United Airlines Reports Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year 2017 Performance
"I am incredibly proud of how our employees delivered in 2017, achieving our best-ever operational performance. Reliability is an important pillar in our continued focus on further improving the customer experience," said Oscar Munoz, chief executive officer of United Airlines. "Looking ahead, we are committed to improving profitability over the long-term by building on the strong foundation we have laid over the past two years. Everyone at United is excited to enter 2018 with a clear set of priorities and a renewed sense of purpose around unlocking the full potential of United Airlines."
Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Revenue
For the fourth quarter of 2017, revenue was $9.4 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent year-over-year. Fourth-quarter 2017 consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) was up 0.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Cargo revenue was $304 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, an increase of 21.6 percent year-over-year primarily due to higher international freight volume and yields. For the full year of 2017, total revenue was $37.7 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent year-over-year.
"Everything we do at United is underpinned by a commitment to deliver top tier operational reliability," said Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines. "Thanks to the drive and dedication of our employees, we have significantly raised the bar in this area, delivering a record-setting operational performance in 2017. Looking ahead, our focus will be on continuing to improve customer service and expanding United's network to offer customers more choice."
Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Costs
Total operating expense was $8.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 8.2 percent year-over-year. Consolidated unit cost per available seat mile (CASM) increased 4.0 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016 due largely to higher fuel and labor expense. Fourth-quarter consolidated CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing, increased 1.5 percent year-over-year, driven mainly by higher labor expense. For the full year, consolidated CASM increased 2.8 percent compared to full-year 2016 due largely to higher fuel and labor expense. Excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing, consolidated CASM increased 3.1 percent compared to the prior year primarily due to expenses resulting from labor agreements ratified in 2016.
"We are encouraged by our financial results in the fourth quarter which capped a year of strong earnings. Additionally, throughout the year we made significant investments in the business while continuing to return cash to our shareholders through $1.8 billion of share repurchases," said Andrew Levy, executive vice president and chief financial officer of United Airlines. "In 2018, we will continue to focus on cost control, invest strategically into the business and utilize our new $3 billion share repurchase authorization to return cash to our shareholders."
Capital Allocation
UAL generated $728 million in operating cash flow during the fourth quarter of 2017 and ended the quarter with $5.8 billion in unrestricted liquidity, including $2.0 billion of undrawn commitments under its revolving credit facility. UAL generated $3.4 billion in operating cash flow for the full year. The company continued to invest in its business through capital expenditures of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter and a total of $4.0 billion for the full year. Adjusted capital expenditures, measured as capital expenditures including assets acquired through the issuance of debt and capital leases, airport construction financing, and excluding fully reimbursable projects, were $1.0 billion during the fourth quarter and $4.7 billion for the full year in 2017. The company contributed $419 million to its pension plans and made debt and capital lease principal payments of $1.0 billion during 2017.
For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2017, the company's pre-tax income was $3.0 billion and return on invested capital (ROIC) was 13.8 percent. In the fourth quarter, UAL purchased $553 million of its common shares at an average price of $59.61 per share. During 2017, UAL purchased $1.8 billion of its common shares at an average price of $66.30 per share. The company completed its July 2016 $2 billion share repurchase program and announced authorization for a new $3 billion share repurchase program, which represents approximately 14 percent of the company's market capitalization based on the closing stock price on Jan. 22, 2018.
UAL management will host an Investor Event at 4:30pm ET today to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 earnings, outline 2018 priorities, provide an update on United's network strategy and deliver a financial update. During this presentation, UAL will provide full-year 2018 guidance including earnings per share and establish long-term earnings targets. Please visit ir.united.com to access the first-quarter 2018 investor update, the webcast of the event and the company's presentation made available during the webcast, the entirety of which will be available on the website at the conclusion of the event.
Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Highlights
Operations and Employees
- Achieved a record-setting year for operational reliability, including best on-time departure performance, fewest cancellations, and best baggage handling performance.
- The fourth quarter saw a record-breaking performance during the busy holiday travel season.
- In December, United was first place among competitors in mainline on-time departures, completion factor, and on-time arrivals.
- In November, United set company performance records during the busy Thanksgiving travel week, landing its best-ever Thanksgiving completion factor and twice breaking on-time performance records in the midst of the busiest travel days of the year.
- Employees earned incentive payments of approximately $30 million for achieving operations performance goals in the fourth quarter, marking a full year of earned bonuses totaling approximately $87 million.
- The company earned its seventh consecutive perfect 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index and a spot on the organization's list of "Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality."
- Recognized as a Top 100 Best Places to Work in the U.S. by the Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards.
- Announced the appointment of Regional Presidents for California and New York/New Jersey, demonstrating our commitment to these communities and our hubs.
- In response to the catastrophic weather events Harvey, Irma and Maria, United and its employees came together to keep the operation moving and take part in relief efforts, delivering more than 1.7 million pounds of relief supplies to impacted areas, and together with customers and employees, raised and contributed more than $9 million to community assistance.
Network and Fleet
- Last year, announced 44 new domestic routes from the company's seven U.S. mainland hubs, and increased service on 11 routes to the Hawaiian Islands from Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco – offering more nonstop service to Hawaiian destinations than any other carrier.
- Announced 13 new international routes in 2017 including its newest route San Francisco to Papeete, Tahiti starting seasonally in October 2018.
- By increasing its nonstop service from six hub cities to nine ski destinations, United offers customers the most service to the most ski destinations across the U.S.
- During 2017, took delivery of 19 new Boeing aircraft, including twelve 777-300ER, three 787-9, four 737-800 and eight used Airbus aircraft including two A320 and six A319.
- Announced an agreement with Boeing to convert 100 current 737 MAX orders into 737 MAX 10 aircraft starting in late 2020.
- Announced an agreement with Airbus to modify its A350 order resulting in a conversion of the model type from the A350-1000 to the A350-900, an increase in the order size from 35 to 45 aircraft and a deferral of the first delivery to late 2022.
- Retired the company's iconic Boeing 747 fleet with a final farewell flight between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Customer Experience
- Took several actions to improve the overall customer experience – including providing more tools to employees to assist customers and increasing compensation for denied boarding.
- Rolled out system-wide new Customer Solutions Desk with a dedicated team to develop creative solutions to assist customers in reaching their final destinations when their travel plans don't go as expected.
- Decreased involuntary denied boardings by 92% since April, and in December only had 13 involuntary denied boardings.
- Upgraded the Houston and Newark terminal experience with the opening of OTG experience, opened new security lanes with automated security bins at Chicago and Newark, and opened the brand new upgraded Los Angeles United Club along with new Global Services lobbies in Houston, Newark and Los Angeles.
- Improved the customer experience at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport by offering customers shorter, more convenient connection times and better access to more destinations through "rebanking" of the hub. UAL will "rebank" Chicago O'Hare beginning in February of 2018.
- Unveiled new enhancements to United's award-winning mobile app including bag tracking feature, ability to change and cancel flights in the app, add MileagePlus and United Club cards to the Apple Wallet, and allow customers to access boarding passes for 19 other carriers.
- Became the first airline to give customers access to flight information and other amenities skills for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Fitbit Ionic smartwatch.
- Continued to improve the mobile tools used by employees, including the first release of the "in the moment" care app, and new functionality in flight attendant tools to better serve customers.
- The company received the CIO 100 award, an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence in business technology.
- Launched a new online portal, United Jetstream, in an effort to simplify the travel management process and give corporate and agency customers an intuitive suite of self-service tools.
About United
United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,500 flights a day to 338 airports across five continents. In 2017, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 148 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 744 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 518 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 191 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "UAL".
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
Certain statements included in this release are forward-looking and thus reflect our current expectations and beliefs with respect to certain current and future events and anticipated financial and operating performance. Such forward-looking statements are and will be subject to many risks and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "will," "plans," "anticipates," "indicates," "believes," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Additionally, forward-looking statements include statements that do not relate solely to historical facts, such as statements which identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of current known trends or uncertainties, or which indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to us on the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: our ability to comply with the terms of our various financing arrangements; the costs and availability of financing; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to execute our operational plans and revenue-generating initiatives, including optimizing our revenue; our ability to control our costs, including realizing benefits from our resource optimization efforts, cost reduction initiatives and fleet replacement programs; costs associated with any modification or termination of our aircraft orders; our ability to utilize our net operating losses; our ability to attract and retain customers; potential reputational or other impact from adverse events in our operations; demand for transportation in the markets in which we operate; an outbreak of a disease that affects travel demand or travel behavior; demand for travel and the impact that global economic and political conditions have on customer travel patterns; excessive taxation and the inability to offset future taxable income; general economic conditions (including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, investment or credit market conditions, crude oil prices, costs of aircraft fuel and energy refining capacity in relevant markets); economic and political instability and other risks of doing business globally; our ability to cost-effectively hedge against increases in the price of aircraft fuel if we decide to do so; any potential realized or unrealized gains or losses related to fuel or currency hedging programs; the effects of any hostilities, act of war or terrorist attack; the ability of other air carriers with whom we have alliances or partnerships to provide the services contemplated by the respective arrangements with such carriers; the effects of any technology failures or cybersecurity breaches; disruptions to our regional network; the costs and availability of aviation and other insurance; industry consolidation or changes in airline alliances; the success of our investments in airlines in other parts of the world; competitive pressures on pricing and on demand; our capacity decisions and the capacity decisions of our competitors; U.S. or foreign governmental legislation, regulation and other actions (including Open Skies agreements and environmental regulations); the impact of regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks; the impact of any management changes; labor costs; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and the results of any collective bargaining agreement process with our union groups; any disruptions to operations due to any potential actions by our labor groups; weather conditions; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Part I, Item 1A., "Risk Factors," of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
-tables attached-
| (In millions, except per share data) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating revenue: Passenger: Mainline |
$6,582 | $6,295 | 4.6 | $26,552 | $25,414 | 4.5 |
| Operating revenue: Passenger: Regional | 1,498 | 1,466 | 2.2 | 5,852 | 6,043 | (3.2) |
| Operating revenue: Passenger: (B) Total passenger revenue | 8,080 | 7,761 | 4.1 | 32,404 | 31,457 | 3.0 |
| Operating revenue: Cargo | 304 | 250 | 21.6 | 1,035 | 876 | 18.2 |
| Operating revenue: Other operating revenue | 1,054 | 1,041 | 1.2 | 4,297 | 4,223 | 1.8 |
| Operating revenue:Other operating revenue: Total operating revenue | 9,438 | 9,052 | 4.3 | 37,736 | 36,556 | 3.2 |
| Operating expense: Salaries and related costs |
2,704 | 2,568 | 5.3 | 11,045 | 10,275 | 7.5 |
| Operating expense: Aircraft fuel(C) | 1,875 | 1,555 | 20.6 | 6,913 | 5,813 | 18.9 |
| Operating expense: Landing fees and other rent | 570 | 553 | 3.1 | 2,240 | 2,165 | 3.5 |
| Operating expense: Regional capacity purchase | 580 | 552 | 5.1 | 2,232 | 2,197 | 1.6 |
