United's corporate revenue increased 6 percent year over
year during the second quarter, and passenger revenue grew by about the same
rate to $10.5 billion.
Revenue growth came despite several challenges during the
quarter, including the grounding of Boeing 737 Max aircraft, a 17 percent year-over-year
increase in weather-related delays and United's suspension
of its flights to India, United president Scott Kirby said.
Earlier this week, United announced it was extending its
suspension of flights to New Delhi and Mumbai to Oct. 26. However, Pakistan
since has announced it will reopen its airspace to the routes, so United service
now will return on Sept. 6, United chief commercial officer and VP Andrew
Nocella said.
United traffic rose 5.1 percent year over year during the
second quarter as capacity increased 3.6 percent. Load factor increased 1.2
percentage points to 86 percent, and yield rose 1 percent.
Passenger revenue increased across all regions. Latin
America, where revenue increased 13.6 percent and yield increased 6.5 percent, performed
the strongest, Nocella said. Domestic passenger revenue increased 5.9 percent,
and Nocella said close-in business demand was strong on domestic routes. Yield declined
1.5 percent on transatlantic routes and 1.1 percent on transpacific routes.
United reported a net income of $1.05 billion for the second
quarter, up from $683 million in the second quarter of 2018. A Cowen research
note said the carrier "is executing well" and "has offset most
of the headwinds associated with having the Max out of service, weather and
other network issues."
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