United Airlines Reports Second-Quarter Profit, Sees Third-Quarter Positive Inflection in Both Supply and Demand

Airline expects less geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty in second half of 2025, with demand inflection beginning in early July with a 6 point acceleration in booking demand

Published industry schedules show a supply inflection beginning in mid-August, similar to schedule changes in 2024

Updated full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share¹ guidance of $9.00 to $11.00

Q2 diluted earnings per share of $2.97; adjusted diluted earnings per share² of $3.87 versus guidance range of $3.25 to $4.25 — United grew both earnings and pre-tax margin in the first half of 2025 compared to the first half of 2024

United's operation continues to execute strongly: Q2 consolidated on-time departures and seat cancellation rate were its best post-pandemic scores for a second quarter; In June, United at EWR led all other major airlines in on-time performance and lowest seat cancellation rate at all New York City area airports

CHICAGO, July 16, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (UAL) today reported a second-quarter profit, ahead of Wall Street expectations, and grew both earnings and pre-tax margin in the first half of 2025 versus the first half of 2024.

The company had second-quarter pre-tax earnings of $1.2 billion, with a pre-tax margin of 8.2%; and adjusted pre-tax earnings² of $1.7 billion, with an adjusted pre-tax margin² of 11.0%. The company also achieved diluted earnings per share of $2.97 and adjusted diluted earnings per share² of $3.87, compared to guidance of $3.25 to $4.25. Total operating revenue grew 1.7% compared to the year-ago period to $15.2 billion.

Beginning in early July, United has seen a sequential 6 point acceleration in demand and a double-digit acceleration in business demand versus the second quarter. The airline attributes this to less geopolitical and macroeconomic uncertainty and has updated its full-year adjusted diluted earnings per share¹ guidance to $9.00 to $11.00, underscoring the resilience of United's brand-loyal, revenue-diverse business model.

United's diverse sources of revenue contributed to its second-quarter results: Premium cabin revenue rose 5.6% year-over-year; revenue from Basic Economy rose 1.7% year-over-year; cargo revenue rose 3.8% year-over-year and loyalty revenue rose 8.7% year-over-year.

United's operational performance during the second quarter continued to lay a foundation for its overall success. Its consolidated on-time departures (D:00) were highest and seat cancellation rates were the airline's lowest for a second quarter since the pandemic, and hubs in Newark, Los Angeles, and San Francisco all achieved their best on-time departure for a second quarter since the pandemic. In June, United posted a better on-time arrival rate at Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR) than all other major airlines at LaGuardia International Airport (LGA) and John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK).

"Our second-quarter performance was more proof that the United Next strategy is working. I am extremely proud of the team for executing a strong operation and navigating through a volatile macroeconomic period, while still growing earnings and pre-tax margin for the first half of the year," said United CEO Scott Kirby. "Importantly, United saw a positive shift in demand beginning in early July, and, like 2024, anticipates another inflection in industry supply in mid-August. The world is less uncertain today than it was during the first six months of 2025 and that gives us confidence about a strong finish to the year."

United's proactive schedule adjustments and close coordination with the FAA and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey have restored Newark to its leading place in our operation, and customer demand there has returned to its historic range. The airline looks forward to resuming Tel Aviv service on July 21.

As part of the airline's broader strategy to pay down high-cost debt and strengthen its balance sheet, in July United repaid, solely using cash on hand, the remaining debt from a July 2020 transaction when it secured financing of $6.8 billion against its MileagePlus assets. This now leaves one of the most valuable loyalty programs in the world unencumbered. At the end of the second quarter, United's trailing twelve months net leverage³ was 2.0x. The company remains focused on further strengthening its balance sheet and growing margins.

Second-Quarter Financial Results

• Capacity up 5.9% compared to second-quarter 2024.
• Total operating revenue of $15.2 billion, up 1.7% compared to second-quarter 2024.
• TRASM down 4.0% compared to second-quarter 2024.
• CASM up 0.6%, and CASM-ex² up 2.2%, compared to second-quarter 2024.
• Pre-tax earnings of $1.2 billion, with a pre-tax margin of 8.2%; adjusted pre-tax earnings² of $1.7 billion, with an adjusted pre-tax margin² of 11.0%.
• Net income of $1.0 billion; adjusted net income² of $1.3 billion.
• Diluted earnings per share of $2.97; adjusted diluted earnings per share² of $3.87.
• Average fuel price per gallon of $2.34.
• Generated $2.2 billion of operating cash flow.
• Generated $1.1 billion of free cash flow⁴.
• Ending available liquidity⁵ of $18.6 billion.
• Total debt, finance lease obligations and other financial liabilities of $27.1 billion at quarter end.
• Trailing twelve months net leverage³ of 2.0x.
• Repurchased $0.2 billion of shares in the second quarter 2025, and have repurchased approximately $0.6 billion of shares year-to-date⁶.

