United Taps Restivo for New Communications VP Role
Restivo, who will report to Chief Communications Officer Josh Earnest, will drive the development and implementation of proactive communication strategies to advance employee communications, media relations and the global response team and will continue to shape the airline's public image.
"Steve is a proven leader and brings a wealth of industry communications experience to United. He will play a leading role on the communications team as we create and capitalize on opportunities to engage our customers, inspire our employees and promote United's brand around the world," said Earnest.
"I'm proud to join the communications team behind one of the world's most iconic brands, especially at such an exciting time in the company's history," said Restivo. "As United Airlines continues to focus on setting itself apart from the competition by delivering a better customer experience, I look forward to sharing stories that reflect those priorities and resonate with employees and customers."
Most recently, Restivo led external communications in support of Comcast NBCUniversal's suite of residential and business products and services, including Xfinity Internet, Video, Home, Voice and Comcast Business. In addition, Restivo developed consumer, accessibility, influencer and technology campaigns and led brand strategy integrations with a wide variety of organizations, including the United States Olympic Committee, the Academy Awards and NASCAR. Restivo earned his communications degree from James Madison University in Virginia.
His first day at United will be Sept. 3, 2019.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 356 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 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, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 783 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 561 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. 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".
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, 872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
Restivo, who will report to Chief Communications Officer Josh Earnest, will drive the development and implementation of proactive communication strategies to advance employee communications, media relations and the global response team and will continue to shape the airline's public image.
"Steve is a proven leader and brings a wealth of industry communications experience to United. He will play a leading role on the communications team as we create and capitalize on opportunities to engage our customers, inspire our employees and promote United's brand around the world," said Earnest.
"I'm proud to join the communications team behind one of the world's most iconic brands, especially at such an exciting time in the company's history," said Restivo. "As United Airlines continues to focus on setting itself apart from the competition by delivering a better customer experience, I look forward to sharing stories that reflect those priorities and resonate with employees and customers."
Most recently, Restivo led external communications in support of Comcast NBCUniversal's suite of residential and business products and services, including Xfinity Internet, Video, Home, Voice and Comcast Business. In addition, Restivo developed consumer, accessibility, influencer and technology campaigns and led brand strategy integrations with a wide variety of organizations, including the United States Olympic Committee, the Academy Awards and NASCAR. Restivo earned his communications degree from James Madison University in Virginia.
His first day at United will be Sept. 3, 2019.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 356 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 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, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 783 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express carriers operate 561 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. 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".
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, 872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
"We believe the ability to provide fast, same-day COVID-19 testing will play a vital role in safely reopening travel around the world and navigating quarantines and travel restrictions, particularly to key international destinations like London," said Toby Enqvist, chief customer officer for United. "Through this pilot program, we'll guarantee that everyone* on board has tested negative for COVID-19, adding another element to our layered approach to safety. United will continue to lead on testing, while at the same time exploring new solutions that contribute to the safest travel experience possible."
United will share customer feedback of this pilot with governments on both sides of the Atlantic to further demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs as an alternative to mandatory quarantines or duplicative travel restrictions. United has seen a positive impact on travel demand and significant increases in customer load factors and revenue when testing options are available.
United will collaborate with Premise Health, who will administer the rapid testing pilot program for the EWR-LHR flight. The test will be given to passengers traveling on United Flight 14, departing at 7:15 p.m., Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Appointments for the test are required, and customers are advised to schedule their tests at least three hours before their flight. An on-site testing facility will be located at the Newark United Club near Gate C93. For more information on the testing program, please visit united.com/covid-testing.
Before the pandemic, United operated six daily flights between New York/Newark and London on a 767-300ER (76L), offering not only the most frequency among U.S. carriers but also the most business class and Premium Economy seats. Click here for b-roll and still images of United Airlines' COVID-19 testing programs.
United was the first airline to announce optional pre-flight COVID-19 testing for customers. Earlier this month, the airline started offering customers traveling from San Francisco International Airport to Hawaii the option to take a same-day, pre-flight rapid test at the airport or a conveniently located drive-through test, for a fee. The program allows customers with a negative result to bypass Hawaii's mandatory quarantine requirements and enjoy their time on the islands sooner. In the first 10 days, October 15 – 25, the San Francisco to Hawaii flights have seen a nearly 95% increase in passengers compared to the prior two-week period. United believes these positive trends illustrate a strong and pent-up demand for travel, customers' willingness to use pre-flight COVID-19 testing and the importance of these programs as a means of opening borders.
And just last week, United participated in a successful test program between New York/Newark and London of CommonPass, a digital health pass, aimed at enabling safer travel and the reopening of international borders. Customers who chose to participate in the program were able to seamlessly provide their COVID-19 test results to relevant governments.
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it would not permit customers who refused to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags and the first to require passengers to take an online health assessment before traveling. And last month, the airline announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
For more details on all the ways United is helping keep customers safe during their journey, please visit united.com/cleanplus.
* Indicates all customers over 2 years of age
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
"The parts of the travel experience that we all take for granted like checking luggage, getting your flight status and accessing a boarding pass can still be a challenge for someone with a visual disability," said Linda Jojo, Executive Vice President for Technology and Chief Digital Officer, United. "These new accessibility enhancements are part of our continuing commitment to level the playing field, unlock all the customer benefits of our app and give people with disabilities more independence while traveling."
Visually impaired customers will notice that these changes make it easier to manage all aspects of day-of travel, including check in, viewing reservation details and flight status, bag tracking and more. Ray Campbell, a member of United's digital team who's visually impaired and sits on the board of the American Council of the Blind, played a key role in helping redesign the app, and walks through how these changes make flying easier for him in this video.
"Optimizing mobile apps for tools such as VoiceOver and TalkBack has been a game changer, allowing people with visual disabilities to fully utilize smartphone technology in their daily lives," said Campbell. "It's just as important for someone with a visual disability to easily access day-of-travel information and features as for any other customer. By improving the accessibility of the United app, we are truly living out United's mission of caring for all customers."
Beyond the accessibility changes, the United digital team enhanced the current offering while keeping the features that helped the app win a Webby People's Voice award in 2019.
- For our MileagePlus® program members, the app now features a refreshed account experience for members to easily check balances, track Premier® progress, explore MileagePlus benefits, access past activity and more, all in one place.
- The airline is also expanding a popular feature previously only accessible to MileagePlus members. Now, all 37 million customers who have the United app will see a contextualized home screen starting 48 hours before their flight which provides dynamic updates based on where a customer is in their travel journey. For example, customers can see the boarding status of their flight on their homescreen, access personal device entertainment onboard with one click, find a link to a map with gate-to-gate directions for connecting flights and click a quick access button to track any checked bags upon arrival.
- United made slight tweaks to navigation based on customer feedback to make the app more intuitive, including making the bottom navigation persistent throughout the app. Another example is the "More" menu, which was reorganized and now contains the "Inbox" feature, which includes timely messages about boarding announcements, gate changes and other travel updates.
- Customers will notice a new color palette that's consistent with the refreshed branding the airline debuted in 2019. United's digital team also made subtle design adjustments to make things more consistent and easier to find, like always using a purple bar to highlight the main call-to-action on a page and ensuring alerts and flight status icons appear the same way in every page on the app.
- All of these changes are underpinned by a new back-end platform, which will ultimately make the app faster and more responsive.
The redesigned app is available for download today for iPhone®, iPad® and iPod touch® devices (as an iPhone app) and for Android devices.
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it wouldn't permit customers who refused to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. The airline also recently announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
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
Tickets will be available for purchase on Saturday, October 17 on United.com. Tickets for Los Angeles and San Francisco service to Costa Rica will be available for purchase on Wednesday, October 21 on United.com.
"These eight new routes highlight the continued expansion of our network and build upon our strong presence in Latin America," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "Our new and increased service offers travelers more opportunities to find warm-weather getaways and visit friends and family over the winter season."
Adding service to seven beach destinations in Mexico
This winter, United is also adding more flights to some of Mexico's most popular beach destinations including Cancun, San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta and is adding more weekend service to Cozumel from Chicago, Denver and Houston.
- Restarting nonstop year-round service between Cleveland and Cancun on December 19.
- Restarting service between Houston and Mazatlán on December 19.
- Increasing service between Chicago and Cozumel, San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.
- Increasing service between Denver and Cancun, Cozumel, San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.
- Increasing service between Houston and Acapulco, Cancun, Cozumel, San Jose del Cabo, Puerto Vallarta and Zihuatanejo
- Increasing service between Los Angeles and Cancun, San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.
- Increasing service between New York/Newark and Cancun, San Jose del Cabo and Puerto Vallarta.
- Increasing service between San Francisco and Cancun.
- Increasing service between Washington Dulles and Cancun.