| Operating expense: Depreciation and amortization | 539 | 504 | 6.9 | 2,149 | 1,977 | 8.7 |
| Operating expense: Aircraft maintenance materials and outside repairs | 479 | 448 | 6.9 | 1,856 | 1,749 | 6.1 |
| Operating expense: Distribution expenses | 328 | 316 | 3.8 | 1,349 | 1,303 | 3.5 |
| Operating expense: Aircraft rent | 145 | 159 | (8.8) | 621 | 680 | (8.7) |
| Operating expense: Special charges (D) | 31 | (31) | NM | 176 | 638 | NM |
| Operating expense: Other operating expenses | 1,458 | 1,423 | 2.5 | 5,657 | 5,421 | 4.4 |
| Operating expense: Total operating expenses | 8,709 | 8,047 | 8.2 | 34,238 | 32,218 | 6.3 |
| Operating income: Operating income | 729 | 1,005 | (27.5) | 3,498 | 4,338 | (19.4) |
| Operating margin: | 7.7% | 11.1% | (3.4) pts. | 9.3% | 11.9% | (2.6) pts. |
| Operating margin, excluding special charges (A) (Non-GAAP) | 8.1% | 10.8% | (2.7) pts. | 9.7% | 13.6% | (3.9) pts. |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Interest expense |
(171) | (148) | 15.5 | (643) | (614) | 4.7 |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Interest capitalized | 20 | 24 | (16.7) | 84 | 72 | 16.7 |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Interest income | 16 | 11 | 45.5 | 57 | 42 | 35.7 |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Miscellaneous, net (D) | 6 | (8) | NM | 3 | (19) | NM |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Total nonoperating expense | (129) | (121) | 6.6 | (499) | (519) | (3.9) |
| Income before income taxes: Income before income taxes | 600 | 884 | (32.1) | 2,999 | 3,819 | (21.5) |
| Pre-tax margin:Pre-tax margin | 6.4% | 9.8% | (3.4) pts. | 7.9% | 10.4% | (2.5) pts. |
| Pre-tax margin: Pre-tax margin, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (A) (Non-GAAP) | 6.7% | 9.5% | (2.8) pts. | 8.4% | 12.2% | (3.8) pts. |
| Income tax expense: Income tax expense (E) | 20 | 487 | (95.9) | 868 | 1,556 | (44.2) |
| Net income: Net income | $580 | $397 | 46.1 | $2,131 | $2,263 | (5.8) |
| Earnings per share: Earnings per share, diluted | $1.99 | $1.26 | 57.9 | $7.02 | $6.85 | 2.5 |
| Weighted average shares: Weighted average shares, diluted | 291.8 | 315.7 | (7.6) | 303.6 | 330.3 | (8.1) |
|
||||||
| Statistics: |
|
NM Not meaningful |
| Statistics: | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainline: Passengers (thousands) |
26,926 | 25,590 | 5.2 | 108,017 | 101,007 | 6.9 |
| Mainline:Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 47,192 | 45,608 | 3.5 | 193,444 | 186,181 | 3.9 |
| Mainline:Available seat miles (millions) | 57,866 | 55,440 | 4.4 | 234,576 | 224,692 | 4.4 |
| Mainline:Cargo ton miles (millions) | 910 | 790 | 15.2 | 3,316 | 2,805 | 18.2 |
| Mainline:Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 11.37 | 11.35 | 0.2 | 11.32 | 11.31 | 0.1 |
| Mainline:Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 13.95 | 13.80 | 1.1 | 13.73 | 13.65 | 0.6 |
| Mainline:Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 744 | 737 | 0.9 | 744 | 737 | 0.9 |
| Mainline:Average stage length (miles) | 1,775 | 1,804 | (1.6) | 1,806 | 1,859 | (2.9) |
| Mainline:Average daily utilization of each aircraft (hours: minutes) | 10:16 | 9:54 | 3.7 | 10:27 | 10:06 | 3.5 |
| Regional: Passengers (thousands) |
10,487 | 10,433 | 0.5 | 40,050 | 42,170 | (5.0) |
| Regional:Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 5,957 | 5,930 | 0.5 | 22,817 | 24,128 | (5.4) |
| Regional:Available seat miles (millions) | 7,162 | 7,078 | 1.2 | 27,810 | 28,898 | (3.8) |
| Regional:Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 20.92 | 20.71 | 1.0 | 21.04 | 20.91 | 0.6 |
| Regional:Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 25.15 | 24.72 | 1.7 | 25.65 | 25.05 | 2.4 |
| Regional:Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 518 | 494 | 4.9 | 518 | 494 | 4.9 |
| Regional:Average stage length (miles) | 558 | 560 | (0.4) | 558 | 564 | (1.1) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional): Passengers (thousands) |
37,413 | 36,023 | 3.9 | 148,067 | 143,177 | 3.4 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 53,149 | 51,538 | 3.1 | 216,261 | 210,309 | 2.8 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Available seat miles (millions) | 65,028 | 62,518 | 4.0 | 262,386 | 253,590 | 3.5 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Passenger load factor | 81.7% | 82.4% | (0.7) pts. | 82.4% | 82.9% | (0.5) pts. |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Domestic | 85.2% | 85.2% | — | 85.2% | 85.4% | (0.2) pts. |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Internal | 77.2% | 78.9% | (1.7) pts. | 78.9% | 80.0% | (1.1) pts. |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 12.43 | 12.41 | 0.2 | 12.35 | 12.40 | (0.4) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Total revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 14.51 | 14.48 | 0.2 | 14.38 | 14.42 | (0.3) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 15.20 | 15.06 | 0.9 | 14.98 | 14.96 | 0.1 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 1,262 | 1,231 | 2.5 | 1,262 | 1,231 | 2.5 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Average stage length (miles) | 1,431 | 1,441 | (0.7) | 1,460 | 1,473 | (0.9) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Average full-time equivalent employees (thousands) | 85.6 | 84.8 | 0.9 | 86.0 | 83.9 | 2.5 |
| Note:See Part II, Item 6 Selected Financial Data of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 for the definition of these statistics. | ||||||
| (In millions, except per share data) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating income: Operating income | $729 | $1,005 | (27.5) | $3,498 | $4,338 | (19.4) |
| Operating margin:Operating margin: | 7.7% | 11.1% | (3.4) pts. | 9.3% | 11.9% | (2.6) pts. |
| Operating income, excluding special charges (Non-GAAP) | 760 | 974 | (22.0) | 3,674 | 4,976 | (26.2) |
| Operating margin, excluding special charges (Non-GAAP) | 8.1% | 10.8% | (2.7) pts. | 9.7% | 13.6% | (3.9) pts. |
| Adjusted EBITDA, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | $1,305 | $1,474 | (11.5) | $5,826 | $6,939 | (16.0) |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 13.8% | 16.3% | (2.5) pts. | 15.4% | 19.0% | (3.6) pts. |
| Pre-tax income | $600 | $884 | (32.1) | $2,999 | $3,819 | (21.5) |
| Pre-tax margin | 6.4% | 9.8% | (3.4) pts. | 7.9% | 10.4% | (2.5) pts. |
| Pre-tax income, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 631 | 857 | (26.4) | 3,175 | 4,462 | (28.8) |
| Pre-tax margin, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 6.7% | 9.5% | (2.8) pts. | 8.4% | 12.2% | (3.8) pts. |
| Net income: Net income | $580 | $397 | 46.1 | $2,131 | $2,263 | (5.8) |
| Net income: Net income, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 408 | 562 | (27.4) | 2,052 | 2,857 | (28.2) |
| Diluted earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share | $1.99 | $1.26 | 57.9 | $7.02 | $6.85 | 2.5 |
| Diluted earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 1.40 | 1.78 | (21.3) | 6.76 | 8.65 | (21.8) |
| Net cash provided by operating activities: Net cash provided by operating activities | $728 | $658 | 10.6 | $3,413 | $5,542 | (38.4) |
| Capital expenditures: Capital expenditures | $1,098 | $880 | 24.8 | $3,998 | $3,223 | 24.0 |
| Capital expenditures: Adjusted capital expenditures (Non-GAAP) | 1,046 | 1,078 | (3.0) | 4,729 | 3,347 | 41.3 |
| Free cash flow: Free cash flow, net of financings (Non-GAAP) | $(370) | $(222) | NM | $(585) | $2,319 | NM |
| Free cash flow: Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) | (318) | (420) | NM | (1,316) | 2,195 | NM |
| (a) Hedge adjustments include prior period gains (losses) on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period. See note D for further information. | ||||||
| (b) The company recorded a special income tax benefit adjustment of $192 million in 2017 and a special income tax expense adjustment of $180 million in 2016. See note E for further information on the income tax adjustments. | ||||||
| (in millions) | Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return On Invested CapitalNet Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) Pre-tax income |
$2,999 | ||||
| Return On Invested CapitalSpecial charges (D): Severance and benefit costs |
116 | ||||
| Return On Invested Capital Impairment of assets |
25 | ||||
| Return On Invested Capital (Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges |
35 | ||||
Pre-tax income excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments - Non-GAAP |
3,175 | ||||
add: Interest expense (net of income tax benefit) (a) |
639 | ||||
add: Interest component of capitalized aircraft rent (net of income tax benefit) (a) |
302 | ||||
add: Net interest on pension (net of income tax benefit) (a) |
41 | ||||
less: Income taxes paid |
(20) | ||||
NOPAT - Non-GAAP |
$4,137 | ||||
| Return On Invested CapitalInvested Capital (five-quarter average) Total assets |
$41,753 | ||||
add: Capitalized aircraft operating leases (b) |
4,585 | ||||
less: Non-interest bearing liabilities (c) |
(16,394) | ||||
Average invested capital - Non-GAAP |
$29,944 | ||||
Return On Invested Capital - Non-GAAP |
13.8% | ||||
|
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|
UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC. |
|
(A) UAL evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and Non-GAAP financial measures, including operating income (loss) excluding special charges, income (loss) before income taxes excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments, net income (loss) excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments, net earnings (loss) per share excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments, and CASM, as adjusted, among others. CASM is a common metric used in the airline industry to measure an airline's cost structure and efficiency. UAL reports CASM excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing. UAL believes that adjusting for special charges is useful to investors because special charges are non-recurring charges not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. UAL also believes that excluding third-party business expenses, such as maintenance, ground handling and catering services for third parties, fuel sales and non-air mileage redemptions, provides more meaningful disclosure because these expenses are not directly related to UAL's core business. UAL also believes that excluding fuel costs from certain measures is useful to investors because it provides an additional measure of management's performance excluding the effects of a significant cost item over which management has limited influence. UAL excludes profit sharing because this exclusion allows investors to better understand and analyze our recurring cost performance and provides a more meaningful comparison of our core operating costs to the airline industry. In addition, the company believes that adjusting for prior period gains and losses on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period is useful because the adjustments allow investors to better understand the cash impact of settled fuel derivative contracts in a given period. Pursuant to SEC Regulation G, UAL has included the following reconciliations of reported Non-GAAP financial measures to comparable financial measures reported on a GAAP basis. |
| Statistics: | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) Cost per available seat mile (CASM) |
12.90 | 12.43 | 3.8 | 12.59 | 12.22 | 3.0 |
| Cost per available seat mile (CASM)Special charges (D) | 0.06 | (0.06) | NM | 0.07 | 0.29 | NM |
| Cost per available seat mile (CASM)Third-party business expenses | 0.12 | 0.13 | (7.7) | 0.12 | 0.11 | 9.1 |
| Cost per available seat mile (CASM)Fuel expense | 2.68 | 2.33 | 15.0 | 2.46 | 2.16 | 13.9 |
| CASM Mainline OperationsCASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses and fuel | 10.04 | 10.03 | 0.1 | 9.94 | 9.66 | 2.9 |
| CASM Mainline OperationsProfit sharing per available seat mile | 0.08 | 0.22 | (63.6) | 0.15 | 0.28 | (46.4) |
| CASM Mainline OperationsCASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing | 9.96 | 9.81 | 1.5 | 9.79 | 9.38 | 4.4 |
| CASM Consolidated Operations (cents)Cost per available seat mile (CASM) | 13.39 | 12.87 | 4.0 | 13.05 | 12.70 | 2.8 |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents)Special charges (D) | 0.04 | (0.05) | NM | 0.07 | 0.25 | NM |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents)Third-party business expenses | 0.12 | 0.11 | 9.1 | 0.10 | 0.10 | — |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) Fuel expense | 2.88 | 2.49 | 15.7 | 2.64 | 2.29 | 15.3 |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses and fuel | 10.35 | 10.32 | 0.3 | 10.24 | 10.06 | 1.8 |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) Profit sharing per available seat mile | 0.07 | 0.19 | (63.2) | 0.13 | 0.25 | (48.0) |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing | 10.28 | 10.13 | 1.5 | 10.11 | 9.81 | 3.1 |
| (In millions) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
$ Increase/ (Decrease) |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
$ Increase/ (Decrease) |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating expenses | $8,709 | $8,047 | $662 | 8.2 | $34,238 | $32,218 | $2,020 | 6.3 |
| Operating expensesSpecial charges (D) | 31 | (31) | 62 | NM | 176 | 638 | (462) | NM |
| Operating expenses, excluding special charges Operating expenses, excluding special charges | 8,678 | 8,078 | 600 | 7.4 | 34,062 | 31,580 | 2,482 | 7.9 |
| Operating expenses, excluding special chargesThird-party business expenses | 72 | 69 | 3 | 4.3 | 277 | 257 | 20 | 7.8 |
| Operating expenses, excluding special chargesFuel expense | 1,875 | 1,555 | 320 | 20.6 | 6,913 | 5,813 | 1,100 | 18.9 |
| Operating expensesProfit sharing, including taxes | 45 | 122 | (77) | (63.1) | 349 | 628 | (279) | (44.4) |
| Operating expensesOperating expenses, excluding fuel, profit sharing, special charges and third-party business expenses | $6,686 | $6,332 | $354 | 5.6 | $26,523 | $24,882 | $1,641 | 6.6 |
| Operating income | $729 | $1,005 | $(276) | (27.5) | $3,498 | $4,338 | $(840) | (19.4) |
| Operating incomeLess: Special charges (D) | 31 | (31) | 62 | NM | 176 | 638 | (462) | NM |
| Operating incomeOperating income, excluding special charges | $760 | $974 | $(214) | (22.0) | $3,674 | $4,976 | $(1,302) | (26.2) |
| Operating incomeIncome before income taxes | $600 | $884 | $(284) | (32.1) | $2,999 | $3,819 | $(820) | (21.5) |
| Operating incomeSpecial charges and hedge adjustments before income taxes (D) | 31 | (27) | 58 | NM | 176 | 643 | (467) | NM |
| Operating incomeIncome before income taxes and excluding special items | $631 | $857 | $(226) | (26.4) | $3,175 | $4,462 | $(1,287) | (28.8) |
| Operating incomeNet income | $580 | $397 | $183 | 46.1 | $2,131 | $2,263 | $(132) | (5.8) |
| Operating incomeSpecial charges and hedge adjustments, net of tax (D) | (172) | 165 | (337) | NM | (79) | 594 | (673) | NM |
| Operating incomeNet income, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge | $408 | $562 | $(154) | (27.4) | $2,052 | $2,857 | $(805) | (28.2) |
| Diluted earnings per shareDiluted earnings per share | $1.99 | $1.26 | $0.73 | 57.9 | $7.02 | $6.85 | $0.17 | 2.5 |
| Diluted earnings per shareSpecial charges and hedge adjustments | 0.11 | (0.09) | 0.20 | NM | 0.58 | 1.95 | (1.37) | NM |
| Diluted earnings per shareTax effect related to special charges and hedge adjustments | (0.70) | 0.61 | (1.31) | NM | (0.84) | (0.15) | (0.69) | NM |