Key Highlights

• Announced Blue Sky, a unique collaboration with JetBlue that streamlines booking across the two airlines and allows customers to use MileagePlus® miles and TrueBlue points across both loyalty programs.
• Flew the airline's largest schedule for a quarter in company history, as measured by available seat miles, growing domestic and Canada capacity by 6.6% and international capacity by 5.3% in available seat miles compared to last year.
• United's Newark operation regained the position of best on-time performance among New York City-area airports in the month of June, thanks in part to the early re-opening of the airport's second runway, strong execution from the Newark team, technology upgrades and hourly flight caps by the FAA.
• Continued the expansion of United's premium footprint, offering a record-high 6.9 million premium seats in the quarter and announcing United Elevated, the airline's newest interior for Boeing 787-9, featuring new United Polaris Studio℠ suites that are 25% larger than United Polaris® with privacy doors, extra ottoman for companions, 27-inch screens, and exclusive food and beverage offerings to elevate premium air travel.
• Launched Starlink WiFi on some regional flights, marking the first time customers can use the airline's industry-leading, free WiFi.
• Announced a first-of-its-kind collaboration with Spotify that brings 450+ hours of content to United's seatback screens, including the first time Spotify is bringing both video podcasts and audiobooks onboard an airline.

Customer Experience 

• Achieved the company's highest second-quarter Net Promoter Score measure of customer satisfaction since 2021, setting record rates for customer experience with baggage, cabin cleanliness and condition, boarding, the check-in process, gate experience, inflight entertainment, pilot communication, and seat comfort.
• Opened the United Polaris lounge dining room at Newark, expanding the lounge size to over 30,000 square feet and becoming the only major airline dining room at Newark to offer a la carte meals.
• Achieved a company high use rate of bag drop shortcut, with 600,000 more customers using it during the quarter compared to last year, enabling a more seamless travel experience.
• Digital check-in rate reached 83% for the quarter, a 5 percentage point increase year over year.
• Expanded TSA PreCheck Touchless ID to San Francisco, and announced plans to expand it to Denver, Newark, Seattle and Portland in August.
• Expanded ConnectionSaver with app notifications when flights are being held, and a centralized hub for turn-by-turn gate directions with walk times at all hubs, layover tips, flight status updates, and a self-service rebooking option for missed connections.
• Onboarded an exclusive Aperol Spritz cocktail for United Polaris travelers and an improved onboard dining collection for first class travelers on United Express® flights, contributing to a record Net Promoter Score for food and beverage for the quarter.

Operations 

• Achieved the airline's best on-time departure rate for consolidated and mainline flying since 2021, with the second best on-time departure rate amongst the eight largest U.S. carriers for a second quarter and best performance at Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco and Houston hubs.
• United was granted five additional gates at Chicago O'Hare, given the airline's increased flying out of the hub.
• Achieved a 100% completion day on April 22nd across mainline and express flying, with United Express operating 28 days of total completion across the second quarter.
• Recorded the second best on-time arrival performance for a second quarter at Newark, Houston and Chicago hubs since 2021, and the best at Los Angeles.
• Saw the lowest second-quarter seat cancel rate since 2021 and the third lowest in company history.

Network

• United launched the largest international expansion in its history, inaugurating service to eight new destinations: Nuuk, Greenland; Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Faro, Portugal; Puerto Escondido, Mexico; Palermo, Italy; Dakar, Senegal; Bilbao, Spain; and Madeira Island, Portugal.
• Announced three new international destinations and two new routes to existing destinations, making United the only U.S. airline with service to Bangkok, Thailand; Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam; and Adelaide, Australia, all subject to government approval. United also plans to inaugurate routes from Denver to Mexico City and Denver to Punta Cana, Dominican Republic.
• United added seven new international routes to existing destinations, including Denver to Rome; Washington-Dulles to Venice, Italy; Washington-Dulles to Nice, France; Los Angeles to Beijing; San Francisco to Panama City, Panama; San Francisco to San Jose, Costa Rica; and Guam to Taipei.
• Launched 12 domestic and four Canada routes in the quarter, including new routes to popular outdoor destinations such as Washington D.C. to Albuquerque, N.M.; Houston to Portland, Maine; Chicago to Billings, Mont.; and Denver to Wilmington, N.C.