Increasing service between Washington and the Caribbean
Beginning, December 17, United will start daily, year-round service between Washington-Dulles and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. From Washington, United offers nonstop service to 10 Caribbean destinations for the winter season including daily service to Punta Cana, Grand Cayman, Nassau, Montego Bay, Aruba, Turks and Caicos and San Juan, as well as weekend service to St. Thomas and St. Maarten. In addition to its extensive Caribbean network from Washington, United also serves Cancun, Mexico and San Jose, Costa Rica.
Connecting Denver to more Latin American destinations
Denver-area travelers now have more nonstop opportunities to get to Latin America than ever before. With its new service to Belize and San Jose, United now offers nonstop service to eight destinations in Latin America from Denver.
- Starting new nonstop service between Denver and Belize City, Belize.
- Starting new nonstop service between Denver and San Jose, Costa Rica.
- Continuing nonstop service between Denver and Cancun, Cozumel, Puerto Vallarta, San Jose del Cabo, Nassau and Liberia.
More options for West Coast customers to Central America
This winter, United will start brand-new nonstop flights connecting the Western U.S. with two popular leisure destinations in Costa Rica, enabling the airline to offer new options for customers planning travel to Central America. Tickets for United's new Costa Rica service from Los Angeles and San Francisco will be available for purchase on Wednesday, October 21 on United.com.
- Starting new Saturday service between Los Angeles and San Jose, Costa Rica on December 19, which expands to daily service on January 5, 2021.
- Starting new three-times weekly service between Los Angeles and San Pedro Sula, Honduras on December 17, 2020.
- Starting new Saturday service between San Francisco and Liberia, Costa Rica on January 9, 2021.
- Starting new three-times weekly service between Los Angeles and Liberia, Costa Rica on January 8, 2021.
- Increasing to ten-times weekly service between Los Angeles and Guatemala City, Guatemala.
- Increasing to eleven-times weekly service between Los Angeles and San Salvador, El Salvador.
- Increasing to twice daily service between Washington and San Salvador.
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it will not permit customers who refuse to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. The airline also recently announced it plans to apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA-registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
For more details on all the ways United is helping keep customers safe during their journey, please visit united.com/cleanplus.
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
"There's no doubt that COVID-19 has changed the travel experience, and United is committed to innovating to help customers continue to travel where they want to go in a way that is safe," said Toby Enqvist, Chief Customer Officer at United. "In partnership with the San Francisco Airport, we look forward to helping re-open the Hawaiian economy, and look forward to making testing options more broadly available to our customers so we can continue to connect people and unite the world."
"Protecting the health and safety of our passengers is our highest priority, and we are proud to partner with United Airlines and their health providers to offer onsite rapid and drive-through testing for United's passengers to Hawaii," said SFO Airport Director Ivar C. Satero. "This collaboration of airlines, airports, and health providers truly creates a model for air travel that gives passengers a new level of confidence. My thanks go out to the entire team who helped us to take this important step forward."
Click here for b-roll and still images of COVID-19 testing at SFO
Preflight testing for customers traveling to Hawaii
United, working alongside with San Francisco International Airport, will make two tests available to customers traveling to Hawaii: a rapid test option taken at the airport on the day of travel or a drive-through test conducted at the airport 48-72 hours before departure. Customers who produce a negative test result through either option will be exempt from quarantine requirements in Lihue, Maui and Honolulu. Customers traveling to Kona will be required to take a second complimentary test when they arrive to the island to avoid quarantining.
The rapid Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test – administered by GoHealth Urgent Care and their partner Dignity Health – is available at an onsite testing facility located in SFO's international terminal prior to security. Customers based in San Francisco can schedule their visits online and will receive their results in approximately 15 minutes. The onsite testing facility will be open from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT daily and customers are advised to make an appointment at least three hours before their flight, as no walk-in appointments will be available.
Customers taking the drive-through test option – administered by Color – can schedule an appointment in advance online and should make the appointment for 48-72 hours before their flight departs. Walk in appointments will not be available. Once a customer takes the test, they will receive an electronic copy of their results in 24-48 hours. The testing facility is located at United's San Francisco Maintenance Center parking lot at 800 S Airport Blvd – a short drive away from the airport. Customers must take the test within 72 hours of their flight's departure and will receive their results electronically.
Halfway to Hawaii
As the state of Hawaii begins to reopen, United is also resuming its popular Halfway to Hawaii game. Customers will calculate the point when their flight is midway to the islands and those who guess correctly will receive a Hawaiian-themed amenity kit*. United is bringing the game back today on flights from Chicago O'Hare to Honolulu and on flights from San Francisco to Honolulu, Maui and Kona, and will expand to all other Hawaii bound flights in the coming weeks.
United currently offers more flights to Hawaii than any other carrier including daily service between San Francisco and Honolulu (HNL), Maui (OGG) and Kona (KOA). Today, the airline also resumed service to Lihue (LIH).
United CleanPlusSM
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it wouldn't permit customers who refused to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. Recently, the airline announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
For more details on all the ways United is helping keep customers safe during their journey, please visit united.com/cleanplus.
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 San Francisco International Airport
SFO wants you to Travel Well. SFO works with local, state and federal health officials to protect against COVID-19. Measures include enhanced cleaning protocols, hundreds of hand sanitizer stations, physical barriers, face coverings for everyone and physical distancing. To learn more visit flysfo.com/travel-well.
SFO offers nonstop service to Asia, South Pacific, Europe, Canada, Mexico and across the United States. For up-to-the-minute departure and arrival information, airport maps and details on shopping, dining, cultural exhibitions, ground transportation and more, visit www.flysfo.com. Follow us on www.twitter.com/flysfo and www.facebook.com/flysfo.
About GoHealth Urgent Care
GoHealth Urgent Care is one of the country's fastest-growing, largest and most technology-forward urgent care companies. At GoHealth Urgent Care, we provide unparalleled experiences that are effortless, personal and connected through partnerships with market-leading health systems and our communities as a whole. GoHealth Urgent Care operates approximately 150 urgent care centers in the greater New York metropolitan area, the Portland, Oregon-Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area, the San Francisco Bay Area, Hartford and South Eastern Connecticut, Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Northwest Arkansas and Delaware. GoHealth Urgent Care is a TPG Growth portfolio company, the middle market and growth equity investment platform of TPG, which has more than $103 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.gohealthuc.com.
About Color
Color is a leader in distributed healthcare and clinical testing. Color makes population-scale healthcare programs accessible, convenient, and cost-effective for everyone. Color works with health systems, employers, and national health initiatives around the world including the million-person All of Us Research Program by the National Institutes of Health. For more information about Color and its response to COVID-19, visit www.color.com.
*Each flight will have up to six winners for the Halfway to Hawaii contest. Winners will be determined by order of pressing the call button with the correct answer. Prizes will carry a value of up to $10.
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
In addition, United expects that third-quarter revenue performance will be the best, even in a historically difficult environment, among our large network competitors - once they have all reported their quarterly results. By almost any revenue measure, the company expects on a year-over-year basis, with our total unit revenue of down 26 percent, passenger unit revenue of down 47 percent, cargo revenue of up 50 percent and loyalty revenue of down 45 percent to be stronger results than those that will be achieved by each of our legacy competitors.
"Having successfully executed our initial crisis strategy, we're ready to turn the page on seven months that have been dedicated to developing and implementing extraordinary and often painful measures, like furloughing 13,000 team members, to survive the worst financial crisis in aviation history," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "Even though the negative impact of COVID-19 will persist in the near term, we are now focused on positioning the airline for a strong recovery that will allow United to bring our furloughed employees back to work and emerge as the global leader in aviation."
United CleanPlus: Keeping Our Customers and Employees Safe
- Partnered with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) to study how effectively the unique airflow configuration on board an aircraft can prevent the spread of aerosolized particles among passengers and crew.
- Only airline maximizing ventilation systems by running the auxiliary power on mainline aircraft during the entire boarding and deplaning process, so our customers and crew get the important safety benefits provided by high-efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filtration systems.
- First U.S. airline to announce the launch of a COVID-19 pilot testing program for customers traveling on United from San Francisco International Airport (SFO) to Hawaii.
- Added Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA-registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to the airline's already rigorous safety and cleaning procedures and expects to add the coating to the entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
- Since COVID-19 began, first major U.S. airline to require flight attendants to wear masks onboard, and among first to require all customers to wear masks onboard. In the third quarter, extended mask requirements to require customers to wear a face covering in the more than 360 airports where United operates around the world, including United customer service counters and kiosks, United Club locations, United's gates, and baggage claim areas.
- Launched the United Automated Assistant, a new chat function that gives customers a contactless option to receive immediate access to information about cleaning and safety procedures put in place due to COVID-19.
- Began cleaning pilot flight decks with Ultraviolet C (UVC) lighting technology on most aircraft at hub airports to disinfect the flight deck interior and continue providing pilots with a sanitary work environment.