| Diluted earnings per shareDiluted earnings per share, excluding special items | $1.40 | $1.78 | $(0.38) | (21.3) | $6.76 | $8.65 | $(1.89) | (21.8) |
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UAL provides financial metrics, including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), that we believe provide useful supplemental information for management and investors by measuring profit and profit as a percentage of total operating revenues. Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA excluding special charges that are non-recurring and that management believes are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. Adjusted EBITDA also includes hedge adjustments to reflect the cash impact of fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period. |
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| EBITDA (In millions) |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income: Net income |
$580 | $397 | $2,131 | $2,263 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Depreciation and amortization | 539 | 504 | 2,149 | 1,977 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Interest expense | 171 | 148 | 643 | 614 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Interest capitalized | (20) | (24) | (84) | (72) | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Interest income | (16) | (11) | (57) | (42) | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Income tax expense(E) | 20 | 487 | 868 | 1,556 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Special charges and hedge adjustments before income taxes (D) | 31 | (27) | 176 | 643 | ||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments - Non-GAAPAdjusted EBITDA, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments - Non-GAAP | $1,305 | $1,474 | $5,826 | $6,939 | ||||||||||||
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UAL believes that adjusting capital expenditures for assets acquired through the issuance of debt and capital leases, airport construction financing and excluding fully reimbursable projects is useful to investors in order to appropriately reflect the non-reimbursable funds spent on capital expenditures. UAL also believes that adjusting net cash provided by operating activities for capital expenditures and adjusted capital expenditures is useful to allow investors to evaluate the company's ability to generate cash that is available for debt service or general corporate initiatives. |
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| Capital Expenditures (In millions) |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Capital expenditures | $1,098 | $880 | $3,998 | $3,223 | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Property and equipment acquired through the issuance of debt and capital leases | 17 | 271 | 935 | 386 | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Airport construction financing | 1 | 23 | 42 | 91 | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Fully reimbursable projects | (70) | (96) | (246) | (353) | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Adjusted capital expenditures – Non-GAAP | $1,046 | $1,078 | $4,729 | $3,347 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow (In millions) |
||||||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Net cash provided by operating activities | $728 | $658 | $3,413 | $5,542 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Less capital expenditures | 1,098 | 880 | 3,998 | 3,223 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Free cash flow, net of financings - Non-GAAP | $(370) | $(222) | $(585) | $2,319 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Net cash provided by operating activities | $728 | $658 | $3,413 | $5,542 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Less adjusted capital expenditures – Non-GAAP | 1,046 | 1,078 | 4,729 | 3,347 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Free cash flow - Non-GAAP | $(318) | $(420) | $(1,316) | $2,195 | ||||||||||||
| Notes (Unaudited): | 4Q 2017 Passenger Revenue (millions) |
Passenger Revenue vs. 4Q 2016 |
PRASM vs. 4Q 2016 |
Yield vs. 4Q 2016 |
Available Seat Miles vs. 4Q 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainline:Mainline | $3,626 | 7.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 7.1% |
| Regional:Regional | 1,453 | 2.7% | 1.0% | 1.9% | 1.7% |
| Domestic:Domestic | 5,079 | 6.0% | (0.1%) | 0.0% | 6.0% |
| Atlantic:Atlantic | 1,312 | 5.3% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 4.0% |
| Pacific:Pacific | 986 | (4.3%) | (2.9%) | 0.6% | (1.4%) |
| Latin America:Latin America | 703 | 1.6% | (0.6%) | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| International:International | 3,001 | 1.1% | (0.4%) | 1.9% | 1.4% |
| Consolidated:Consolidated | 8,080 | 4.1% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 4.0% |
| Mainline:Mainline | $6,582 | 4.6% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 4.4% |
| Regional:Regional | 1,498 | 2.2% | 1.0% | 1.7% | 1.2% |
| Consolidated:Consolidated | 8,080 |
| (In millions, except per gallon) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainline fuel expense excluding hedge impacts Mainline fuel expense excluding hedge impacts | $1,551 | $1,270 | 22.1 | $5,770 | $4,640 | 24.4 |
| Hedge losses reported in fuel expense (a) | — | (20) | NM | (2) | (217) | NM |
| Total mainline fuel expenseTotal mainline fuel expense | 1,551 | 1,290 | 20.2 | 5,772 | 4,857 | 18.8 |
| Regional fuel expense Regional fuel expense | 324 | 265 | 22.3 | 1,141 | 956 | 19.4 |
| Consolidated fuel expenseConsolidated fuel expense | $1,875 | $1,555 | 20.6 | $6,913 | $5,813 | 18.9 |
| Mainline fuel consumption (gallons)Mainline fuel consumption (gallons) | 820 | 804 | 2.0 | 3,357 | 3,261 | 2.9 |
| Mainline average aircraft fuel price per gallonMainline average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $1.89 | $1.60 | 18.1 | $1.72 | $1.49 | 15.4 |
| Mainline average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expenseMainline average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expense | $1.89 | $1.58 | 19.6 | $1.72 | $1.42 | 21.1 |
| Regional fuel consumption (gallons)Regional fuel consumption (gallons) | 160 | 158 | 1.3 | 621 | 643 | (3.4) |
| Regional average aircraft fuel price per gallonRegional average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $2.03 | $1.68 | 20.8 | $1.84 | $1.49 | 23.5 |
| Consolidated fuel consumption (gallons)Consolidated fuel consumption (gallons) | 980 | 962 | 1.9 | 3,978 | 3,904 | 1.9 |
| Consolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallonConsolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $1.91 | $1.62 | 17.9 | $1.74 | $1.49 | 16.8 |
| Consolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expenseConsolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expense | $1.91 | $1.60 | 19.4 | $1.74 | $1.43 | 21.7 |
|
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(a) UAL allocates 100 percent of losses from settled hedges that were designated for hedge accounting to mainline fuel expense. |
| (In millions) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating: Severance and benefit costs |
$15 | $10 | $116 | $37 |
| Operating:Impairment of assets | 10 | — | 25 | 412 |
| Operating:Labor agreement costs | — | (60) | — | 64 |
| Operating:Cleveland airport lease restructuring | — | — | — | 74 |
| Operating:(Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges | 6 | 19 | 35 | 51 |
| Operating:Subtotal | 31 | (31) | 176 | 638 |
| Other nonoperating (gains) losses:Other nonoperating (gains) losses | — | — | — | (1) |
| Total special charges:Total special charges | 31 | (31) | 176 | 637 |
| Income tax benefit related to special charges:Income tax benefit related to special charges | (11) | 12 | (63) | (229) |
| Total special charges, net of income taxes:Total special charges, net of income taxes | 20 | (19) | 113 | 408 |
| Income tax adjustments (E) | (192) | 180 | (192) | 180 |
| Hedge adjustments: prior period gains on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period:Hedge adjustments: prior period gains on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period | — | 4 | — | 6 |
| Total special charges and hedge adjustments, net of income taxes:Total special charges and hedge adjustments, net of income taxes | $(172) | $165 | $(79) | $594 |
|
Special charges, hedge adjustments and income tax adjustments |
|
Severance and benefit costs: During the three months and year ended December 31, 2017, the company recorded $10 million ($6 million net of taxes) and $83 million ($53 million net of taxes), respectively, of severance and benefit costs related to a voluntary early-out program for its technicians and related employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the "IBT"). In the first quarter of 2017, approximately 1,000 technicians and related employees elected to voluntarily separate from the company and will receive a severance payment, with a maximum value of $100,000 per participant, based on years of service, with retirement dates through early 2019. Also during the three months and year ended December 31, 2017, the company recorded $5 million ($3 million net of taxes) and $33 million ($21 million net of taxes), respectively, of severance primarily related to its management reorganization initiative. |
|
During the three months and year ended December 31, 2016, the company recorded $10 million ($6 million net of taxes) and $37 million ($24 million net of taxes), respectively, of severance and benefit costs related to a voluntary early-out program for the company's flight attendants and other severance agreements. |
|
Impairment of assets: In the fourth quarter of 2017, the company recorded a $10 million ($6 million net of taxes) impairment charge related to obsolete spare parts inventory. During 2017, United recorded a $15 million ($10 million net of taxes) intangible asset impairment charge related to a maintenance service agreement. |
|
In April 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") announced that, effective October 30, 2016, it would designate Newark Liberty International Airport ("Newark") as a Level 2 schedule-facilitated airport under the International Air Transport Association Worldwide Slot Guidelines. The designation was associated with an updated demand and capacity analysis of Newark by the FAA. In the second quarter of 2016, the company determined that the FAA's action impaired the entire value of its Newark slots because the slots are no longer the mechanism that governs take-off and landing rights. Accordingly, the company recorded a $412 million special charge ($264 million net of taxes) to write off the intangible asset. |
|
Labor agreement costs and related items: In 2016, the fleet service, passenger service, storekeeper and other employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) ratified seven new contracts with the company which extended the contracts through 2021. Also in 2016, the technicians and related employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) ratified a six-year joint collective bargaining agreement which extended the contract through 2022. During 2016, the company recorded $171 million ($110 million net of taxes) of special charges primarily for payments in conjunction with the IAM and IBT agreements described above. As part of the ratified contract with the IBT, the company amended some of its technicians and related employees' postretirement medical plans. The amendments triggered curtailment accounting, resulting in the recognition of a one-time $60 million gain ($38 million net of taxes) for accelerated recognition of a prior service credit in one of the plans. Also, as part of the ratified contract with the Association of Flight Attendants, the company amended two of its flight attendant postretirement medical plans. The amendments triggered curtailment accounting, resulting in the recognition of a one-time $47 million gain ($30 million net of taxes) for accelerated recognition of a prior service credit. |
|
Cleveland airport lease restructuring: During 2016, the City of Cleveland agreed to amend the company's lease, which runs through 2029, associated with certain excess airport terminal space (principally Terminal D) and related facilities at Hopkins International Airport. The company recorded an accrual for remaining payments under the lease for facilities that the company no longer uses and will continue to incur costs under the lease without economic benefit to the company. This liability was measured and recorded at its fair value when the company ceased its right to use such facilities leased to it pursuant to the lease. The company recorded a special charge of $74 million ($47 million net of taxes) related to the amended lease. |
|
Hedge adjustments: Prior to 2017, the company used certain combinations of derivative contracts that were economic hedges but did not qualify for hedge accounting under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. As with derivatives that qualified for hedge accounting, the economic hedges and individual contracts were part of the company's program to mitigate the adverse financial impact of potential increases in the price of fuel. The company recorded changes in the fair value of the various contracts that were not designated for hedge accounting to Nonoperating income (expense): Miscellaneous, net in the statements of consolidated operations. During the three months and year ended December 31, 2016, for fuel derivative contracts that settled in the three months and year ended December 31, 2016, the company recorded mark-to-market gains of $4 million and $6 million, respectively, in prior periods. |
|
(E) Effective tax rate: The company's effective tax rate for the three months and year ended December 31, 2017 was 3.5% and 29.0%, respectively. The company's effective tax rate for the three months and year ended December 31, 2016 was 55.1% and 40.7%, respectively. The rate for both 2017 periods was impacted by a one-time, $192 million benefit due to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the fourth quarter of 2017. The rate for both 2016 periods was impacted by a special tax expense of $180 million. In 2016, the company recorded approximately $180 million of deferred income tax expense adjustments in AOCI, which related to losses on fuel hedges designated for hedge accounting. Accounting rules required the adjustments to remain in AOCI as long as the company had fuel derivatives designated for cash flow hedge accounting. In 2016, we settled all of our fuel hedges and have not entered into any new fuel derivative contracts for hedge accounting. Accordingly, the company reclassified the $180 million to income tax expense in 2016. |
|
The effective tax rates for the 2017 and 2016 periods represented a blend of federal, state and foreign taxes and the impact of certain nondeductible items. The effective tax rate for the three months and year ended December 31, 2017 reflects the impact of a change in the mix of domestic and foreign earnings. |
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
"I am incredibly proud of how our employees delivered in 2017, achieving our best-ever operational performance. Reliability is an important pillar in our continued focus on further improving the customer experience," said Oscar Munoz, chief executive officer of United Airlines. "Looking ahead, we are committed to improving profitability over the long-term by building on the strong foundation we have laid over the past two years. Everyone at United is excited to enter 2018 with a clear set of priorities and a renewed sense of purpose around unlocking the full potential of United Airlines."
Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Revenue
For the fourth quarter of 2017, revenue was $9.4 billion, an increase of 4.3 percent year-over-year. Fourth-quarter 2017 consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) was up 0.2 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016. Cargo revenue was $304 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, an increase of 21.6 percent year-over-year primarily due to higher international freight volume and yields. For the full year of 2017, total revenue was $37.7 billion, an increase of 3.2 percent year-over-year.
"Everything we do at United is underpinned by a commitment to deliver top tier operational reliability," said Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines. "Thanks to the drive and dedication of our employees, we have significantly raised the bar in this area, delivering a record-setting operational performance in 2017. Looking ahead, our focus will be on continuing to improve customer service and expanding United's network to offer customers more choice."
Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Costs
Total operating expense was $8.7 billion in the fourth quarter, up 8.2 percent year-over-year. Consolidated unit cost per available seat mile (CASM) increased 4.0 percent compared to the fourth quarter of 2016 due largely to higher fuel and labor expense. Fourth-quarter consolidated CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing, increased 1.5 percent year-over-year, driven mainly by higher labor expense. For the full year, consolidated CASM increased 2.8 percent compared to full-year 2016 due largely to higher fuel and labor expense. Excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing, consolidated CASM increased 3.1 percent compared to the prior year primarily due to expenses resulting from labor agreements ratified in 2016.
"We are encouraged by our financial results in the fourth quarter which capped a year of strong earnings. Additionally, throughout the year we made significant investments in the business while continuing to return cash to our shareholders through $1.8 billion of share repurchases," said Andrew Levy, executive vice president and chief financial officer of United Airlines. "In 2018, we will continue to focus on cost control, invest strategically into the business and utilize our new $3 billion share repurchase authorization to return cash to our shareholders."
Capital Allocation
UAL generated $728 million in operating cash flow during the fourth quarter of 2017 and ended the quarter with $5.8 billion in unrestricted liquidity, including $2.0 billion of undrawn commitments under its revolving credit facility. UAL generated $3.4 billion in operating cash flow for the full year. The company continued to invest in its business through capital expenditures of $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter and a total of $4.0 billion for the full year. Adjusted capital expenditures, measured as capital expenditures including assets acquired through the issuance of debt and capital leases, airport construction financing, and excluding fully reimbursable projects, were $1.0 billion during the fourth quarter and $4.7 billion for the full year in 2017. The company contributed $419 million to its pension plans and made debt and capital lease principal payments of $1.0 billion during 2017.
For the 12 months ended Dec. 31, 2017, the company's pre-tax income was $3.0 billion and return on invested capital (ROIC) was 13.8 percent. In the fourth quarter, UAL purchased $553 million of its common shares at an average price of $59.61 per share. During 2017, UAL purchased $1.8 billion of its common shares at an average price of $66.30 per share. The company completed its July 2016 $2 billion share repurchase program and announced authorization for a new $3 billion share repurchase program, which represents approximately 14 percent of the company's market capitalization based on the closing stock price on Jan. 22, 2018.
UAL management will host an Investor Event at 4:30pm ET today to discuss fourth-quarter and full-year 2017 earnings, outline 2018 priorities, provide an update on United's network strategy and deliver a financial update. During this presentation, UAL will provide full-year 2018 guidance including earnings per share and establish long-term earnings targets. Please visit ir.united.com to access the first-quarter 2018 investor update, the webcast of the event and the company's presentation made available during the webcast, the entirety of which will be available on the website at the conclusion of the event.
Fourth-Quarter and Full-Year Highlights
Operations and Employees
- Achieved a record-setting year for operational reliability, including best on-time departure performance, fewest cancellations, and best baggage handling performance.
- The fourth quarter saw a record-breaking performance during the busy holiday travel season.
- In December, United was first place among competitors in mainline on-time departures, completion factor, and on-time arrivals.
- In November, United set company performance records during the busy Thanksgiving travel week, landing its best-ever Thanksgiving completion factor and twice breaking on-time performance records in the midst of the busiest travel days of the year.
- Employees earned incentive payments of approximately $30 million for achieving operations performance goals in the fourth quarter, marking a full year of earned bonuses totaling approximately $87 million.
- The company earned its seventh consecutive perfect 100 percent score on the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index and a spot on the organization's list of "Best Places to Work for LGBT Equality."
- Recognized as a Top 100 Best Places to Work in the U.S. by the Glassdoor Employees' Choice Awards.
- Announced the appointment of Regional Presidents for California and New York/New Jersey, demonstrating our commitment to these communities and our hubs.
- In response to the catastrophic weather events Harvey, Irma and Maria, United and its employees came together to keep the operation moving and take part in relief efforts, delivering more than 1.7 million pounds of relief supplies to impacted areas, and together with customers and employees, raised and contributed more than $9 million to community assistance.
Network and Fleet
- Last year, announced 44 new domestic routes from the company's seven U.S. mainland hubs, and increased service on 11 routes to the Hawaiian Islands from Denver, Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco – offering more nonstop service to Hawaiian destinations than any other carrier.
- Announced 13 new international routes in 2017 including its newest route San Francisco to Papeete, Tahiti starting seasonally in October 2018.
- By increasing its nonstop service from six hub cities to nine ski destinations, United offers customers the most service to the most ski destinations across the U.S.
- During 2017, took delivery of 19 new Boeing aircraft, including twelve 777-300ER, three 787-9, four 737-800 and eight used Airbus aircraft including two A320 and six A319.
- Announced an agreement with Boeing to convert 100 current 737 MAX orders into 737 MAX 10 aircraft starting in late 2020.
- Announced an agreement with Airbus to modify its A350 order resulting in a conversion of the model type from the A350-1000 to the A350-900, an increase in the order size from 35 to 45 aircraft and a deferral of the first delivery to late 2022.
- Retired the company's iconic Boeing 747 fleet with a final farewell flight between San Francisco and Honolulu.
Customer Experience
- Took several actions to improve the overall customer experience – including providing more tools to employees to assist customers and increasing compensation for denied boarding.
- Rolled out system-wide new Customer Solutions Desk with a dedicated team to develop creative solutions to assist customers in reaching their final destinations when their travel plans don't go as expected.
- Decreased involuntary denied boardings by 92% since April, and in December only had 13 involuntary denied boardings.
- Upgraded the Houston and Newark terminal experience with the opening of OTG experience, opened new security lanes with automated security bins at Chicago and Newark, and opened the brand new upgraded Los Angeles United Club along with new Global Services lobbies in Houston, Newark and Los Angeles.
- Improved the customer experience at Houston George Bush Intercontinental Airport by offering customers shorter, more convenient connection times and better access to more destinations through "rebanking" of the hub. UAL will "rebank" Chicago O'Hare beginning in February of 2018.
- Unveiled new enhancements to United's award-winning mobile app including bag tracking feature, ability to change and cancel flights in the app, add MileagePlus and United Club cards to the Apple Wallet, and allow customers to access boarding passes for 19 other carriers.
- Became the first airline to give customers access to flight information and other amenities skills for Amazon Alexa, Google Assistant and Fitbit Ionic smartwatch.
- Continued to improve the mobile tools used by employees, including the first release of the "in the moment" care app, and new functionality in flight attendant tools to better serve customers.
- The company received the CIO 100 award, an acknowledged mark of enterprise excellence in business technology.
- Launched a new online portal, United Jetstream, in an effort to simplify the travel management process and give corporate and agency customers an intuitive suite of self-service tools.
About United
United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,500 flights a day to 338 airports across five continents. In 2017, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 148 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 744 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 518 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 191 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "UAL".
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:
Certain statements included in this release are forward-looking and thus reflect our current expectations and beliefs with respect to certain current and future events and anticipated financial and operating performance. Such forward-looking statements are and will be subject to many risks and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "will," "plans," "anticipates," "indicates," "believes," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Additionally, forward-looking statements include statements that do not relate solely to historical facts, such as statements which identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of current known trends or uncertainties, or which indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to us on the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: our ability to comply with the terms of our various financing arrangements; the costs and availability of financing; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to execute our operational plans and revenue-generating initiatives, including optimizing our revenue; our ability to control our costs, including realizing benefits from our resource optimization efforts, cost reduction initiatives and fleet replacement programs; costs associated with any modification or termination of our aircraft orders; our ability to utilize our net operating losses; our ability to attract and retain customers; potential reputational or other impact from adverse events in our operations; demand for transportation in the markets in which we operate; an outbreak of a disease that affects travel demand or travel behavior; demand for travel and the impact that global economic and political conditions have on customer travel patterns; excessive taxation and the inability to offset future taxable income; general economic conditions (including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, investment or credit market conditions, crude oil prices, costs of aircraft fuel and energy refining capacity in relevant markets); economic and political instability and other risks of doing business globally; our ability to cost-effectively hedge against increases in the price of aircraft fuel if we decide to do so; any potential realized or unrealized gains or losses related to fuel or currency hedging programs; the effects of any hostilities, act of war or terrorist attack; the ability of other air carriers with whom we have alliances or partnerships to provide the services contemplated by the respective arrangements with such carriers; the effects of any technology failures or cybersecurity breaches; disruptions to our regional network; the costs and availability of aviation and other insurance; industry consolidation or changes in airline alliances; the success of our investments in airlines in other parts of the world; competitive pressures on pricing and on demand; our capacity decisions and the capacity decisions of our competitors; U.S. or foreign governmental legislation, regulation and other actions (including Open Skies agreements and environmental regulations); the impact of regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks; the impact of any management changes; labor costs; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and the results of any collective bargaining agreement process with our union groups; any disruptions to operations due to any potential actions by our labor groups; weather conditions; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Part I, Item 1A., "Risk Factors," of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2016, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
-tables attached-
| (In millions, except per share data) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating revenue: Passenger: Mainline |
$6,582 | $6,295 | 4.6 | $26,552 | $25,414 | 4.5 |
| Operating revenue: Passenger: Regional | 1,498 | 1,466 | 2.2 | 5,852 | 6,043 | (3.2) |
| Operating revenue: Passenger: (B) Total passenger revenue | 8,080 | 7,761 | 4.1 | 32,404 | 31,457 | 3.0 |
| Operating revenue: Cargo | 304 | 250 | 21.6 | 1,035 | 876 | 18.2 |
| Operating revenue: Other operating revenue | 1,054 | 1,041 | 1.2 | 4,297 | 4,223 | 1.8 |
| Operating revenue:Other operating revenue: Total operating revenue | 9,438 | 9,052 | 4.3 | 37,736 | 36,556 | 3.2 |
| Operating expense: Salaries and related costs |
2,704 | 2,568 | 5.3 | 11,045 | 10,275 | 7.5 |
| Operating expense: Aircraft fuel(C) | 1,875 | 1,555 | 20.6 | 6,913 | 5,813 | 18.9 |
| Operating expense: Landing fees and other rent | 570 | 553 | 3.1 | 2,240 | 2,165 | 3.5 |
| Operating expense: Regional capacity purchase | 580 | 552 | 5.1 | 2,232 | 2,197 | 1.6 |
| Operating expense: Depreciation and amortization | 539 | 504 | 6.9 | 2,149 | 1,977 | 8.7 |
| Operating expense: Aircraft maintenance materials and outside repairs | 479 | 448 | 6.9 | 1,856 | 1,749 | 6.1 |
| Operating expense: Distribution expenses | 328 | 316 | 3.8 | 1,349 | 1,303 | 3.5 |
| Operating expense: Aircraft rent | 145 | 159 | (8.8) | 621 | 680 | (8.7) |
| Operating expense: Special charges (D) | 31 | (31) | NM | 176 | 638 | NM |
| Operating expense: Other operating expenses | 1,458 | 1,423 | 2.5 | 5,657 | 5,421 | 4.4 |