Employees and Communities

• United supported the transport of 136 responders to response and recovery efforts to nearly 20 different disaster events in partnership with Airlink in the second quarter, including the Myanmar-Thailand earthquakes and the Los Angeles wildfires that impacted more than 150,000 people worldwide.
• Nearly 2,000 employees volunteered more than 10,000 hours during the quarter in local community activities including beach clean-up, care kit creation, food security and other events.
• United transported 327 million pounds of cargo, including approximately 9.8 million pounds of medical shipments and over 440,000 pounds of military shipments.
• Graduated United's first cohort of Innovate apprentices, a two-year digital technology and cybersecurity pathway to full-time employment at United.
• United and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) announced they reached an agreement that, if ratified, will deliver industry-leading pay, signing bonuses and scheduling improvements.
• United was named Global Traveler's Best Eco-Friendly Airline for the fourth consecutive year, and won the Outstanding Innovation category for its commitment to scaling sustainable aviation fuel.
• Kate Gebo, executive vice president of Human Resources and Labor Relations, was appointed to the Make-A-Wish Foundation's national board of directors.

Earnings Call

UAL will hold a conference call to discuss second-quarter 2025 financial results, as well as its financial and operational outlook for the third-quarter 2025 and beyond, on Thursday, July 17, 2025 at 9:30 a.m. CST/10:30 a.m. EST. 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.

Outlook

This press release should be read in conjunction with the company's Investor Update issued in connection with this quarterly earnings announcement, which provides additional information on the company's business outlook (including certain financial and operational guidance) and is furnished with this press release to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on a Current Report on Form 8-K. The Investor Update is also available at ir.united.com. Management will also discuss certain business outlook items, including providing certain third quarter and full year 2025 financial targets, during the quarterly earnings conference call.

The company's business outlook is subject to risks and uncertainties applicable to all forward-looking statements as described elsewhere in this press release. Please see the section entitled "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements."

About United

At United, Good Leads The Way. With hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C., United operates the most comprehensive global route network among North American carriers, and is now the largest airline in the world. For more about how to join the United team, please visit www.united.com/careers and more information about the company is at www.united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc., the parent company of United Airlines, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

Website Information

We routinely post important news and information regarding United on our corporate website, www.united.com, and our investor relations website, ir.united.com. We use our investor relations website as a primary channel for disclosing key information to our investors, including the timing of future investor conferences and earnings calls, press releases and other information about financial performance (including financial guidance), reports filed or furnished with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, information on corporate governance and details related to our annual meeting of shareholders. We may use our investor relations website as a means of disclosing material, non-public information (including financial guidance) and for complying with our disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. We encourage investors, the media and others interested in the company to visit this website from time to time, as information is updated and new information is posted. We may also use social media channels to communicate with our investors and the public about our company and other matters, and those communications could be deemed to be material information. The information contained on, or that may be accessed through, our website or social media channels are not incorporated by reference into, and are not a part of, this document.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: 

This press release and the related attachments and Investor Update (as well as the oral statements made with respect to information contained in this release and the attachments) contain certain "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, relating to, among other things, goals, plans and projections regarding the company's financial position, results of operations, market position, airline capacity, fleet plan strategy, fares, announced routes (which may be subject to government approval), booking trends, product development, corporate citizenship-related strategy initiatives and business strategy. Such forward-looking statements are based on historical performance and current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the company's future financial results, goals, plans, commitments, strategies and objectives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, known or unknown, including internal or external factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, that are difficult to predict, may be beyond the company's control and could cause the company's future financial results, goals, plans, commitments, strategies and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. Words such as "should," "could," "would," "will," "may," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "indicates," "remains," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals," "targets," "pledge," "confident," "optimistic," "dedicated," "positioned," "on track", "path" and other words and terms of similar meaning and expression are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. All statements, other than those that relate solely to historical facts, are forward-looking statements.