Pillar 1 – Raising and Maintaining Liquidity
- Since March, the company has raised over $22 billion through commercial debt offerings, stock issuances and the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act ("CARES Act") Payroll Support Program grant and loan, among other items.
- The company's total available liquidity1 at the end of the third quarter 2020 was approximately $19.4 billion.
- Entered into the first-of-its-kind loyalty backed transaction, borrowing $6.8 billion secured against MileagePlus Holdings in the form of a $3.8 billion bond and a $3.0 billion term loan.
- Secured the ability to borrow $5.2 billion with the U.S. Treasury under the CARES Act loan program between now and March 2021 and expects to have the ability to increase the borrowing capacity up to $7.5 billion, subject to government approval.
- Entered into an agreement with CDB Aviation to finance, via a sale leaseback transaction, two Boeing 787-9 and ten Boeing 737 MAX aircraft that are currently subject to purchase agreements between United and The Boeing Company.
Pillar 2 – Minimizing Cash Burn
- Reduced total operating costs by 59 percent versus the third quarter of 2019. Excluding special charges2, reduced operating costs by 48 percent versus the third quarter of 2019.
- Achieved target average daily cash burn3 during the third quarter of $21 million plus $4 million of average debt principal payments and severance payments per day, compared to second-quarter average daily cash burn of $37 million plus $3 million of debt principal payments and severance payments per day.
Pillar 3 – Variabilizing Cost Structure
- Reduced non-labor operating expenses, excluding special charges and depreciation, by 63 percent in the third quarter, against a capacity reduction of 70 percent.
- Restructured and significantly reduced our management and administrative functions. These reductions are expected to be largely permanent, even as demand recovers.
- Reached a landmark agreement with its pilot group that avoids furloughs by securing flexibility in work hours, while also reaching agreements to provide a path to early retirement and reduce expense through voluntary leave of absence programs. These agreements position the company to rebound quickly when demand returns.
- Created a program with the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) that reduced 3,300 flight attendant furloughs while allowing the company to react more quickly to network changes.
- Reduced furloughs of International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) represented employees through an agreement that incentivizes employees to take a leave of absence.
- Worked with the union representing dispatchers to reduce furloughs and create staffing flexibility as demand returns through an agreement that allows dispatchers to voluntarily reduce their work schedules.
- Offered employees comprehensive voluntary separation packages, retirement packages and/or extended leaves of absence with approximately 9,000 employees opting to participate.
Third-Quarter Financial Results
- The company had a net loss of $1.8 billion, and an adjusted net loss4 of $2.4 billion.
- Total operating revenues were down 78 percent year-over-year, on a 70 percent decrease in capacity year-over-year.
- Passenger revenue was down 84 percent year-over-year.
Expanding Customer Benefits
- First among U.S. global airlines to permanently eliminate change fees on all standard economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S., and starting January 1, 2021, any United customer can fly standby for free on a flight departing the day of their travel regardless of the type of ticket or class of service.
- First U.S. airline to introduce the Destination Travel Guide, a new interactive map tool on united.com and the United mobile app that allows customers to filter and view destinations' COVID-19 related travel restrictions.
- First U.S. airline to introduce an interactive map feature for customers on united.com, powered by Google Flight Search Enterprise Technology, to easily compare and shop for flights based on departure city, budget and location type. Customers can simultaneously compare travel to various destinations in a single search.
- Announced plan to continue installing Polaris Business Class on Boeing 787 fleet.
Reimagining Our Route Network
- Announced 28 new domestic routes and 9 new international routes.
- Resumed nonstop service on 146 domestic routes.
- Resumed and/or launched service on 78 international routes to 33 destinations in 18 countries around the world, including: Aruba, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, French Polynesia (Tahiti), Guatemala, Honduras, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea and Switzerland.
- Compared to June, United had nonstop service in 127 more domestic and 29 more international markets in July, 157 more domestic and 57 more international markets in August, and 151 more domestic and 80 more international markets in September.
- Announced increased service to China from two to four weekly flights between San Francisco and Shanghai's Pudong International Airport. Once service resumes, United will be the only U.S. airline flying to mainland China directly.
- Announced plans to expand global route network with new nonstop service to Ghana, Hawaii, India, Nigeria, and South Africa. With these new routes, United will offer more nonstop service to India and South Africa than any other U.S. carrier and remain the largest carrier between the U.S. mainland and Hawaii.
- Announced plans to add up to 28 daily nonstop flights this winter connecting customers in Boston, Cleveland, Indianapolis, Milwaukee, New York/LaGuardia, Pittsburgh, and Columbus, Ohio to four popular Florida destinations.
- Announced plans to fly roughly 40 percent of its full schedule in October 2020 compared to October of last year.
- Increased cargo revenue by 50 percent by leveraging international flying and deploying strategic international cargo-only missions.
Doing Our Part to Help Fight COVID-19 Since Crisis Began
- Booked over 2,900 free flights for medical professionals to support COVID-19 response in New Jersey/New York and California.
- More than 19.2 million miles donated by MileagePlus members and 7.6 million miles matched by United to help organizations providing relief during COVID-19.
- Donated nearly 1.2 million pounds of food from United Polaris lounges, United Club locations, and catering kitchens to local food banks and charities.
- Over 7,500 face masks were made from upcycled unused employee uniforms.
- More than 800 gallons of hand sanitizer produced by United employees in San Francisco for use by United employees.
- Donated 15,000 pillows, 2,800 amenity kits, and 5,000 self-care products to charities and homeless shelters.
- More than 2.2 million pounds of food and household goods were processed by United employees at the Houston Food Bank.
- Flew more than 146.8 million pounds of medical equipment and personal protective equipment (PPE) and 3.1 million pounds of supplies to support military troops.
- More than 2,400 United employees worldwide have volunteered, with over 33,400 hours served.
- United began flying a portion of its Boeing 777 and 787 fleet as dedicated cargo charter aircraft, as of March 19, to transfer freight to and from U.S. hubs and key international business locations. Since then, we have operated over 6,500 cargo-only flights and moved over 223 million pounds of a variety of goods.
- Through a combination of cargo-only flights and passenger flights, United has transported more than 401 million pounds of freight, which includes 154 million pounds of vital shipments, such as medical kits, PPE, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment, and more than 3 million pounds of military mail and packages.
Additional Noteworthy Accomplishments
- Recognized for the fifth consecutive year as a top-scoring company and best place to work for disability inclusion with a perfect score of 100 on the 2020 Disability Equality Index (DEI).
- Selected by the Commission on Presidential Debates as the official airline for the 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential Debates.
- Announced signing of The Board Challenge and committed to adding a second Black board member to the Board of Directors.
1 Total available liquidity includes cash and cash equivalents, short-term investments and $1 billion available under our undrawn revolving credit facility, as well as $4.7 billion available under the CARES Act Loan program. |
2 Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the tables accompanying this release. |
3 Cash burn is defined as: Net cash from operations, less investing and financing activities. Proceeds from the issuance of new debt (excluding expected aircraft financing), government grants associated with the Payroll Support Program of the CARES Act, issuance of new stock, net proceeds from the sale of short-term and other investments and changes in certain restricted cash balances are not included in this figure. Cash burn excludes the borrowing and replacement of the $200 million short-term loan associated with the CARES Act Loan Program. |
4 Excludes special charges, nonoperating special termination benefits and settlement losses and unrealized gains and losses on investments. Reconciliations of non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures are included in the tables accompanying this release. |
Earnings Call
UAL will hold a conference call to discuss third quarter 2020 financial results as well as its financial and operational outlook for the fourth quarter and full year 2020, on Thursday, October 15, at 9:30 a.m. CT/10:30 a.m. ET. A live, listen-only webcast of the conference call will be available at ir.united.com.
The webcast will be available for replay within 24 hours of the conference call and then archived on the website for three months.
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".