| Operating expense: Total operating expenses | 8,709 | 8,047 | 8.2 | 34,238 | 32,218 | 6.3 |
| Operating income: Operating income | 729 | 1,005 | (27.5) | 3,498 | 4,338 | (19.4) |
| Operating margin: | 7.7% | 11.1% | (3.4) pts. | 9.3% | 11.9% | (2.6) pts. |
| Operating margin, excluding special charges (A) (Non-GAAP) | 8.1% | 10.8% | (2.7) pts. | 9.7% | 13.6% | (3.9) pts. |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Interest expense |
(171) | (148) | 15.5 | (643) | (614) | 4.7 |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Interest capitalized | 20 | 24 | (16.7) | 84 | 72 | 16.7 |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Interest income | 16 | 11 | 45.5 | 57 | 42 | 35.7 |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Miscellaneous, net (D) | 6 | (8) | NM | 3 | (19) | NM |
| Nonoperating income (expense): Total nonoperating expense | (129) | (121) | 6.6 | (499) | (519) | (3.9) |
| Income before income taxes: Income before income taxes | 600 | 884 | (32.1) | 2,999 | 3,819 | (21.5) |
| Pre-tax margin:Pre-tax margin | 6.4% | 9.8% | (3.4) pts. | 7.9% | 10.4% | (2.5) pts. |
| Pre-tax margin: Pre-tax margin, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (A) (Non-GAAP) | 6.7% | 9.5% | (2.8) pts. | 8.4% | 12.2% | (3.8) pts. |
| Income tax expense: Income tax expense (E) | 20 | 487 | (95.9) | 868 | 1,556 | (44.2) |
| Net income: Net income | $580 | $397 | 46.1 | $2,131 | $2,263 | (5.8) |
| Earnings per share: Earnings per share, diluted | $1.99 | $1.26 | 57.9 | $7.02 | $6.85 | 2.5 |
| Weighted average shares: Weighted average shares, diluted | 291.8 | 315.7 | (7.6) | 303.6 | 330.3 | (8.1) |
|
||||||
| Statistics: |
|
NM Not meaningful |
| Statistics: | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainline: Passengers (thousands) |
26,926 | 25,590 | 5.2 | 108,017 | 101,007 | 6.9 |
| Mainline:Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 47,192 | 45,608 | 3.5 | 193,444 | 186,181 | 3.9 |
| Mainline:Available seat miles (millions) | 57,866 | 55,440 | 4.4 | 234,576 | 224,692 | 4.4 |
| Mainline:Cargo ton miles (millions) | 910 | 790 | 15.2 | 3,316 | 2,805 | 18.2 |
| Mainline:Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 11.37 | 11.35 | 0.2 | 11.32 | 11.31 | 0.1 |
| Mainline:Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 13.95 | 13.80 | 1.1 | 13.73 | 13.65 | 0.6 |
| Mainline:Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 744 | 737 | 0.9 | 744 | 737 | 0.9 |
| Mainline:Average stage length (miles) | 1,775 | 1,804 | (1.6) | 1,806 | 1,859 | (2.9) |
| Mainline:Average daily utilization of each aircraft (hours: minutes) | 10:16 | 9:54 | 3.7 | 10:27 | 10:06 | 3.5 |
| Regional: Passengers (thousands) |
10,487 | 10,433 | 0.5 | 40,050 | 42,170 | (5.0) |
| Regional:Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 5,957 | 5,930 | 0.5 | 22,817 | 24,128 | (5.4) |
| Regional:Available seat miles (millions) | 7,162 | 7,078 | 1.2 | 27,810 | 28,898 | (3.8) |
| Regional:Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 20.92 | 20.71 | 1.0 | 21.04 | 20.91 | 0.6 |
| Regional:Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 25.15 | 24.72 | 1.7 | 25.65 | 25.05 | 2.4 |
| Regional:Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 518 | 494 | 4.9 | 518 | 494 | 4.9 |
| Regional:Average stage length (miles) | 558 | 560 | (0.4) | 558 | 564 | (1.1) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional): Passengers (thousands) |
37,413 | 36,023 | 3.9 | 148,067 | 143,177 | 3.4 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 53,149 | 51,538 | 3.1 | 216,261 | 210,309 | 2.8 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Available seat miles (millions) | 65,028 | 62,518 | 4.0 | 262,386 | 253,590 | 3.5 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Passenger load factor | 81.7% | 82.4% | (0.7) pts. | 82.4% | 82.9% | (0.5) pts. |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Domestic | 85.2% | 85.2% | — | 85.2% | 85.4% | (0.2) pts. |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Internal | 77.2% | 78.9% | (1.7) pts. | 78.9% | 80.0% | (1.1) pts. |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 12.43 | 12.41 | 0.2 | 12.35 | 12.40 | (0.4) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Total revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 14.51 | 14.48 | 0.2 | 14.38 | 14.42 | (0.3) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 15.20 | 15.06 | 0.9 | 14.98 | 14.96 | 0.1 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 1,262 | 1,231 | 2.5 | 1,262 | 1,231 | 2.5 |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Average stage length (miles) | 1,431 | 1,441 | (0.7) | 1,460 | 1,473 | (0.9) |
| Consolidated (Mainline and Regional)Average full-time equivalent employees (thousands) | 85.6 | 84.8 | 0.9 | 86.0 | 83.9 | 2.5 |
| Note:See Part II, Item 6 Selected Financial Data of the company's annual report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 for the definition of these statistics. | ||||||
| (In millions, except per share data) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating income: Operating income | $729 | $1,005 | (27.5) | $3,498 | $4,338 | (19.4) |
| Operating margin:Operating margin: | 7.7% | 11.1% | (3.4) pts. | 9.3% | 11.9% | (2.6) pts. |
| Operating income, excluding special charges (Non-GAAP) | 760 | 974 | (22.0) | 3,674 | 4,976 | (26.2) |
| Operating margin, excluding special charges (Non-GAAP) | 8.1% | 10.8% | (2.7) pts. | 9.7% | 13.6% | (3.9) pts. |
| Adjusted EBITDA, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | $1,305 | $1,474 | (11.5) | $5,826 | $6,939 | (16.0) |
| Adjusted EBITDA margin, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 13.8% | 16.3% | (2.5) pts. | 15.4% | 19.0% | (3.6) pts. |
| Pre-tax income | $600 | $884 | (32.1) | $2,999 | $3,819 | (21.5) |
| Pre-tax margin | 6.4% | 9.8% | (3.4) pts. | 7.9% | 10.4% | (2.5) pts. |
| Pre-tax income, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 631 | 857 | (26.4) | 3,175 | 4,462 | (28.8) |
| Pre-tax margin, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 6.7% | 9.5% | (2.8) pts. | 8.4% | 12.2% | (3.8) pts. |
| Net income: Net income | $580 | $397 | 46.1 | $2,131 | $2,263 | (5.8) |
| Net income: Net income, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 408 | 562 | (27.4) | 2,052 | 2,857 | (28.2) |
| Diluted earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share | $1.99 | $1.26 | 57.9 | $7.02 | $6.85 | 2.5 |
| Diluted earnings per share: Diluted earnings per share, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments (a) (Non-GAAP) | 1.40 | 1.78 | (21.3) | 6.76 | 8.65 | (21.8) |
| Net cash provided by operating activities: Net cash provided by operating activities | $728 | $658 | 10.6 | $3,413 | $5,542 | (38.4) |
| Capital expenditures: Capital expenditures | $1,098 | $880 | 24.8 | $3,998 | $3,223 | 24.0 |
| Capital expenditures: Adjusted capital expenditures (Non-GAAP) | 1,046 | 1,078 | (3.0) | 4,729 | 3,347 | 41.3 |
| Free cash flow: Free cash flow, net of financings (Non-GAAP) | $(370) | $(222) | NM | $(585) | $2,319 | NM |
| Free cash flow: Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) | (318) | (420) | NM | (1,316) | 2,195 | NM |
| (a) Hedge adjustments include prior period gains (losses) on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period. See note D for further information. | ||||||
| (b) The company recorded a special income tax benefit adjustment of $192 million in 2017 and a special income tax expense adjustment of $180 million in 2016. See note E for further information on the income tax adjustments. | ||||||
| (in millions) | Twelve Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Return On Invested CapitalNet Operating Profit After Tax (NOPAT) Pre-tax income |
$2,999 | ||||
| Return On Invested CapitalSpecial charges (D): Severance and benefit costs |
116 | ||||
| Return On Invested Capital Impairment of assets |
25 | ||||
| Return On Invested Capital (Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges |
35 | ||||
Pre-tax income excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments - Non-GAAP |
3,175 | ||||
add: Interest expense (net of income tax benefit) (a) |
639 | ||||
add: Interest component of capitalized aircraft rent (net of income tax benefit) (a) |
302 | ||||
add: Net interest on pension (net of income tax benefit) (a) |
41 | ||||
less: Income taxes paid |
(20) | ||||
NOPAT - Non-GAAP |
$4,137 | ||||
| Return On Invested CapitalInvested Capital (five-quarter average) Total assets |
$41,753 | ||||
add: Capitalized aircraft operating leases (b) |
4,585 | ||||
less: Non-interest bearing liabilities (c) |
(16,394) | ||||
Average invested capital - Non-GAAP |
$29,944 | ||||
Return On Invested Capital - Non-GAAP |
13.8% | ||||
|
|||||
|
UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC. |
|
(A) UAL evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and Non-GAAP financial measures, including operating income (loss) excluding special charges, income (loss) before income taxes excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments, net income (loss) excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments, net earnings (loss) per share excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments, and CASM, as adjusted, among others. CASM is a common metric used in the airline industry to measure an airline's cost structure and efficiency. UAL reports CASM excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing. UAL believes that adjusting for special charges is useful to investors because special charges are non-recurring charges not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. UAL also believes that excluding third-party business expenses, such as maintenance, ground handling and catering services for third parties, fuel sales and non-air mileage redemptions, provides more meaningful disclosure because these expenses are not directly related to UAL's core business. UAL also believes that excluding fuel costs from certain measures is useful to investors because it provides an additional measure of management's performance excluding the effects of a significant cost item over which management has limited influence. UAL excludes profit sharing because this exclusion allows investors to better understand and analyze our recurring cost performance and provides a more meaningful comparison of our core operating costs to the airline industry. In addition, the company believes that adjusting for prior period gains and losses on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period is useful because the adjustments allow investors to better understand the cash impact of settled fuel derivative contracts in a given period. Pursuant to SEC Regulation G, UAL has included the following reconciliations of reported Non-GAAP financial measures to comparable financial measures reported on a GAAP basis. |
| Statistics: | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) Cost per available seat mile (CASM) |
12.90 | 12.43 | 3.8 | 12.59 | 12.22 | 3.0 |
| Cost per available seat mile (CASM)Special charges (D) | 0.06 | (0.06) | NM | 0.07 | 0.29 | NM |
| Cost per available seat mile (CASM)Third-party business expenses | 0.12 | 0.13 | (7.7) | 0.12 | 0.11 | 9.1 |
| Cost per available seat mile (CASM)Fuel expense | 2.68 | 2.33 | 15.0 | 2.46 | 2.16 | 13.9 |
| CASM Mainline OperationsCASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses and fuel | 10.04 | 10.03 | 0.1 | 9.94 | 9.66 | 2.9 |
| CASM Mainline OperationsProfit sharing per available seat mile | 0.08 | 0.22 | (63.6) | 0.15 | 0.28 | (46.4) |
| CASM Mainline OperationsCASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing | 9.96 | 9.81 | 1.5 | 9.79 | 9.38 | 4.4 |
| CASM Consolidated Operations (cents)Cost per available seat mile (CASM) | 13.39 | 12.87 | 4.0 | 13.05 | 12.70 | 2.8 |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents)Special charges (D) | 0.04 | (0.05) | NM | 0.07 | 0.25 | NM |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents)Third-party business expenses | 0.12 | 0.11 | 9.1 | 0.10 | 0.10 | — |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) Fuel expense | 2.88 | 2.49 | 15.7 | 2.64 | 2.29 | 15.3 |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses and fuel | 10.35 | 10.32 | 0.3 | 10.24 | 10.06 | 1.8 |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) Profit sharing per available seat mile | 0.07 | 0.19 | (63.2) | 0.13 | 0.25 | (48.0) |
| CASM Mainline Operations (cents) CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing | 10.28 | 10.13 | 1.5 | 10.11 | 9.81 | 3.1 |
| (In millions) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
$ Increase/ (Decrease) |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
$ Increase/ (Decrease) |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating expenses | $8,709 | $8,047 | $662 | 8.2 | $34,238 | $32,218 | $2,020 | 6.3 |
| Operating expensesSpecial charges (D) | 31 | (31) | 62 | NM | 176 | 638 | (462) | NM |
| Operating expenses, excluding special charges Operating expenses, excluding special charges | 8,678 | 8,078 | 600 | 7.4 | 34,062 | 31,580 | 2,482 | 7.9 |
| Operating expenses, excluding special chargesThird-party business expenses | 72 | 69 | 3 | 4.3 | 277 | 257 | 20 | 7.8 |
| Operating expenses, excluding special chargesFuel expense | 1,875 | 1,555 | 320 | 20.6 | 6,913 | 5,813 | 1,100 | 18.9 |
| Operating expensesProfit sharing, including taxes | 45 | 122 | (77) | (63.1) | 349 | 628 | (279) | (44.4) |
| Operating expensesOperating expenses, excluding fuel, profit sharing, special charges and third-party business expenses | $6,686 | $6,332 | $354 | 5.6 | $26,523 | $24,882 | $1,641 | 6.6 |
| Operating income | $729 | $1,005 | $(276) | (27.5) | $3,498 | $4,338 | $(840) | (19.4) |
| Operating incomeLess: Special charges (D) | 31 | (31) | 62 | NM | 176 | 638 | (462) | NM |
| Operating incomeOperating income, excluding special charges | $760 | $974 | $(214) | (22.0) | $3,674 | $4,976 | $(1,302) | (26.2) |
| Operating incomeIncome before income taxes | $600 | $884 | $(284) | (32.1) | $2,999 | $3,819 | $(820) | (21.5) |
| Operating incomeSpecial charges and hedge adjustments before income taxes (D) | 31 | (27) | 58 | NM | 176 | 643 | (467) | NM |
| Operating incomeIncome before income taxes and excluding special items | $631 | $857 | $(226) | (26.4) | $3,175 | $4,462 | $(1,287) | (28.8) |
| Operating incomeNet income | $580 | $397 | $183 | 46.1 | $2,131 | $2,263 | $(132) | (5.8) |
| Operating incomeSpecial charges and hedge adjustments, net of tax (D) | (172) | 165 | (337) | NM | (79) | 594 | (673) | NM |
| Operating incomeNet income, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge | $408 | $562 | $(154) | (27.4) | $2,052 | $2,857 | $(805) | (28.2) |
| Diluted earnings per shareDiluted earnings per share | $1.99 | $1.26 | $0.73 | 57.9 | $7.02 | $6.85 | $0.17 | 2.5 |
| Diluted earnings per shareSpecial charges and hedge adjustments | 0.11 | (0.09) | 0.20 | NM | 0.58 | 1.95 | (1.37) | NM |
| Diluted earnings per shareTax effect related to special charges and hedge adjustments | (0.70) | 0.61 | (1.31) | NM | (0.84) | (0.15) | (0.69) | NM |
| Diluted earnings per shareDiluted earnings per share, excluding special items | $1.40 | $1.78 | $(0.38) | (21.3) | $6.76 | $8.65 | $(1.89) | (21.8) |
|