Additionally, forward-looking statements include conditional statements and statements that identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of known trends or uncertainties, or that 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 or regulation.

Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: execution risks associated with our strategic operating plan; changes in our fleet and network strategy or other factors outside our control resulting in less economic aircraft orders, costs related to modification or termination of aircraft orders or entry into aircraft orders on less favorable terms, as well as any inability to accept or integrate new aircraft into our fleet as planned, including as a result of any mandatory groundings of aircraft; any failure to effectively manage, and receive anticipated benefits and returns from, acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and other portfolio actions, or related exposures to unknown liabilities or other issues or underperformance as compared to our expectations; adverse publicity, increased regulatory scrutiny, harm to our brand, reduced travel demand, potential tort liability and operational restrictions as a result of an accident, catastrophe or incident involving us, our regional carriers, our codeshare partners or another airline; the highly competitive nature of the global airline industry and susceptibility of the industry to price discounting and changes in capacity, including as a result of alliances, joint business arrangements or other consolidations; our reliance on a limited number of suppliers to source a majority of our aircraft, engines and certain parts, and the impact of any failure to obtain timely deliveries, additional equipment or support from any of these suppliers; disruptions to our regional network and United Express flights provided by third-party regional carriers; unfavorable economic and political conditions in the United States and globally; reliance on third-party service providers and the impact of any significant failure of these parties to perform as expected, or interruptions in our relationships with these providers or their provision of services; extended interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports where we operate and space, facility and infrastructure constraints at our hubs or other airports; geopolitical conflict, terrorist attacks or security events (including the suspension of our overflying in Russian airspace as a result of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and interruptions of our flying as a result of the military conflicts in the Middle East, as well as any escalation of the broader economic consequences of any conflicts beyond their current scope or a delay in any planned resumption of service to area impacted by conflict); any damage to our reputation or brand image; our reliance on technology and automated systems to operate our business and the impact of any significant failure or disruption of, or failure to effectively integrate and implement, these technologies or systems; increasing privacy, data security and cybersecurity obligations or a significant data breach; increased use of social media platforms by us, our employees and others; the impacts of union disputes, employee strikes or slowdowns, and other labor-related disruptions or regulatory compliance costs on our operations or financial performance; any failure to attract, train or retain skilled personnel, including our senior management team or other key employees; the monetary and operational costs of compliance with extensive government regulation of the airline industry; current or future litigation and regulatory actions, or failure to comply with the terms of any settlement, order or agreement relating to these actions; costs, liabilities and risks associated with environmental regulation and climate change; high and/or volatile fuel prices or significant disruptions in the supply of aircraft fuel; the impacts of our significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations and the impacts of insufficient liquidity on our financial condition and business; failure to comply with financial and other covenants governing our debt; limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes; our failure to realize the full value of our intangible assets or our long-lived assets, causing us to record impairments; fluctuations in the price of our common stock; the impacts of seasonality, and other factors associated with the airline industry; increases in insurance costs or inadequate insurance coverage; risks relating to our repurchase program for shares of common stock and certain warrants exercisable for common stock; and other risks and uncertainties set forth in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024 and under "Economic and Market Factors" and "Governmental Actions" in Part I, Item 2. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, of our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2025, 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.

Non-GAAP Financial Information:

In discussing financial results and guidance, the company refers to financial measures that are not in accordance with U.S. Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"). The non-GAAP financial measures are provided as supplemental information to the financial measures presented in this press release that are calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP and are presented because management believes that they supplement or enhance management's, analysts' and investors' overall understanding of the company's underlying financial performance and trends and facilitate comparisons among current, past and future periods. Non-GAAP financial measures typically have exclusions or adjustments that include one or more of the following characteristics, such as being highly variable, difficult to project, unusual in nature, significant to the results of a particular period or not indicative of past or future operating results. These items are excluded because the company believes they neither relate to the ordinary course of the company's business nor reflect the company's underlying business performance.

Because the non-GAAP financial measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered superior to and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP financial measures presented in the press release and may not be the same as or comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies due to possible differences in method and in the items being adjusted. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure. The company does not provide a reconciliation of forward-looking measures where the company believes such a reconciliation would imply a degree of precision and certainty that could be confusing to investors and is unable to reasonably predict certain items contained in the GAAP measures without unreasonable efforts. This is due to the inherent difficulty of forecasting the timing or amount of various items that have not yet occurred and are out of the company's control or cannot be reasonably predicted. For the same reasons, the company is unable to address the probable significance of the unavailable information. Forward-looking non-GAAP financial measures provided without the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures may vary materially from the corresponding GAAP financial measures.