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 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," "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 following: the duration and spread of the ongoing global COVID-19 pandemic and the outbreak of any other disease or similar public health threat and the impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition; the lenders' ability to accelerate the MileagePlus indebtedness, foreclose upon the collateral securing the MileagePlus indebtedness or exercise other remedies if we are not able to comply with the covenants in the MileagePlus financing agreements; the final terms of borrowing pursuant to the Loan Program under the CARES Act and the effects of the grant and promissory note through the Payroll Support Program under the CARES Act; the costs and availability of financing; our significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations and ability to seek additional liquidity and maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to comply with the terms of our various financing arrangements; our ability to utilize our net operating losses to offset future taxable income; the material disruption of our strategic operating plan as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and our ability to execute our strategic operating plans in the long term; 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); risks of doing business globally, including instability and political developments that may impact our operations in certain countries; demand for travel and the impact that global economic and political conditions have on customer travel patterns; our capacity decisions and the capacity decisions of our competitors; competitive pressures on pricing and on demand; changes in aircraft fuel prices; disruptions in our supply of aircraft fuel; our ability to cost-effectively hedge against increases in the price of aircraft fuel, if we decide to do so; the effects of any technology failures or cybersecurity or significant data breaches; disruptions to services provided by third-party service providers; potential reputational or other impact from adverse events involving our aircraft or operations, the aircraft or operations of our regional carriers or our code share partners or the aircraft or operations of another airline; our ability to attract and retain customers; the effects of any terrorist attacks, international hostilities or other security events, or the fear of such events; the mandatory grounding of aircraft in our fleet; disruptions to our regional network, as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or otherwise; the impact of regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks; the success of our investments in other airlines, including in other parts of the world, which involve significant challenges and risks, particularly given the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic; industry consolidation or changes in airline alliances; 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; costs associated with any modification or termination of our aircraft orders; disruptions in the availability of aircraft, parts or support from our suppliers; 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; labor costs; the impact of any management changes; extended interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports where we operate; U.S. or foreign governmental legislation, regulation and other actions (including Open Skies agreements, environmental regulations and the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union); the seasonality of the airline industry; weather conditions; the costs and availability of aviation and other insurance; our ability to realize the full value of our intangible assets and long-lived assets; any impact to our reputation or brand image; 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, 2019, as updated by our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 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.
-tables attached-
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC | |||||||||||||||||||||||
STATEMENTS OF CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | % | Nine Months Ended | % | ||||||||||||||||||||
(In millions, except per share data) | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||
Operating revenue: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Passenger | $ | 1,649 | $ | 10,481 | (84.3) | $ | 9,395 | $ | 29,692 | (68.4) | |||||||||||||
Cargo | 422 | 282 | 49.6 | 1,088 | 863 | 26.1 | |||||||||||||||||
Other operating revenue | 418 | 617 | (32.3) | 1,460 | 1,816 | (19.6) | |||||||||||||||||
Total operating revenue | 2,489 | 11,380 | (78.1) | 11,943 | 32,371 | (63.1) | |||||||||||||||||
Operating expense: | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Salaries and related costs | 2,229 | 3,063 | (27.2) | 7,354 | 8,993 | (18.2) | |||||||||||||||||
Aircraft fuel | 508 | 2,296 | (77.9) | 2,474 | 6,704 | (63.1) | |||||||||||||||||
Regional capacity purchase | 425 | 721 | (41.1) | 1,550 | 2,124 | (27.0) | |||||||||||||||||
Landing fees and other rent | 500 | 645 | (22.5) | 1,552 | 1,893 | (18.0) | |||||||||||||||||
Depreciation and amortization | 626 | 575 | 8.9 | 1,859 | 1,682 | 10.5 | |||||||||||||||||
Aircraft maintenance materials and outside repairs | 115 | 490 | (76.5) | 659 | 1,319 | (50.0) | |||||||||||||||||
Distribution expenses | 53 | 432 | (87.7) | 379 | 1,234 | (69.3) | |||||||||||||||||
Aircraft rent | 50 | 67 | (25.4) | 147 | 221 | (33.5) | |||||||||||||||||
Special charges (credits) | (1,081) | 27 | NM | (2,467) | 116 | NM | |||||||||||||||||
Other operating expenses | 679 | 1,591 | (57.3) | 2,660 | 4,645 | (42.7) | |||||||||||||||||
Total operating expense | 4,104 | 9,907 | (58.6) | 16,167 | 28,931 | (44.1) | |||||||||||||||||
(1,615) | 1,473 | NM | (4,224) | 3,440 | NM | ||||||||||||||||||
Operating margin | (64.9) | % | 12.9 | % | NM | (35.4) | % | 10.6 | % | NM | |||||||||||||
Nonoperating income (expense): | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Interest expense | (345) | (191) | 80.6 | (712) | (570) | 24.9 | |||||||||||||||||
Interest capitalized | 16 | 22 | (27.3) | 54 | 65 | (16.9) | |||||||||||||||||
Interest income | 8 | 36 | (77.8) | 45 | 103 | (56.3) | |||||||||||||||||
Unrealized gains (losses) on investments, net | 15 | 21 | (28.6) | (295) | 72 | NM | |||||||||||||||||
Miscellaneous, net | (411) | (12) | NM | (1,317) | (40) | NM | |||||||||||||||||
Total nonoperating expense | (717) | (124) | NM | (2,225) | (370) | NM | |||||||||||||||||
Income (loss) before income taxes | (2,332) | 1,349 | NM | (6,449) | 3,070 | NM | |||||||||||||||||
Pre-tax margin | (93.7) | % | 11.9 | % | NM | (54.0) | % | 9.5 | % | NM | |||||||||||||
Income tax expense (benefit) | (491) | 325 | NM | (1,277) | 702 | NM | |||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) | $ | (1,841) | $ | 1,024 | NM | $ | (5,172) | $ | 2,368 | NM | |||||||||||||
Diluted earnings (loss) per share | $ | (6.33) | $ | 3.99 | NM | $ | (18.91) | $ | 9.04 | NM | |||||||||||||
Diluted weighted average shares | 291.0 | 256.4 | 13.5 | 273.5 | 262.0 | 4.4 | |||||||||||||||||
NM Not meaningful |
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC. | |||||||||||||||||
PASSENGER REVENUE INFORMATION AND STATISTICS | |||||||||||||||||
Passenger revenue information is as follows (in millions, except for percentage changes): | |||||||||||||||||
3Q 2020 | Passenger | PRASM vs. | Yield vs. | Available | 3Q 2020 | 3Q 2020 | |||||||||||
Domestic | $ | 1,246 | (81.0%) | (45.2%) | (12.7%) | (65.3%) | 14,798 | 8,043 | |||||||||
Atlantic | 182 | (90.7%) | (65.7%) | (6.1%) | (72.9%) | 4,117 | 1,305 | ||||||||||
Pacific | 97 | (91.3%) | (43.7%) | 90.3% | (84.6%) | 1,669 | 411 | ||||||||||
Latin America | 124 | (85.3%) | (42.8%) | (6.4%) | (74.3%) | 1,628 | 854 | ||||||||||
International | 403 | (89.7%) | (55.1%) | 10.6% | (77.1%) | 7,414 | 2,570 | ||||||||||
Consolidated | $ | 1,649 | (84.3%) | (46.8%) | (4.2%) | (70.4%) | 22,212 | 10,613 | |||||||||
Select operating statistics are as follows: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | % | Nine Months Ended | % | |||||||||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Passengers (thousands) | 9,739 | 43,091 | (77.4) | 42,911 | 122,137 | (64.9) | ||||||||||||||||||
Revenue passenger miles (millions) | 10,613 | 64,629 | (83.6) | 56,812 | 180,727 | (68.6) | ||||||||||||||||||
Available seat miles (millions) | 22,212 | 75,076 | (70.4) | 92,113 | 213,961 | (56.9) | ||||||||||||||||||
Passenger load factor: | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Consolidated | 47.8 | % | 86.1 | % | (38.3) | pts. | 61.7 | % | 84.5 | % | (22.8) | pts. | ||||||||||||
Domestic | 54.4 | % | 86.6 | % | (32.2) | pts. | 62.7 | % | 85.7 | % | (23.0) | pts. | ||||||||||||
International | 34.7 | % | 85.4 | % | (50.7) | pts. | 60.0 | % | 82.9 | % | (22.9) | pts. | ||||||||||||
Passenger revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 7.42 | 13.96 | (46.8) | 10.20 | 13.88 | (26.5) | ||||||||||||||||||
Total revenue per available seat mile (cents) | 11.21 | 15.16 | (26.1) | 12.97 | 15.13 | (14.3) | ||||||||||||||||||
Average yield per revenue passenger mile (cents) | 15.54 | 16.22 | (4.2) | 16.54 | 16.43 | 0.7 | ||||||||||||||||||
Cargo ton miles | 685 | 804 | (14.8) | 1,876 | 2,440 | (23.1) | ||||||||||||||||||
Aircraft in fleet at end of period | 1,319 | 1,348 | (2.2) | 1,319 | 1,348 | (2.2) | ||||||||||||||||||
Average stage length (miles) | 1,212 | 1,473 | (17.7) | 1,312 | 1,464 | (10.4) | ||||||||||||||||||
Employee headcount (in thousands) | 87.9 | 95.0 | (7.5) | 87.9 | 95.0 | (7.5) | ||||||||||||||||||
Average aircraft fuel price per gallon | $ | 1.31 | $ | 2.02 | (35.1) | $ | 1.65 | $ | 2.08 | (20.7) | ||||||||||||||
Fuel gallons consumed (millions) | 387 | 1,134 | (65.9) | 1,501 | 3,221 | (53.4) | ||||||||||||||||||
Note: See Part II, Item 6, Selected Financial Data, of UAL's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2019, for definitions of these statistics.