UAL provides financial metrics, including earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA), that we believe provide useful supplemental information for management and investors by measuring profit and profit as a percentage of total operating revenues. Adjusted EBITDA is EBITDA excluding special charges that are non-recurring and that management believes are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. Adjusted EBITDA also includes hedge adjustments to reflect the cash impact of fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period. |
||||||||||||||||
| EBITDA (In millions) |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Net income: Net income |
$580 | $397 | $2,131 | $2,263 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Depreciation and amortization | 539 | 504 | 2,149 | 1,977 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Interest expense | 171 | 148 | 643 | 614 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Interest capitalized | (20) | (24) | (84) | (72) | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Interest income | (16) | (11) | (57) | (42) | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Income tax expense(E) | 20 | 487 | 868 | 1,556 | ||||||||||||
| Net income Adjusted for:Special charges and hedge adjustments before income taxes (D) | 31 | (27) | 176 | 643 | ||||||||||||
| Adjusted EBITDA, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments - Non-GAAPAdjusted EBITDA, excluding special charges and reflecting hedge adjustments - Non-GAAP | $1,305 | $1,474 | $5,826 | $6,939 | ||||||||||||
|
UAL believes that adjusting capital expenditures for assets acquired through the issuance of debt and capital leases, airport construction financing and excluding fully reimbursable projects is useful to investors in order to appropriately reflect the non-reimbursable funds spent on capital expenditures. UAL also believes that adjusting net cash provided by operating activities for capital expenditures and adjusted capital expenditures is useful to allow investors to evaluate the company's ability to generate cash that is available for debt service or general corporate initiatives. |
||||||||||||||||
| Capital Expenditures (In millions) |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Capital expenditures | $1,098 | $880 | $3,998 | $3,223 | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Property and equipment acquired through the issuance of debt and capital leases | 17 | 271 | 935 | 386 | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Airport construction financing | 1 | 23 | 42 | 91 | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Fully reimbursable projects | (70) | (96) | (246) | (353) | ||||||||||||
| Capital expenditures:Adjusted capital expenditures – Non-GAAP | $1,046 | $1,078 | $4,729 | $3,347 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow (In millions) |
||||||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Net cash provided by operating activities | $728 | $658 | $3,413 | $5,542 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Less capital expenditures | 1,098 | 880 | 3,998 | 3,223 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Free cash flow, net of financings - Non-GAAP | $(370) | $(222) | $(585) | $2,319 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Net cash provided by operating activities | $728 | $658 | $3,413 | $5,542 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Less adjusted capital expenditures – Non-GAAP | 1,046 | 1,078 | 4,729 | 3,347 | ||||||||||||
| Free Cash Flow:Free cash flow - Non-GAAP | $(318) | $(420) | $(1,316) | $2,195 | ||||||||||||
| Notes (Unaudited): | 4Q 2017 Passenger Revenue (millions) |
Passenger Revenue vs. 4Q 2016 |
PRASM vs. 4Q 2016 |
Yield vs. 4Q 2016 |
Available Seat Miles vs. 4Q 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainline:Mainline | $3,626 | 7.3% | 0.3% | 0.1% | 7.1% |
| Regional:Regional | 1,453 | 2.7% | 1.0% | 1.9% | 1.7% |
| Domestic:Domestic | 5,079 | 6.0% | (0.1%) | 0.0% | 6.0% |
| Atlantic:Atlantic | 1,312 | 5.3% | 1.3% | 1.5% | 4.0% |
| Pacific:Pacific | 986 | (4.3%) | (2.9%) | 0.6% | (1.4%) |
| Latin America:Latin America | 703 | 1.6% | (0.6%) | 2.6% | 2.3% |
| International:International | 3,001 | 1.1% | (0.4%) | 1.9% | 1.4% |
| Consolidated:Consolidated | 8,080 | 4.1% | 0.2% | 0.9% | 4.0% |
| Mainline:Mainline | $6,582 | 4.6% | 0.2% | 1.1% | 4.4% |
| Regional:Regional | 1,498 | 2.2% | 1.0% | 1.7% | 1.2% |
| Consolidated:Consolidated | 8,080 |
| (In millions, except per gallon) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Nine Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
% Increase/ (Decrease) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mainline fuel expense excluding hedge impacts Mainline fuel expense excluding hedge impacts | $1,551 | $1,270 | 22.1 | $5,770 | $4,640 | 24.4 |
| Hedge losses reported in fuel expense (a) | — | (20) | NM | (2) | (217) | NM |
| Total mainline fuel expenseTotal mainline fuel expense | 1,551 | 1,290 | 20.2 | 5,772 | 4,857 | 18.8 |
| Regional fuel expense Regional fuel expense | 324 | 265 | 22.3 | 1,141 | 956 | 19.4 |
| Consolidated fuel expenseConsolidated fuel expense | $1,875 | $1,555 | 20.6 | $6,913 | $5,813 | 18.9 |
| Mainline fuel consumption (gallons)Mainline fuel consumption (gallons) | 820 | 804 | 2.0 | 3,357 | 3,261 | 2.9 |
| Mainline average aircraft fuel price per gallonMainline average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $1.89 | $1.60 | 18.1 | $1.72 | $1.49 | 15.4 |
| Mainline average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expenseMainline average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expense | $1.89 | $1.58 | 19.6 | $1.72 | $1.42 | 21.1 |
| Regional fuel consumption (gallons)Regional fuel consumption (gallons) | 160 | 158 | 1.3 | 621 | 643 | (3.4) |
| Regional average aircraft fuel price per gallonRegional average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $2.03 | $1.68 | 20.8 | $1.84 | $1.49 | 23.5 |
| Consolidated fuel consumption (gallons)Consolidated fuel consumption (gallons) | 980 | 962 | 1.9 | 3,978 | 3,904 | 1.9 |
| Consolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallonConsolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $1.91 | $1.62 | 17.9 | $1.74 | $1.49 | 16.8 |
| Consolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expenseConsolidated average aircraft fuel price per gallon excluding hedge losses recorded in fuel expense | $1.91 | $1.60 | 19.4 | $1.74 | $1.43 | 21.7 |
|
||||||
|
(a) UAL allocates 100 percent of losses from settled hedges that were designated for hedge accounting to mainline fuel expense. |
| (In millions) | Three Months Ended December 31, 2017 |
Three Months Ended December 31, 2016 |
Year Ended December 31, 2017 |
Year Ended December 31, 2016 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operating: Severance and benefit costs |
$15 | $10 | $116 | $37 |
| Operating:Impairment of assets | 10 | — | 25 | 412 |
| Operating:Labor agreement costs | — | (60) | — | 64 |
| Operating:Cleveland airport lease restructuring | — | — | — | 74 |
| Operating:(Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges | 6 | 19 | 35 | 51 |
| Operating:Subtotal | 31 | (31) | 176 | 638 |
| Other nonoperating (gains) losses:Other nonoperating (gains) losses | — | — | — | (1) |
| Total special charges:Total special charges | 31 | (31) | 176 | 637 |
| Income tax benefit related to special charges:Income tax benefit related to special charges | (11) | 12 | (63) | (229) |
| Total special charges, net of income taxes:Total special charges, net of income taxes | 20 | (19) | 113 | 408 |
| Income tax adjustments (E) | (192) | 180 | (192) | 180 |
| Hedge adjustments: prior period gains on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period:Hedge adjustments: prior period gains on fuel derivative contracts settled in the current period | — | 4 | — | 6 |
| Total special charges and hedge adjustments, net of income taxes:Total special charges and hedge adjustments, net of income taxes | $(172) | $165 | $(79) | $594 |
|
Special charges, hedge adjustments and income tax adjustments |
|
Severance and benefit costs: During the three months and year ended December 31, 2017, the company recorded $10 million ($6 million net of taxes) and $83 million ($53 million net of taxes), respectively, of severance and benefit costs related to a voluntary early-out program for its technicians and related employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (the "IBT"). In the first quarter of 2017, approximately 1,000 technicians and related employees elected to voluntarily separate from the company and will receive a severance payment, with a maximum value of $100,000 per participant, based on years of service, with retirement dates through early 2019. Also during the three months and year ended December 31, 2017, the company recorded $5 million ($3 million net of taxes) and $33 million ($21 million net of taxes), respectively, of severance primarily related to its management reorganization initiative. |
|
During the three months and year ended December 31, 2016, the company recorded $10 million ($6 million net of taxes) and $37 million ($24 million net of taxes), respectively, of severance and benefit costs related to a voluntary early-out program for the company's flight attendants and other severance agreements. |
|
Impairment of assets: In the fourth quarter of 2017, the company recorded a $10 million ($6 million net of taxes) impairment charge related to obsolete spare parts inventory. During 2017, United recorded a $15 million ($10 million net of taxes) intangible asset impairment charge related to a maintenance service agreement. |
|
In April 2016, the Federal Aviation Administration ("FAA") announced that, effective October 30, 2016, it would designate Newark Liberty International Airport ("Newark") as a Level 2 schedule-facilitated airport under the International Air Transport Association Worldwide Slot Guidelines. The designation was associated with an updated demand and capacity analysis of Newark by the FAA. In the second quarter of 2016, the company determined that the FAA's action impaired the entire value of its Newark slots because the slots are no longer the mechanism that governs take-off and landing rights. Accordingly, the company recorded a $412 million special charge ($264 million net of taxes) to write off the intangible asset. |
|
Labor agreement costs and related items: In 2016, the fleet service, passenger service, storekeeper and other employees represented by the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) ratified seven new contracts with the company which extended the contracts through 2021. Also in 2016, the technicians and related employees represented by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) ratified a six-year joint collective bargaining agreement which extended the contract through 2022. During 2016, the company recorded $171 million ($110 million net of taxes) of special charges primarily for payments in conjunction with the IAM and IBT agreements described above. As part of the ratified contract with the IBT, the company amended some of its technicians and related employees' postretirement medical plans. The amendments triggered curtailment accounting, resulting in the recognition of a one-time $60 million gain ($38 million net of taxes) for accelerated recognition of a prior service credit in one of the plans. Also, as part of the ratified contract with the Association of Flight Attendants, the company amended two of its flight attendant postretirement medical plans. The amendments triggered curtailment accounting, resulting in the recognition of a one-time $47 million gain ($30 million net of taxes) for accelerated recognition of a prior service credit. |
|
Cleveland airport lease restructuring: During 2016, the City of Cleveland agreed to amend the company's lease, which runs through 2029, associated with certain excess airport terminal space (principally Terminal D) and related facilities at Hopkins International Airport. The company recorded an accrual for remaining payments under the lease for facilities that the company no longer uses and will continue to incur costs under the lease without economic benefit to the company. This liability was measured and recorded at its fair value when the company ceased its right to use such facilities leased to it pursuant to the lease. The company recorded a special charge of $74 million ($47 million net of taxes) related to the amended lease. |
|
Hedge adjustments: Prior to 2017, the company used certain combinations of derivative contracts that were economic hedges but did not qualify for hedge accounting under U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. As with derivatives that qualified for hedge accounting, the economic hedges and individual contracts were part of the company's program to mitigate the adverse financial impact of potential increases in the price of fuel. The company recorded changes in the fair value of the various contracts that were not designated for hedge accounting to Nonoperating income (expense): Miscellaneous, net in the statements of consolidated operations. During the three months and year ended December 31, 2016, for fuel derivative contracts that settled in the three months and year ended December 31, 2016, the company recorded mark-to-market gains of $4 million and $6 million, respectively, in prior periods. |
|
(E) Effective tax rate: The company's effective tax rate for the three months and year ended December 31, 2017 was 3.5% and 29.0%, respectively. The company's effective tax rate for the three months and year ended December 31, 2016 was 55.1% and 40.7%, respectively. The rate for both 2017 periods was impacted by a one-time, $192 million benefit due to the passage of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act in the fourth quarter of 2017. The rate for both 2016 periods was impacted by a special tax expense of $180 million. In 2016, the company recorded approximately $180 million of deferred income tax expense adjustments in AOCI, which related to losses on fuel hedges designated for hedge accounting. Accounting rules required the adjustments to remain in AOCI as long as the company had fuel derivatives designated for cash flow hedge accounting. In 2016, we settled all of our fuel hedges and have not entered into any new fuel derivative contracts for hedge accounting. Accordingly, the company reclassified the $180 million to income tax expense in 2016. |
|
The effective tax rates for the 2017 and 2016 periods represented a blend of federal, state and foreign taxes and the impact of certain nondeductible items. The effective tax rate for the three months and year ended December 31, 2017 reflects the impact of a change in the mix of domestic and foreign earnings. |
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
Beginning March 11, United will start daily service to Breckenridge (QKB) and on April 1, will start four-times daily service to Fort Collins (FNL). The airline is teaming up with Landline – a premium ground transportation company – to offer connecting service to these popular destinations through Denver International Airport (DEN). Customers can book their travel on united.com starting today, selecting Breckenridge or Fort Collins as their destination.