Please refer to the tables accompanying this release for a description of the non-GAAP adjustments and reconciliations of the historical non-GAAP financial measures used to the most comparable GAAP financial measure and related disclosures.

Change in Presentation:

In the first quarter of 2025, the Company changed its rounding presentation to the nearest whole number in millions of reported amounts, except per share data or as otherwise designated. As such, certain columns and rows within the financial statements and tables presented may not sum due to rounding. Per unit amounts have been calculated from the underlying whole-dollar amounts. This change is not material and does not impact the comparability of our condensed consolidated financial statements.

-tables attached-

UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC.

¹ NON-GAAP FINANCIAL INFORMATION

UAL evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and non-GAAP financial measures. The non-GAAP financial measures are provided as supplemental information to the financial measures presented in this press release that are calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP and are presented because management believes that they supplement or enhance management's, analysts' and investors' overall understanding of the company's underlying financial performance and trends and facilitate comparisons among current, past and future periods.

Because the non-GAAP financial measures are not calculated in accordance with GAAP, they should not be considered superior to and are not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for the related GAAP financial measures presented in the press release and may not be the same as or comparable to similarly titled measures presented by other companies due to possible differences in method and in the items being adjusted. We encourage investors to review our financial statements and publicly-filed reports in their entirety and not to rely on any single financial measure.

The information below provides an explanation of certain adjustments reflected in the non-GAAP financial measures and shows a reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures reported in this press release to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures. Within the financial tables presented, certain columns and rows may not add due to the use of rounded numbers. Percentages, ratios and earnings per share amounts presented are calculated from the underlying amounts.

CASM-ex: 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 expense, and profit sharing. UAL believes that adjusting for special charges is useful to investors because those items are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. UAL also believes that excluding third-party business expenses, such as maintenance, flight academy, 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 expense 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 it believes that this exclusion allows investors to better understand and analyze UAL's operating cost performance and provides a more meaningful comparison of our core operating costs to the airline industry.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDAR: We calculate Adjusted EBITDA by adding interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to net income and adjusting for special charges, nonoperating unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net and nonoperating debt extinguishment and modification fees. UAL believes that adjusting for these items is useful to investors because they are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. Effective January 1, 2025, Adjusted EBITDA is further adjusted by the fixed portion of operating lease expense, instead of solely aircraft rent as was the case historically, to calculate Adjusted EBITDAR. We believe this change provides investors with enhanced comparability to peers and better reflects our performance. The change in EBITDAR calculation methodology does not represent a change in management's expectations. Prior period amounts have been recast to conform to the current period presentation.

Adjusted Capital Expenditures: UAL believes that adjusting capital expenditures for assets acquired through the issuance or modification of debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities is useful to investors in order to appropriately reflect the total amounts spent on capital expenditures.

Free Cash Flow: Effective January 1, 2025, we define free cash flow as the sum of net cash from operating activities and net cash from investing activities, adjusted for the net change in short-term investments and the net change in restricted cash. We believe adjusting for short-term investments and restricted cash activity provides investors a better understanding of the company's free cash flow generated by our core operations. The change in free cash flow calculation methodology does not represent a change in management's expectations. We believe this change provides investors with enhanced comparability to peers and better reflects our performance. Prior period amounts have been recast to conform to the current period presentation.

Adjusted Total Debt and Adjusted Net Debt: Adjusted total debt is a non-GAAP financial measure that includes current and long-term debt, finance lease obligations and other financial liabilities, current and noncurrent operating lease obligations and noncurrent pension and postretirement obligations. Adjusted net debt is adjusted total debt minus cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. UAL provides adjusted total debt and adjusted net debt because we believe these measures provide useful supplemental information for assessing the company's debt and debt-like obligation profile. 

Net Leverage: Net leverage is a non-GAAP financial measure that is equal to adjusted net debt divided by trailing twelve month Adjusted EBITDAR. UAL provides net leverage because we believe it provides useful supplemental information for assessing the company's debt level. See the above descriptions of Adjusted Net Debt and Adjusted EBITDAR.