Cash burn: The company's management views daily "cash burn" as an important measure in monitoring liquidity in order to assess the company's cash needs without the impact of certain extraordinary actions or events, and the company believes this provides useful information to investors about the company's liquidity position.
Three Months Ended | Three Months Ended | |||||
Net cash used by operating activities | $ | (1,889) | $ | (130) | ||
Cash flows provided by investing activities | 770 | 812 | ||||
Cash flows provided by financing activities | 7,905 | 2,382 | ||||
6,786 | 3,064 | |||||
Adjusted to remove: | ||||||
Net proceeds from sale of short-term and other investments | 406 | 838 | ||||
CARES Act Payroll Support Program ("PSP") grant | 447 | 3,154 | ||||
PSP Note | 192 | 1,309 | ||||
CARES Act secured loan | 520 | — | ||||
Secured debt (net of discount and fees) | 7,376 | 250 | ||||
Equity issuances | — | 1,135 | ||||
Increase in restricted cash balance | 99 | 1 | ||||
Total Adjustments | 9,040 | 6,687 | ||||
Adjusted cash burn | $ | (2,254) | $ | (3,623) | ||
Days in the period | 92 | 91 | ||||
Average daily cash burn | $ | (25) | $ | (40) | ||
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION
UAL evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and Non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted operating margin, adjusted pre-tax income (loss), adjusted pre-tax margin, adjusted net income (loss), adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share and CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing, among others. UAL believes that adjusting for special charges and for nonoperating credit losses and nonoperating special termination benefits and settlement losses is useful to investors because these items are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. UAL believes that adjusting for unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net is useful to investors because those unrealized gains or losses may not ultimately be realized on a cash basis. UAL believes that adjusting for interest expense related to finance leases of Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft is useful to investors because of the accelerated recognition of interest expense.
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 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, 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 operating cost performance and provides a more meaningful comparison of our core operating costs to the airline industry.
Reconciliations of reported non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included below.
Three Months Ended | % | Nine Months Ended | % | |||||||||||||||
2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||
CASM (cents) | ||||||||||||||||||
Cost per available seat mile (CASM) (GAAP) | 18.48 | 13.20 | 40.0 | 17.55 | 13.52 | 29.8 | ||||||||||||
Special charges | (4.86) | 0.04 | NM | (2.68) | 0.05 | NM | ||||||||||||
Third-party business expenses | 0.06 | 0.07 | NM | 0.13 | 0.06 | 116.7 | ||||||||||||
Fuel expense | 2.28 | 3.05 | (25.2) | 2.68 | 3.13 | (14.4) | ||||||||||||
Profit sharing | — | 0.24 | (100.0) | — | 0.17 | (100.0) | ||||||||||||
CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing (Non-GAAP) | 21.00 | 9.80 | 114.3 | 17.42 | 10.11 | 72.3 | ||||||||||||
NM Not Meaningful |
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION (Continued) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended |
| % | Nine Months Ended |
| % | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
(in millions) | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses (GAAP) | $ | 4,104 | $ | 9,907 | $ | (5,803) | (58.6) | $ | 16,167 | $ | 28,931 | $ | (12,764) | (44.1) | |||||||||||||||
Special charges (credit) | (1,081) | 27 | (1,108) | NM | (2,467) | 116 | (2,583) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Operating expenses, excluding special charges | 5,185 | 9,880 | (4,695) | (47.5) | 18,634 | 28,815 | (10,181) | (35.3) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted to exclude: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Third-party business expenses | 13 | 49 | (36) | (73.5) | 115 | 120 | (5) | (4.2) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Fuel expense | 508 | 2,296 | (1,788) | (77.9) | 2,474 | 6,704 | (4,230) | (63.1) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Profit sharing, including taxes | — | 174 | (174) | (100.0) | — | 368 | (368) | (100.0) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted operating expenses (Non-GAAP) | $ | 4,664 | $ | 7,361 | $ | (2,697) | (36.6) | $ | 16,045 | $ | 21,623 | $ | (5,578) | (25.8) | |||||||||||||||
Operating income (loss) (GAAP) | $ | (1,615) | $ | 1,473 | $ | (3,088) | NM | $ | (4,224) | $ | 3,440 | $ | (7,664) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Adjusted to exclude: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Special charges (credits) | (1,081) | 27 | (1,108) | NM | (2,467) | 116 | (2,583) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted operating income (Non-GAAP) | $ | (2,696) | $ | 1,500 | $ | (4,196) | NM | $ | (6,691) | $ | 3,556 | $ | (10,247) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Operating margin | (64.9) | % | 12.9 | % | (77.8) | pts. | (35.4) | % | 10.6 | % | (46.0) | pts. | |||||||||||||||||
Adjusted operating margin (Non-GAAP) | (108.3) | % | 13.2 | % | (121.5) | pts. | (56.0) | % | 11.0 | % | (67.0) | pts. | |||||||||||||||||
NM | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pre-tax income (loss) (GAAP) | $ | (2,332) | $ | 1,349 | $ | (3,681) | NM | $ | (6,449) | $ | 3,070 | $ | (9,519) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Adjusted to exclude: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Special charges (credit) | (1,081) | 27 | (1,108) | NM | (2,467) | 116 | (2,583) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Termination benefits and settlement losses | 415 | — | 415 | NM | 646 | — | 646 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net | (15) | (21) | 6 | NM | 295 | (72) | 367 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Loss on BRW term loan and guarantee | — | — | — | NM | 697 | — | 697 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Interest expense on ERJ 145 finance leases | — | 22 | (22) | NM | — | 68 | (68) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted pre-tax income (loss) (Non-GAAP) | $ | (3,013) | $ | 1,377 | $ | (4,390) | NM | $ | (7,278) | $ | 3,182 | $ | (10,460) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Pre-tax margin | (93.7) | % | 11.9 | % | (105.6) | pts. | (54.0) | % | 9.5 | % | (63.5) | pts. | |||||||||||||||||
Adjusted pre-tax margin (Non-GAAP) | (121.1) | % | 12.1 | % | (133.2) | pts. | (60.9) | % | 9.8 | % | (70.7) | pts. | |||||||||||||||||
Net income (loss) (GAAP) | $ | (1,841) | $ | 1,024 | $ | (2,865) | NM | $ | (5,172) | $ | 2,368 | $ | (7,540.0) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Adjusted to exclude: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Special charges (credit) | (1,081) | 27 | (1,108) | NM | (2,467) | 116 | (2,583) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Termination benefits and settlement losses | 415 | — | 415 | NM | 646 | — | 646 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net | (15) | (21) | 6 | NM | 295 | (72) | 367 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Loss on BRW term loan and guarantee | — | — | — | NM | 697 | — | 697 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Interest expense on ERJ 145 finance leases | — | 22 | (22) | NM | — | 68 | (68) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Income tax expense (benefit) related to adjustments above, net of valuation allowance | 148 | (6) | 154 | NM | 375 | (25) | 400 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted net income (loss) (Non-GAAP) | $ | (2,374) | $ | 1,046 | $ | (3,420) | NM | $ | (5,626) | $ | 2,455 | $ | (8,081) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Diluted earnings (loss) per share (GAAP) | $ | (6.33) | $ | 3.99 | $ | (10.32) | NM | $ | (18.91) | $ | 9.04 | $ | (27.95) | NM | |||||||||||||||
Adjusted to exclude: | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Special charges (credit) | (3.72) | 0.10 | (3.82) | NM | (9.02) | 0.44 | (9.46) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Termination benefits and settlement losses | 1.43 | — | 1.43 | NM | 2.36 | — | 2.36 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net | (0.05) | (0.08) | 0.03 | NM | 1.08 | (0.27) | 1.35 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Loss on BRW term loan and guarantee | — | — | — | NM | 2.55 | — | 2.55 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Interest expense on ERJ 145 finance leases | — | 0.08 | (0.08) | NM | — | 0.26 | (0.26) | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Income tax expense (benefit) related to adjustments, net of valuation allowance | 0.51 | (0.02) | 0.53 | NM | 1.37 | (0.10) | 1.47 | NM | |||||||||||||||||||||
Adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share (Non-GAAP) | $ | (8.16) | $ | 4.07 | $ | (12.23) | NM | $ | (20.57) | $ | 9.37 | $ | (29.94) | NM | |||||||||||||||
NM Not Meaningful |
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION (Continued)
UAL believes that adjusting capital expenditures for assets acquired through the issuance of debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities is useful to investors in order to appropriately reflect the total amounts spent on capital expenditures. UAL also believes that adjusting net cash provided by operating activities for capital expenditures, adjusted capital expenditures, and aircraft operating lease additions is useful to allow investors to evaluate the company's ability to generate cash that is available for debt service or general corporate initiatives.
Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | ||||||||||||||
Capital Expenditures (in millions) | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | |||||||||||
Capital expenditures, net of returns of purchase deposits on flight equipment (GAAP) | $ | (368) | $ | 869 | $ | 1,630 | $ | 3,336 | |||||||
Property and equipment acquired through the issuance of debt and other | 183 | 86 | 510 | 306 | |||||||||||
Property and equipment acquired through finance leases | 11 | — | 30 | 8 | |||||||||||
Property and equipment acquired through other financial liabilities | 693 | — | 973 | — | |||||||||||
Adjustment to property and equipment acquired through other financial liabilities (a) | (132) | — | (185) | — | |||||||||||
Adjusted capital expenditures (Non-GAAP) | $ | 387 | $ | 955 | $ | 2,958 | $ | 3,650 | |||||||
Free Cash Flow (in millions) | |||||||||||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (GAAP) | $ | (1,889) | $ | 1,103 | $ | (1,956) | $ | 5,728 | |||||||
Less capital expenditures, net of returns of purchase deposits on flight equipment | (368) | 869 | 1,630 | 3,336 | |||||||||||
Free cash flow, net of financings (Non-GAAP) | $ | (1,521) | $ | 234 | $ | (3,586) | $ | 2,392 | |||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities (GAAP) | $ | (1,889) | $ | 1,103 | $ | (1,956) | $ | 5,728 | |||||||
Less adjusted capital expenditures (Non-GAAP) | 387 | 955 | 2,958 | 3,650 | |||||||||||
Less aircraft operating lease additions | 7 | 41 | 40 | 48 | |||||||||||
Free cash flow (Non-GAAP) | $ | (2,283) | $ | 107 | $ | (4,954) | $ | 2,030 | |||||||
(a) In the first nine months of 2020, United entered into agreements with third parties to finance through sale and leaseback transactions new Boeing model 787-9 aircraft and Boeing model 737 MAX aircraft subject to purchase agreements between United and Boeing. In connection with delivery of each aircraft from Boeing, United will assign its right to purchase such aircraft to the buyer, and simultaneous with the buyer's purchase from Boeing, United will enter into a long-term lease for such aircraft with the buyer as lessor. Seven Boeing model 787-9 aircraft were delivered under these transactions (and each is presently subject to a long-term lease to United). Upon delivery, the company accounted for the aircraft which have a repurchase option at a price other than fair value as part of Flight equipment on the company's balance sheet and the related obligation as Other current liabilities and Other financial liabilities from sale-leasebacks (noncurrent) since they do not qualify for sale recognition. If the repurchase option is not exercised, these aircraft will be accounted for as leased assets at the time of the option expiration and the related assets and liabilities will be adjusted to the present value of the remaining lease payments at that time. This adjustment reflects the difference between the recorded amounts and the present value of future lease payments at inception. | |||||||||||||||
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC | |||||||
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED) | |||||||
(In millions) | September 30, 2020 | December 31, 2019 | |||||
ASSETS | |||||||
Current assets: | |||||||
Cash and cash equivalents | $ | 13,150 | $ | 2,762 | |||
Short-term investments | 552 | 2,182 | |||||
Restricted cash | 76 | — | |||||
Receivables, less allowance for credit losses (2020 — $9; 2019 — $9) | 1,171 | 1,364 | |||||
Aircraft fuel, spare parts and supplies, less obsolescence allowance (2020 — $483; 2019 — $425) | 961 | 1,072 | |||||
Prepaid expenses and other | 566 | 814 | |||||
Total current assets | 16,476 | 8,194 | |||||
Total operating property and equipment, net | 31,650 | 30,170 | |||||
Operating lease right-of-use assets | 4,544 | 4,758 | |||||
Other assets: | |||||||
Goodwill | 4,527 | 4,523 | |||||
Intangibles, less accumulated amortization (2020 — $1,481; 2019 — $1,440) | 2,852 | 3,009 | |||||
Restricted cash | 172 | 106 | |||||
Notes receivable, less allowance for credit losses (2020 — $559) | 144 | 671 | |||||
Investments in affiliates and other, net | 824 | 1,180 | |||||
Total other assets | 8,519 | 9,489 | |||||
Total assets | $ | 61,189 | $ | 52,611 | |||
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY | |||||||
Current liabilities: | |||||||
Advance ticket sales | $ | 4,907 | $ | 4,819 | |||
Accounts payable | 1,831 | 2,703 | |||||
Frequent flyer deferred revenue | 772 | 2,440 | |||||
Accrued salaries and benefits | 1,994 | 2,271 | |||||
Current maturities of long-term debt | 4,584 | 1,407 | |||||
Current maturities of finance leases | 136 | 46 | |||||
Current maturities of operating leases | 623 | 686 | |||||
Other | 944 | 566 | |||||
Total current liabilities | 15,791 | 14,938 | |||||
Long-term liabilities and deferred credits: | |||||||
Long-term debt | 22,297 | 13,145 | |||||
Long-term obligations under finance leases | 278 | 220 | |||||
Long-term obligations under operating leases | 4,943 | 4,946 | |||||
Frequent flyer deferred revenue | 5,063 | 2,836 | |||||
Postretirement benefit liability | 1,012 | 789 | |||||
Pension liability | 2,282 | 1,446 | |||||
Deferred income taxes | 389 | 1,736 | |||||
Other financial liabilities from sale-leasebacks | 957 | — | |||||
Other | 1,174 | 1,024 | |||||
Total long-term liabilities and deferred credits | 38,395 | 26,142 | |||||
Total stockholders' equity | 7,003 | 11,531 | |||||
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity | $ | 61,189 | $ | 52,611 | |||
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC. | ||||||||
CONDENSED STATEMENTS OF CONSOLIDATED CASH FLOWS (UNAUDITED) | ||||||||
(In millions) | Nine Months Ended | |||||||
2020 | 2019 | |||||||
Cash Flows from Operating Activities: | ||||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities | $ | (1,956) | $ | 5,728 | ||||
Cash Flows from Investing Activities: | ||||||||
Capital expenditures, net of returns of purchase deposits on flight equipment | (1,630) | (3,336) | ||||||
Purchases of short-term and other investments | (552) | (2,168) | ||||||
Proceeds from sale of short-term and other investments | 2,182 | 2,282 | ||||||
Other, net | 10 | (9) | ||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) investing activities | 10 | (3,231) | ||||||
Cash Flows from Financing Activities: | ||||||||
Proceeds from issuance of debt | 13,024 | 1,109 | ||||||
Proceeds from equity issuance | 1,135 | — | ||||||
Payments of long-term debt | (964) | (726) | ||||||
Repurchases of common stock | (353) | (1,431) | ||||||
Principal payments under finance leases | (53) | (105) | ||||||
Capitalized financing costs | (294) | (51) | ||||||
Other, net | (19) | (29) | ||||||
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities | 12,476 | (1,233) | ||||||
Net increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash | 10,530 | 1,264 | ||||||
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of the period | 2,868 | 1,799 | ||||||
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of the period | $ | 13,398 | $ | 3,063 | ||||
Investing and Financing Activities Not Affecting Cash: | ||||||||
Property and equipment acquired through the issuance of debt, finance leases and other | $ | 1,513 | $ | 314 | ||||
Right-of-use assets acquired through operating leases | 64 | 344 | ||||||
Lease modifications and lease conversions | 503 | 36 | ||||||
UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC. | ||||||||||||||||
NOTES (UNAUDITED) | ||||||||||||||||
Special charges (credit) and unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net include the following: | ||||||||||||||||
Three Months Ended | Nine Months Ended | |||||||||||||||
(In millions) | 2020 | 2019 | 2020 | 2019 | ||||||||||||
Operating: | ||||||||||||||||
CARES Act grant | $ | (1,494) | $ | — | $ | (3,083) | $ | — | ||||||||
Severance and benefit costs | 350 | 2 | 413 | 14 | ||||||||||||
Impairment of assets | 38 | — | 168 | 69 | ||||||||||||
(Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges | 25 | 25 | 35 | 33 | ||||||||||||
Total operating special charges (credit) | (1,081) | 27 | (2,467) | 116 | ||||||||||||
Nonoperating special termination benefits and settlement losses | 415 | — | 646 | — | ||||||||||||
Nonoperating unrealized (gains) losses on investments | (15) | (21) | 295 | (72) | ||||||||||||
Nonoperating credit loss on BRW Aviation Holding LLC and BRW Aviation LLC ("BRW") term loan and related guarantee | — | — | 697 | — | ||||||||||||
Total nonoperating special charges and unrealized (gains) losses on investments | 400 | (21) | 1,638 | (72) | ||||||||||||
Total operating and nonoperating special charges (credit) and unrealized (gains) losses on investments | (681) | 6 | (829) | 44 | ||||||||||||
Income tax expense (benefit), net of valuation allowance | 148 | (2) | 375 | (10) | ||||||||||||
Total operating and non-operating special charges (credit) and unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net of income taxes | $ | (533) | $ | 4 | $ | (454) | $ | 34 | ||||||||
CARES Act grant. During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the company received approximately $5.1 billion in funding pursuant to the Payroll Support Program under the CARES Act, which consists of $3.6 billion of grants and $1.5 billion of an unsecured loan. The company also recorded $66 million for warrants issued to the U.S. Treasury Department, within stockholder's equity, as an offset to the grant income. As of September 30, 2020, we recognized $3.1 billion of the grant as a credit to Special charges (credit) with the remaining $453 million recorded as Payroll Support Program deferred credit on our balance sheet. We expect to recognize the remainder of the grant income from the Payroll Support Program as a Special charge (credit) during the fourth quarter of 2020 as the salaries and wages the grant is intended to offset are incurred.
