent, chief commercial officer and EVP Andrew Nocella said.
Capacity rose 5.1 percent year over year in the third quarter as traffic increased 7.2 percent, pushing third-quarter load factor up 1.6 percentage points to 86 percent. Capacity at United's Chicago, Houston and Denver hubs increased 9.7 percent. Yield rose 4.1 percent.
United reported a net income of $836 million for the third quarter, compared with $645 million in the third quarter of 2018. Fuel costs increased 42.2 percent year over year.
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