"United's new service from Denver to Breckenridge and Fort Collins is just one example of how we are identifying opportunities to innovate our route network to get people where they want to go with ease and convenience," said Ankit Gupta, United's vice president of Domestic Network Planning and Scheduling. "Our customers tell us that national parks and ski destinations are important to them and we are proud to partner with Landline to offer a unique, seamless way to help them get there."
"With this new service, customers can start their day anywhere in United's global network and arrive slope side in Breckenridge minutes from the main gondola," said Landline's co-founder & CEO David Sunde. "At the same time, in Fort Collins we are creating global connectivity for the first time in 25 years. These new routes exemplify our mission to redefine the airport by making it mobile and multimodal. We could not be more thrilled to have United's commitment to innovation and passion for customer service backing this new endeavor."
Added Landline co-founder & President Ben Munson, "We have worked closely with the United team to create a stress-free connecting experience in Denver. Customers will love our spacious leather seating, onboard streaming entertainment and free Wi-Fi."
Customers connecting to Breckenridge or Fort Collins at Denver will transfer to the Landline service from an assigned gate in Concourse A, remaining within the secure airside area of the terminal. Checked-in baggage will be transferred directly from the plane to the bus. Customers originating in Breckenridge or Fort Collins will be required to pass through security on transit in DEN.
Click here for b-roll highlighting customer experience
Keeping customer wellbeing at the forefront, United and Landline will be implementing a wide variety of cleaning and safety measures as part of the new service, all of which have been reviewed by the Cleveland Clinic. These measures include:
- Back-to-front boarding;
- Reducing seat capacity on Landline's service to enable social distancing onboard;
- Requiring mandatory use of masks onboard for customers aged two and over;
- Electrostatically spraying ahead of each departure and sanitizing high touch areas;
- Implementing a UV disinfection air filtration system launched by OEM (Prevost) on all vehicles;
- Providing United CleanPlusSM sanitizing wipes to each customer; and
- Requiring customers to complete a 'Ready to Fly' checklist at check-in, acknowledging they don't have symptoms for COVID-19 and agreeing to follow our policies.
In addition, United MileagePlus ® members will be able to accrue Premier qualifying points (PQP) and redeemable miles on services to both destinations.
Denver remains one of United's fastest growing hubs with daily departures around 80% of 2019 levels – the highest among United hubs. United currently serves more than 160 destinations from Denver and operates more than 360 flights per day – the most comprehensive route network of any carrier in Denver – and offers more flights to more Colorado destinations than any other airline.
For more information on the new service, please visit united.com/landline.
United service to Breckenridge | |||||
From | To | Depart | Arrive | Frequency | Effective |
Denver | Breckenridge | 11:15 a.m. 11:15 a.m. 11:15 a.m. | 1:45 p.m. 2:00 p.m. 1:35 p.m. | Mon-Thurs, Fri Sun | March 11 |
Breckenridge | Denver | 2:15 p.m. 2:25 p.m. 1:55 p.m. | 4:45 p.m. 4:45 p.m. 4:45 p.m. | Mon-Thurs, Fri Sun | March 11 |
Schedule subject to change | |||||
United service to Fort Collins | |||||
From | To | Depart | Arrive | Frequency | Effective |
Denver | Fort Collins | 9:45 a.m. 1:25 p.m. 6:00 p.m. 7:25 p.m. | 11:00 a.m. 2:40 p.m. 7:15 p.m. 8:40 p.m. | 4x daily | April 1 |
Fort Collins | Denver | 7:30 a.m. 9:10 a.m. 11:20 a.m. 5:15 p.m. | 8:45 a.m. 10:25 a.m. 12:35 p.m. 6:30 p.m. | 4x daily | April 1 |
Schedule subject to change | |||||
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
About Landline
Landline is building the future of travel by seamlessly connecting air and ground transportation networks, bringing the airport right to your front door. By integrating with Landline's platform, airlines can access new markets and create custom designed check-in experiences for their customers by offering one-click, one-price multimodal itineraries. Follow Landline on Twitter (@ridelandline).
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
"Laysha and her credentials are the right addition to our already strong board of directors at a pivotal moment for our company," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "United will benefit from Laysha's insight on a wide range of topics that will be essential to our success as we recover from the impact of COVID-19, including her expertise in the areas of community and stakeholder engagement, corporate responsibility and diversity, equity and inclusion."
"When we began the search for a new board member, we were focused on finding a leader with both strong business acumen and a unique perspective that will help United capitalize on our strengths as we emerge from the COVID-19 crisis," said Oscar Munoz, Executive Chairman of United Airlines. "I'm eager for Laysha to get started because I know she will add value right away as we evaluate the strategic opportunities for United Airlines and its incredibly bright future."
"At a pivotal time for the airline industry, I look forward to joining the UAL board and helping the company fulfill its purpose of connecting people and uniting the world," said Ward.
In addition to her executive role at Target Corporation, Ward serves on the Aspen Institute Latinos and Society Advisory Board, the Stanford Center for Longevity Advisory Council, and is a member of the Executive Leadership Council, the Economic Clubs of New York and Chicago, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, and The Links. Ward also serves on the board of directors of Denny's Corporation, as well as the boards of Greater MSP, the Minnesota Orchestra, and the Northside Achievement Zone.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
"We are thrilled to offer travelers a convenient, non-stop option between Boston and London with this addition to our global network," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "We will continue to monitor the demand recovery and travel restrictions as we finalize a start date for this service later in 2021."
Tickets will be available for purchase on united.com and the United app in the coming weeks.
United has provided service to London Heathrow for nearly 30 years and over the course of the pandemic has maintained continuous service between the U.S. and London. Looking ahead, Boston will be United's 19th daily flight between the United States and London Heathrow.
Boston – London Schedule | ||||||
From | To | Depart | Arrive | Frequency | Aircraft | |
Boston | London | 10:00 p.m. | 9:35 a.m.+1 | Daily | 767-300ER | |
London | Boston | 5:00 p.m. | 7:30 p.m. | Daily | 767-300ER | |
Schedule subject to change | ||||||
United's Polaris product is a premium travel experience that prioritizes relaxation and comfort with features that include everything from custom, luxury bedding from Saks Fifth Avenue and restaurant-quality, multi-course inflight dining to premium amenity kits and full flat-bed seats with direct aisle access. Along with its 46 Polaris Business Class seats, the aircraft also features 22 United Premium Plus seats, 43 United Economy Plus seats and 56 United Economy seats.
Committed to Ensuring a Safe Journey
United is committed to putting health and safety at the forefront of every customer's journey, with the goal of delivering an industry-leading standard of cleanliness through its United CleanPlus program. United has teamed up with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic to redefine cleaning and health safety procedures from check-in to landing and has implemented more than a dozen new policies, protocols and innovations designed with the safety of customers and employees in mind.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
New Orange County service begins May 6 and new, first-ever nonstop service between Chicago and Kona and between New York/Newark and Maui starts June 3
Customers departing Orange County and United's hub airports can save time by showing proof of negative tests to skip document screening process in Hawaii
"We know customers are dreaming of summer getaways and we want United to be their top choice for travel to Hawaii," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "Our new Hawaii routes from Chicago, Newark and Orange County, in addition to the dozens of flights United already operates from the mainland to Hawaii, offer travelers even more options, greater convenience and shorter travel times to the fantastic outdoor offerings Hawaii has to offer."
United is committed to helping safely restore travel to Hawaii and has introduced a number of solutions to make it easier for customers to understand and follow safety requirements throughout the islands. Earlier this month, the airline announced that customers traveling to Hawaii who have a valid negative COVID-19 test can show their results before boarding to save time and skip document screening lines upon arrival. United is also making it easier to get the right tests to avoid Hawaii's 10-day quarantine by making approved COVID-19 tests available to all customers traveling to the islands no matter where in the U.S. their travel begins. Additionally, the airline recently introduced a new digital solution, "The Travel-Ready Center," where customers can review COVID-19 entry requirements, find local testing options and upload any required testing and vaccination records for travel, all in one place.
United has served Hawaii for more than 70 years and was the first airline to introduce service between the mainland and Kona and Maui in 1983. United remains a pioneer to the Hawaiian Islands with the launch of first-ever service between Chicago and Kona and between New York/Newark and Maui this summer. The new flights enable convenient travel times for customers connecting in Chicago and Newark from across the Midwest and East Coast. United's service between Orange County's John Wayne International Airport and Honolulu will be the only nonstop flight between Orange County and Hawaii and provides even more options for Southern Californians to get to Hawaii.
New Hawaii Summer Service
Schedule subject to change
2021 Hawaii Summer Service
Schedule subject to change
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
Under the terms of the agreement, United will contribute its expertise in airspace management to assist Archer with the development of battery-powered, short-haul aircraft. Once the aircraft are in operation and have met United's operating and business requirements, United, together with Mesa Airlines, would acquire a fleet of up to 200 of these electric aircraft that would be operated by a partner and are expected to give customers a quick, economical and low-carbon way to get to United's hub airports and commute in dense urban environments within the next five years.
Working with Archer is another example of United's commitment to identifying and investing in innovative technology that can reduce carbon emissions while also improving the customer experience and earning a strong financial return. The airline was an early stage investor in Fulcrum BioEnergy and recently partnered with 1PointFive, a joint venture between Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Rusheen Capital, to jumpstart the establishment of direct air capture and sequestration technology.
"Part of how United will combat global warming is by embracing emerging technologies that decarbonize air travel . By working with Archer, United is showing the aviation industry that now is the time to embrace cleaner, more efficient modes of transportation. With the right technology, we can curb the impact aircraft have on the planet, but we have to identify the next generation of companies who will make this a reality early and find ways to help them get off the ground," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "Archer's eVTOL design, manufacturing model and engineering expertise has the clear potential to change how people commute within major metropolitan cities all over the world."
With today's technology, Archer's aircraft are designed to travel distances of up to 60 miles at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour and future models will be designed to travel faster and further. Not only are Archer's aircraft capable of saving individuals time on their commute, United estimates that using Archer's eVTOL aircraft could reduce CO2 emissions by 47% per passenger on a trip between Hollywood and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), one of the initial cities where Archer plans to launch its fleet.
Led by co-founders and co-CEOs Brett Adcock and Adam Goldstein, Archer's mission is to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility at scale. Archer plans to unveil its full scale eVTOL aircraft in 2021, begin aircraft production in 2023, and launch consumer flights in 2024. To drive this fourth transportation revolution and transform how people approach everyday life, work and adventure, Archer has built a highly accomplished team of top engineering and design talent, with a collective 200+ years of eVTOL experience.