Impairment of assets: During the three months ended September 30, 2020, the company recorded an impairment of $38 million of the right-of-use asset associated with the embedded aircraft lease in one of our CPA agreements. We review flight equipment and other long-lived assets used in operations for impairment losses when events and circumstances indicate the assets may be impaired. We measure cash flows at the contract level with our CPA partners. The factors that led to this impairment included the impact to cash flows from the pandemic and the relatively short remaining term under the CPA agreement.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, in addition to the impairment described above, the company recorded impairment charges of $130 million for its China routes. The company conducted impairment reviews of certain intangible assets in the first, second and third quarters of 2020, which consisted of a comparison of the book value of those assets to their fair value calculated using the discounted cash flow method. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent suspension of flights to China, the company determined that the value of its China routes had been impaired in the first quarter of 2020. The additional impairment in the second quarter of 2020 was the result of a further delay in the expected return of full capacity to the China markets. No additional impairment was detected in the third quarter of 2020.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the company recorded a $47 million impairment for aircraft engines removed from operations, a $6 million charge for the early termination of several regional aircraft finance leases, an $8 million fair value adjustment for aircraft purchased off lease and $8 million in other miscellaneous impairments.
Severance and benefit costs: As announced in July 2020, the company started the involuntary furlough process earlier this summer when issuing WARN Act notices to 36,000 of its employees. Since then, the company worked to further reduce the total number of furloughs to approximately 13,000 employees by working closely with its union partners, introducing new voluntary options selected by approximately 9,000 employees, and proposing creative solutions that would save jobs. This workforce reduction is part of the company's strategic realignment of its business and new organizational structure as a result of the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on the company's operations and cost structure. The company recorded $350 million and $413 million during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, respectively, related to the workforce reduction and voluntary plans for employee severance, pay continuance from voluntary retirements, and benefits-related costs (and additional costs associated with special termination benefits and settlement losses discussed below).
During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the company recorded $2 million and $12 million, respectively, of management severance. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, the company recorded $2 million 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. In the first quarter of 2017, approximately 1,000 technicians and related employees elected to voluntarily separate from the company and received a severance payment, with a maximum value of $100,000 per participant, based on years of service, with retirement dates through early 2019.
Nonoperating special termination benefits and settlement losses: During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the company recorded $415 million and $646 million, respectively, of settlement losses related to the company's primary defined benefit pension plan covering certain U.S. non-pilot employees, and special termination benefits offered, under furlough and voluntary separation programs.
Nonoperating unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net: During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020, the company recorded gains of $15 million and losses of $271 million, respectively. primarily for changes in the market value of its investment in Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A. ("Azul"). During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the company recorded a loss of $24 million for the decrease in fair value of the AVH share call options, AVH share appreciation rights, and AVH share-based upside sharing agreement (collectively, the "AVH Derivative Assets") that United obtained as part of the BRW term loan agreement and related agreements with Kingsland Holdings Limited.
During the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the company recorded gains of $25 million and $77 million, respectively, for the change in market value of certain of its equity investments, primarily Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A.. Also, during the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019, the company recorded losses of $4 million and $5 million, respectively, for the change in fair value of certain derivative assets related to equity of Avianca Holdings S.A. For equity investments and derivative assets subject to MTM accounting, the company records gains and losses as part of Nonoperating income (expense): Miscellaneous, net in its statements of consolidated operations.
Nonoperating credit loss on BRW term loan and related guarantee: During the nine months ended September 30, 2020, the company recorded a $697 million expected credit loss allowance for the BRW term loan and related guarantee. Avianca Holdings S.A.'s ("AVH") is currently in bankruptcy.
Interest expense related to finance leases of Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft
During the third quarter of 2018, United entered into an agreement with the lessor of 54 Embraer ERJ 145 aircraft to purchase those aircraft in 2019. The provisions of the new lease agreement resulted in a change in accounting classification of these new leases from operating leases to finance leases up until the purchase date. As a result of the change, the company recognized $22 million and $68 million, respectively, of additional interest expense in the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019.
Effective tax rate
The company's effective tax rates for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 were 21.1% and 19.8%, respectively. The effective tax rates for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2019 were 24.1% and 22.9%, respectively. The provision for income taxes is based on the estimated annual effective tax rate which represents a blend of federal, state and foreign taxes and includes the impact of certain nondeductible items and the impact of a change in the company's mix of domestic and foreign earnings (losses). The effective tax rates for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2020 were impacted by $27 million and $157 million, respectively, of valuation allowance related to unrealized capital losses.
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines, Worldwide Media Relations, 872.825.8640, media.relations@united.com
United will continue operating four weekly flights between San Francisco and Shanghai and beginning October 21, will no longer be required to stop in Seoul. United offered more service to China than any other U.S. carrier prior to suspending service in February due to COVID-19. In 2019, United operated five daily flights between Shanghai and its hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago and New York/Newark.
"United continues playing a critical role in keeping people and global supply chains connected to Shanghai and to cities around the world," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "We look forward to resuming nonstop service and offering our customers greater convenience and shorter flight times between San Francisco and Shanghai."
United service to Shanghai* | |||||
Flight | Depart | Day | Time | Arrive | Time |
UA 857 | San Francisco | Weds., Fri., | 11:50 a.m. | Shanghai | 4:30 p.m.+1 day |
UA 858 | Shanghai | Mon., Tues., | 1:30 p.m. | San Francisco | 9:30 a.m. |
*Schedule times subject to change |
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it wouldn't permit customers who refused to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. The airline also recently announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA-registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
For more details on all the ways United is helping keep customers safe during their journey, please visit united.com/cleanplus.
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
The webcast will be available for replay within 24 hours of the conference call and then archived on the website for three months.
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
"For the month of November, we have adjusted our capacity to add flying for leisure travel to warm weather and beach destinations in Florida, Mexico and the Caribbean, along with 'visiting friends and relatives' travel across the globe," said Patrick Quayle, United's vice president of International Network and Alliances. "We're also pleased to announce that beginning this weekend, customers can purchase tickets for United's new nonstop flights between Chicago and New Delhi, New York/Newark and Johannesburg, and between San Francisco and Bangalore."
U.S. Domestic
Domestically, United intends to fly 49% of its schedule compared to November 2019. Beginning this November, United plans to offer up to 16 daily, nonstop flights connecting customers in Boston, Cleveland and New York/LaGuardia to popular Florida destinations including Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa. In addition to United's new flights to Florida, the airline plans to add up to 14 daily flights on 12 routes to Boise, Idaho; Palm Springs, California; and Bend, Oregon.
- Starting new service between Washington Dulles and Key West, Florida
- Resuming service between San Francisco and Tampa, Florida
- Resuming service between Denver and Miami
- Increasing service between Los Angeles and Maui to daily
International
Internationally, United intends to fly 38% of its schedule compared to November 2019, which is a 6-point increase compared to October 2020. The airline intends to resume 29 international routes to cities in Asia, Europe and Latin America, including:
Atlantic
- Resuming service between Denver and Frankfurt, three times weekly
- Increasing service between Houston and Frankfurt to five times weekly
In September, United announced plans to expand its global route network with new, nonstop service between New York/Newark and Johannesburg, South Africa; between San Francisco and Bangalore, India; and between Chicago and New Delhi, India.
Beginning Saturday, October 3, tickets for the following new, nonstop flights will be available for purchase on united.com.*
From | To | Depart | Arrive | Start Date |
Chicago | New Delhi | 6:25 p.m. | 8:10 p.m. +1 | Dec.10, 2020 |
New Delhi | Chicago | 1:55 a.m. | 6:15 a.m. | Dec.12, 2020 |
San Francisco | Bangalore | 6:55 p.m. | 12:50 a.m. +2 | May 6, 2021 |
Bangalore | San Francisco | 3:55 a.m. | 8:30 a.m. | May 8, 2021 |
New York/Newark | Johannesburg | 8:45 p.m. | 5:45 p.m. +1 | March 27, 2021 |
Johannesburg | New York/Newark | 8:00 p.m. | 5:45 a.m. +1 | March 28, 2021 |
*Subject to government approval, schedule subject to change |
Pacific
Across the Pacific, United is converting its current cargo-only flights with nonstop passenger service to Taipei, Taiwan and Seoul, South Korea.