"We couldn't be happier to be working with an established global player like United," said Brett Adcock, co-CEO and co-Founder of Archer. "This deal represents so much more than just a commercial agreement for our aircraft, but rather the start of a relationship that we believe will accelerate our timeline to market as a result of United's strategic guidance around FAA certification, operations and maintenance."
Adam Goldstein, co-CEO and co-Founder of Archer added "the team at United share our vision of a more sustainable future. We're working closely with their test pilots and environmental teams to make sustainable urban air mobility a reality far sooner than people could ever imagine."
United's Commitment to the Environment
At United, we believe the airline industry needs to be bolder when it comes to making decisions that confront the climate crisis. That's why we are making aggressive and tangible commitments to help reduce our carbon emission footprint before our customers even take their seats. Here are some of the ways we're making a difference:
- In 2020, we pledged to become 100% green by reducing our greenhouse gas emissions by 100% by 2050—without relying on traditional carbon offsets—and became the first airline to announce a commitment to invest in Direct Air Capture technology by partnering with 1PointFive, a joint venture between Oxy Low Carbon Ventures and Rusheen Capital.
- In 2019, we committed $40 million toward an investment initiative focused on accelerating the development of sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) and other decarbonization technologies. That same year, we operated the Flight for the Planet, which represented the most-eco-friendly commercial flight of its kind in the history of commercial aviation.
- In 2018, we became the first U.S. airline to establish a climate goal, reducing our emissions 50% by 2050 versus our 2005 baseline.
- In 2016, we became the first airline globally to use sustainable aviation fuel (SAF) in regular operations on a continuous basis and has purchased and will use more SAF than any other U.S. airline.
- In 2015, we invested $30 million in Fulcrum BioEnergy, a SAF producer that converts trash to low-carbon jet fuel.
United's Award-Winning Eco-Skies Program
United's award-winning Eco-Skies program represents the company's commitment to the environment and the actions taken every day to create a more sustainable future. The Carbon Disclosure Project named United as the only airline globally to its 2020 'A List' for the airline's actions to cut emissions, mitigate climate risks and develop the low-carbon economy, marking the seventh consecutive year that United had the highest CDP score among U.S. airlines.
In 2017, Air Transport World magazine named United its Eco-Airline of the Year for the second time since the airline launched the Eco-Skies program. Additionally, United ranked No. 1 among global carriers in Newsweek's 2017 Global 500 Green Rankings, one of the most recognized environmental performance assessments of the world's largest publicly traded companies.
For more information on United's commitment to environmental sustainability, visit united.com/ecoskies.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
About Archer
Archer's mission is to advance the benefits of sustainable air mobility. Archer is creating the world's first electric airline that moves people throughout the world's cities in a quick, safe, sustainable, and cost-effective manner. As the world's only vertically integrated airline company, Archer's business includes the design, manufacture, and operation of a fully electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft that can carry passengers for up to 60 miles at speeds of up to 150 miles per hour while producing minimal noise. Archer's team is based in Palo Alto, CA. To learn more, visit www.archer.com
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements in this release are forward-looking and thus reflect our current expectations and beliefs with respect to certain current and future events and anticipated operating performance. Such forward-looking statements are and will be subject to many risks and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "will," "plans," "anticipates," "indicates," "remains," "believes," "estimates," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals," "targets" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Additionally, forward-looking statements include statements that do not relate solely to historical facts, such as statements which identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of current known trends or uncertainties, or which indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to us on the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the risks and uncertainties set forth under Part I, Item 1A., "Risk Factors," of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, as updated by our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September 30, 2020, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
"Black History Month is not only a time of celebration and reflection but also presents an opportunity to seize on that heightened awareness to take action," said Jessica Kimbrough, chief diversity, equity and inclusion officer at United. "By working closely with our partners at Chase and Visa, United Airlines is proud to offer cardmembers a unique opportunity to support groups that are focused on the advancement of civil rights and then reward them for their contribution."
"JPMorgan Chase is committed to driving real and sustainable change for Black communities and we're using this time to reflect both on the past and on our commitment to build a more equitable future," said Ed Olebe, president of co-brand cards at JPMorgan Chase. "This effort is an example of how to harness our collective expertise – along with our United and Visa partners – to build a program that gives back to organizations making a difference, while at the same time rewarding our joint customers."
"The black and African American community is being disproportionately impacted by the pandemic in the United States, which will require short and long-term solutions to help this community recover," said Suzan Kereere, global head, merchant sales and acquiring at Visa. "For Visa, partnerships are one way we will leverage our network to bridge gaps in funding and opportunity for Black communities. This campaign is one example of Visa's unwavering commitment to address social injustice and racial equality, which will continue to be a priority for our business."
To learn more or to donate to these organizations, customers can visit United.com/BlackHistoryMonth.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
About Chase
Chase is the U.S. consumer and commercial banking business of JPMorgan Chase & Co., a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.4 trillion and operations worldwide. Chase serves more than 60 million American households with a broad range of financial services, including personal banking, credit cards, mortgages, auto financing, investment advice, small business loans and payment processing. Customers can choose how and where they want to bank: More than 4,700 branches in 38 states and the District of Columbia, 16,000 ATMs, mobile, online and by phone. For more information, go to chase.com.
About Visa
Visa Inc. is the world's leader in digital payments. Our mission is to connect the world through the most innovative, reliable and secure payment network - enabling individuals, businesses and economies to thrive. Our advanced global processing network, VisaNet, provides secure and reliable payments around the world, and is capable of handling more than 65,000 transaction messages a second. The company's relentless focus on innovation is a catalyst for the rapid growth of digital commerce on any device, for everyone, everywhere. As the world moves from analog to digital, Visa is applying our brand, products, people, network and scale to reshape the future of commerce. For more information, visit: About Visa, visa.com/blog and @VisaNews.
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, 872.825.8640, media.relations@united.com
"Receiving this recognition for the 10th year in a row speaks to our continued commitment to establishing a workplace that truly supports and celebrates our LGBTQ+ employees and customers," said Jessica Kimbrough, United's Chief of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. "We will continue working with organizations like the Human Rights Campaign as we work towards creating a more diverse, equitable and inclusive culture at United where all employees and customers feel safe to be their authentic selves."
"Many businesses across the nation, including United Airlines, stepped up and continued to prioritize and champion LGBTQ equality," said Alphonso David, President, Human Rights Campaign. "While the CEI cannot measure every facet of what makes a workspace inclusive, it does create a foundation upon which employees can feel more comfortable living and working as their true selves—an important step, but one which is only the starting point. Diversity and inclusion policies and practices advanced through tools like the CEI are critical, but meaningful change requires breathing life into these policies in real and tangible ways, so that LGBTQ employees are truly seen, valued and respected not only at work, but in every aspect of life."
United's commitment to LGBTQ+ equality includes being the first U.S. airline to fully recognize domestic partnerships in 1999 to becoming the first U.S. airline to offer non-binary gender options throughout all of its booking channels. United became the first public company to be inducted into Pride Live's Stonewall Ambassador program in recognition of the airline's commitment to LGBTQ+ equality in 2019Through EQUAL, the airline's LGBTQ+ Business Resource Group, more than 2,600 members work together to advocate on behalf of the LGBTQ+ community, working with members and leaders companywide to develop ways to deliver and support resources, education and advocacy.
United has partnered with the Human Rights Campaign on training initiatives including educating employees, through comprehensive training modules and exercises, about preferred pronouns and the persistence of gender norms and other steps to make United an inclusive space for both customers and employees.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter, Instagram, TikTok or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
United is also making it easier to get the right tests to avoid Hawaii's 10-day quarantine by making approved COVID-19 tests available to all customers traveling to the islands no matter where in the U.S. their travel begins.
"We're making it easier for customers traveling to Hawaii to spend more time enjoying their trip and less time waiting in lines," said Toby Enqvist, chief customer officer at United. "Testing is the key to opening domestic and international travel so we'll continue to lead the way in rolling out solutions that are simple and safe so our customers have what they need when they take their next trip with us."
To begin the pre-clearance program, customers will enroll in Hawaii's Safe Travels program and complete Hawaii's COVID-19 questionnaire within 24 hours from departure. Next, customers will use the Safe Travels website to upload their negative test results from one of Hawaii's trusted testing partners which must be taken within 72 hours of their departure. At the airport, customers will see a United team member at the gate for their flight to Hawaii where they will receive a wristband if they qualify to bypass airport screening in Hawaii. Customers who have been pre-cleared will be able to skip test screenings in Hawaii and begin their trip as soon as they land.
For images of United's pre-clearance program click here.
United is also making it easier for customers to obtain approved COVID-19 test options with the expansion of mail-in tests to customers no matter where in the U.S. their travel originates. The airline will notify customers in advance of their Hawaii trip to let them know what testing options they have locally. Last year, United also teamed up with XpresCheck to open additional same-day testing facilities for United customers in select airports. XpresCheck currently has locations open in United's Denver terminal, and expects to open additional locations in United's terminals in Houston and Newark in the coming weeks. Customers who choose to take a test with XpresCheck can schedule an appointment online for a rapid molecular test on the same day as their travel. Walk up appointments are also available on a first come, first served basis.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic began, United made numerous enhancements to its business that improve the travel experience and make the airline a better company. Earlier this week, United announced a new Travel-Ready Center in the United app and online where customers can review COVID-19 travel requirements, find local testing options and upload any testing and vaccination records that their destinations requires. This year, United also began allowing all customers to fly standby on another flight to the same destination on the same day for free, and all MileagePlus® Premier® members now confirm a new flight on the same day to the same destinations at check-in when space is available in the same fare class. Last year, the carrier eliminated most change fees, pledged to reduce its greenhouse gases 100% by 2050, and as a part of its United CleanPlus℠ program, teamed up with Clorox and the Cleveland Clinic to guide its cleaning and safety protocols. Last spring, United extended MileagePlus Premier status to all customers through January 2022 and made earning status for the next two years easier for all MileagePlus members.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
CHICAGO, Jan. 25, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today launched the "Travel-Ready Center" - a new, digital solution where customers can review COVID-19 entry requirements, find local testing options and upload any required testing and vaccination records for domestic and international travel, all in one place. United is the first airline to integrate all these features into its mobile app and website.
"While pre-travel testing and documentation are key to safely reopening global travel, we know it can be confusing for customers when they're preparing for a flight," said Linda Jojo, Executive Vice President for Technology and Chief Digital Officer, United. "Starting today, our 'Travel-Ready Center' gives customers a personalized, step-by-step guide of what is needed for their trip, a simple way to upload required documents and quickly get their boarding pass, fully integrated within our app and website."
In the weeks and months ahead, United will add more innovative, industry-first features to the Travel-Ready Center platform to make navigating evolving entry requirements even easier. United customers will soon be able to:
- Schedule a COVID-19 test at one of more than 15,000 testing sites around the world, right from the app or website.
- Access the recently launched "Agent on Demand", a United-exclusive feature that gives customers the ability to video chat live with a customer service agent to answer any questions about pre-travel requirements or documentation.
- View details about visa requirements for the countries they plan to visit.
Customers with an active reservation can access the Travel-Ready Center through the "My Trips" section of the United App and on united.com. The Travel-Ready Center will provide tailored details on requirements for all travelers 18 and older on a customer's itinerary, with status indicators noting if they are travel-ready based on specific requirements each individual needs to meet in order to board their flight, including any additional requirements for connecting flights. Documents uploaded by a passenger will be reviewed by designated personnel for verification. The individual status indicators for each passenger will then note whether they are "travel ready" and they will be allowed to complete the check-in process. Customers should still plan to bring the physical documents to the airport in case further inspection is needed along their journey.
The Travel-Ready Center is just one of many new technologies the airline has introduced to create a safer and more efficient experience for customers. United recently redesigned its mobile app with new enhancements intended to make travel easier for people with visual disabilities, introduced Destination Travel Guide, which allows customers to filter and view destinations' COVID-19 related travel restrictions, and debuted a new chat function to give customers a contactless option to receive immediate access to information about cleaning and safety procedures.
This year, United made numerous enhancements to its business that improve the travel experience for its customers. The carrier eliminated most change fees, pledged to reduce its greenhouse gases 100% by 2050, teamed up with Clorox and the Cleveland Clinic to guide its cleaning and safety protocols as a part of United CleanPlus℠, extended MileagePlus® Premier® status to all customers through January 2022 and made earning status for the next two years easier for all MileagePlus members. United also announced this year that beginning in January, all customers will be able to fly standby on another flight to the same destination on the same day for free, and all MileagePlus Premier members will be able to confirm a new flight on the same day to the same destinations at check-in when space is available in the same fare class.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of UAL is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, 872.825.8640, media.relations@united.com