- Resuming nonstop service three times weekly between San Francisco and Taipei.
- Increasing service between San Francisco and Seoul to five times weekly.
Latin America/Caribbean
Throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, United is adding 26 new routes for November, including:
- Restarting service between Houston and Santiago, Chile, three times weekly.
- Restarting service between Houston and Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, three times weekly.
- Resuming service to seven Caribbean and Central American destinations, including Antigua, Curacao, Grand Cayman, Managua, Nassau, St. Lucia and Roatan.
- Expanding service on over 20 routes to popular beach destinations throughout Mexico, including new sew service to Acapulco and Zihuatanejo and expanded service to Cancun, Cozumel, Cabo San Lucas and Puerto Vallarta.
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it will not permit customers who refuse to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. The airline also recently announced it plans to apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA-registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
For more details on all the ways United is helping keep customers safe during their journey, please visit united.com/cleanplus.
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
The rapid Abbott ID NOW COVID-19 test – administered by GoHealth Urgent Care and their partner Dignity Health – provides results in approximately 15 minutes and will be available to United customers on the same day as their flight departing from SFO. The mail-in test option will be administered by Color and it is recommended that customers initiate testing at least 10 days prior to their trip and provide their sample within 72 hours of their trip.
The airline worked closely with Hawaii officials to ensure that any United customer – both visitors and Hawaiian residents returning home – who tests negative on either test would not be subjected to the state's current 14-day quarantine requirement. United currently offers more flights to Hawaii than any other major network carrier including daily service between San Francisco and Honolulu (HNL), Maui (OGG) and Kona (KOA). The carrier plans to increase service to Hawaii on October 15, including the resumption of service between San Francisco and Lihue (LIH) and additional flights between San Francisco and Maui and Kona.
"Our new COVID testing program is another way we are helping customers meet their destinations' entry requirements, safely and conveniently," said Toby Enqvist, Chief Customer Officer at United. "We'll look to quickly expand customer testing to other destinations and U.S. airports later this year to complement our state-of-the-art cleaning and safety measures that include a mandatory mask policy, antimicrobial and electrostatic spraying and our hospital-grade HEPA air filtration systems."
Click here for b-roll and still images of COVID-19 testing at SFO
GoHealth Urgent Care Rapid Test
United first partnered with GoHealth Urgent Care in July to test its international flight crews at SFO. United now plans to expand that testing infrastructure to include customers who wish to be tested for COVID-19 pre-flight. Customers can schedule their visits online in advance for the on-site testing facility that is located at the international terminal and will receive their results in approximately 15 minutes. GoHealth Urgent Care's dedicated COVID-19 testing area will be available from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. PT daily.
"We are excited about expanding our partnership with United and continuing to support their proactive safety measures," said Todd Latz, CEO of GoHealth Urgent Care. "Our on-site, real-time testing for passengers is yet another example of GoHealth's nationwide efforts to fight the spread of COVID-19 and ensure a safer return to normal activities and business operations."
Color Physician-Ordered Self-Collection Test
United is working with Color to offer self-collected, mail-in tests for customers traveling to Hawaii. United will email customers traveling from San Francisco to Hawaii an invitation to purchase their physician-ordered Color self-collection kit at least 10 days ahead of their departure, collect their own samples at home 72 hours prior to their departure and return their test via overnight mail or to a drop box at SFO.
Color then processes those tests at their local, CLIA-certified COVID-19 testing laboratory and returns results via text and/or email within 24-48 hours. Color's self-collection kit includes a plastic collection tube, a non-invasive nasal swab and instructions on how to properly collect a specimen.
"Convenient, widespread COVID-19 testing with fast and reliable results is critical to a return to normalcy and to accelerate the economic recovery," said Caroline Savello, Chief Commercial Officer at Color. "We are proud to partner with United to support the safe and responsible return of travelers to the skies."
United CleanPlusSM
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it wouldn't permit customers who refused to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. And last week, the airline announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
For more details on all the ways United is helping keep customers safe during their journey, please visit united.com/cleanplus.
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 GoHealth Urgent Care
GoHealth Urgent Care is one of the country's fastest-growing, largest and most technology-forward urgent care companies. At GoHealth Urgent Care, we provide unparalleled experiences that are effortless, personal and connected through partnerships with market-leading health systems and our communities as a whole. GoHealth Urgent Care operates approximately 150 urgent care centers in the greater New York metropolitan area, the Portland, Oregon-Vancouver, Washington metropolitan area, the San Francisco Bay Area, Hartford and South Eastern Connecticut, Winston-Salem and Charlotte, North Carolina, St. Louis and Springfield, Missouri, Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Northwest Arkansas and Delaware. GoHealth Urgent Care is a TPG Growth portfolio company, the middle market and growth equity investment platform of TPG, which has more than $103 billion of assets under management. To learn more, please visit www.gohealthuc.com.
About Color
Color is a leader in distributed healthcare and clinical testing. Color makes population-scale healthcare programs accessible, convenient, and cost-effective for everyone. Color works with health systems, employers, and national health initiatives around the world including the million-person All of Us Research Program by the National Institutes of Health. For more information about Color and its response to COVID-19, visit www.color.com.
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
CHICAGO, Sept. 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Let's say you live in Chicago, have $250 to spend on a flight and are looking to go somewhere warm for the holidays. Or you're on the east coast and want to head west for a last-minute getaway to visit a national park. Now, instead of doing multiple, time-consuming searches online, United Airlines has launched a quick and easy way to see all your travel options in one place.
United today announced that it is the first U.S. airline to introduce an interactive map feature powered by Google Flight Search Enterprise Technology. Customers can access Map Search on United.com to easily compare and shop for flights, based on departure city, budget and location type, including popular national park, skiing and cultural destinations. This new digital tool displays fares in a map view, allowing customers to simultaneously compare travel to a variety of destinations in a single search.
"We've reinvented the way people search for flights and introduced something new for our customers that is simpler, provides better results and is easy to use," said Linda Jojo, Executive Vice President for Technology and Chief Digital Officer. "Leveraging the power of Google's Flight Search technology, we are able to provide an all-in-one solution that streamlines the search process and allows our customers to more easily find the flights that work best for them."
Customers can apply over a dozen filters to their map search, including viewing non-stop only flights, specific or flexible dates, and one-way or round-trip options. Additionally, customers can set their preferred departure city and maximum price preference, and filter options based on the type of destination they're looking to visit. The feature currently offers filters to view destinations that are popular for the following offerings:
- National Parks
- Beaches
- Beer & Breweries
- Culture
- Food & Drink
- Hiking
- Outdoors
- Romantic
- Skiing & Snowboarding
- Snorkeling and Scuba
The 'national park' filter was a more recent addition to United's map search feature given the increased interest we've received from customers over the past few months for flights to destinations where they can more easily recreate responsibly. These Map Search filters were designed to highlight the destination types that are most popular with today's traveler, including the top national park destinations served by United. The airline operates more flights to more national park destinations than any other U.S. carrier.
In addition to the filter options available on Map Search, MileagePlus members can also use the tool to view all of their past travels with United. With the "Where I've Been" feature, the map will highlight all the destinations a customer has traveled to with United.
This tool was developed in direct response to customer feedback and United and Google are continuing to collaborate on enhancing this innovative map search capability. Map Search follows a number of recent innovations introduced by United to streamline the travel process. Earlier this month, United debuted its Destination Travel Guide, which allows customers to filter and view destinations' COVID-19 related travel restrictions. Additionally, as part of its United CleanPlusSM program, the airline recently introduced touchless check-in, text alerts for passengers on standby and upgrade lists to reduce person-to-person interaction, and a new chat function to give customers a contactless option to receive immediate access to information about cleaning and safety procedures.
Since the start of the pandemic, United has been a leader among U.S. airlines in enacting new policies and innovations designed to keep employees and passengers safer when traveling. It was the first U.S. airline to mandate masks for flight attendants, quickly following with all customers and employees. United was also among the first U.S. carriers to announce it wouldn't permit customers who refused to comply with the airline's mandatory mask policy to fly with them while the face mask policy is in place. United was also the first U.S. airline to roll out touchless check-in for customers with bags, and the first to require passengers take an online health assessment before traveling. And last week, the airline announced it will apply Zoono Microbe Shield, an EPA registered antimicrobial coating that forms a long-lasting bond with surfaces and inhibits the growth of microbes, to its entire mainline and express fleet before the end of the year.
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
