United Airlines (UAL) reported a first-quarter profit, delivering first-quarter pre-tax earnings of $0.9 billion, with a pre-tax margin of 6.0%, up 2.3 points year-over-year. United delivered adjusted pre-tax earnings1 of $0.5 billion, with an adjusted pre-tax margin1 of 3.4%, up 0.4 points year-over-year.
«These are results our employees can be proud of, and they show the resilience of our long-term strategy, even in the face of escalating fuel expense,» said United CEO Scott Kirby. «Our strong financial position and success in winning brand-loyal customers enabled United to quickly make tactical adjustments to higher fuel prices while maintaining our long-term focus.»
«Moments of uncertainty for the airline industry may also create opportunity for United,» Kirby said. «We have demonstrated quarter after quarter that we are built to withstand disruptions, and this moment is no different. We’ll stay nimble in the short term while continuing to grow the airline and invest in our customers, product and people.»
United delivered strong first-quarter results despite challenges, including a $340 million increase in fuel expense compared to the first quarter of 2025. United’s capacity and revenue initiatives are intended to recapture this increase over the long term while maintaining the offerings that are winning brand-loyal customers. United’s diverse revenue streams remained resilient, including premium revenue up 14% compared to the first quarter of 2025, loyalty revenue up 13%, and revenue from Basic Economy up 7%. Business revenue also remained strong at up 14% for the first quarter. The first quarter was United’s highest-revenue first quarter ever, with positive PRASM growth in every region2.
Oil prices remain volatile and elevated versus the start of the year. United has already begun adjusting its schedule for the rest of 2026 to account for higher fuel prices with an expected 5-point capacity reduction versus its original plan. As a result, the Company expects capacity in the third and fourth quarters of 2026 to be flat to up approximately 2% year-over-year. United will continue to be nimble with capacity, with additional reductions or restored flying as appropriate to meet anticipated demand.
United expects to take delivery of more than 250 new aircraft by April 2028, and customers are benefiting from United innovations throughout every cabin. The airline announced several industry-leading customer enhancements during the quarter, including its planned «Coastliner» Airbus A321neo, the «Born to Explore» Airbus A321XLR, the new CRJ450 with its spacious United First cabin, and the United Relax Row℠ across a row of United Economy®-class seats. Starlink installations are accelerating and United expects to bring fast, free Wi-Fi for MileagePlus® members to the whole fleet by the end of 2027. On April 1, United announced a new way to monitor TSA wait times in its mobile app. Nearly 1.6 million customers used this feature in the first two weeks after rollout.
United carried the most passengers in a first quarter in its history and achieved the best on-time departure rate for the quarter among the eight largest U.S. carriers. March was the fourth month in a row United achieved the best on-time departure rate among U.S. carriers. For the quarter, United’s per-seat cancellation rate averaged 44% lower than the next two largest U.S. carriers by available seat miles.
United continued to strengthen its balance sheet as it works toward its goal of investment grade credit ratings by paying down $3.1 billion in debt during the quarter. Additionally, for the first time since 2019, United returned to the unsecured market and successfully raised $2 billion across two unsecured bond issuances — exceeding initial expectations. At the end of the first quarter, net leverage1 was 2.0x for the last twelve months.
First-Quarter Financial Results
- Capacity up 3.4% compared to first-quarter 2025.
- Total operating revenue of $14.6 billion, up 10.6% compared to first-quarter 2025.
- TRASM up 6.9% compared to first-quarter 2025.
- CASM up 4.4%, and CASM-ex1 up 5.9%, compared to first-quarter 2025.
- Pre-tax earnings of $0.9 billion, with a pre-tax margin of 6.0%; adjusted pre-tax earnings1 of $0.5 billion, with an adjusted pre-tax margin1 of 3.4%.
- Net income of $0.7 billion; adjusted net income1 of $0.4 billion.
- Diluted earnings per share of $2.14; adjusted diluted earnings per share1 of $1.19.
- Average fuel price per gallon of $2.78.
- Generated $4.8 billion of operating cash flow.
- Generated $2.9 billion of free cash flow1.
- Ending available liquidity3 of $17.2 billion.
- Total debt, finance lease obligations and other financial liabilities of $24.2 billion at quarter end.
- Trailing twelve months net leverage1 of 2.0x.
- Repurchased approximately $27 million of shares in the first quarter 2026.
Key Highlights
- Unveiled United Relax Row, a set of United Economy seats that transform into a couch for long-haul international flights. United will be the first North American airline to offer this exclusive design.
- Announced the planned introduction of the United A321neo «Coastliner» and CRJ-450 in the second half of 2026, as part of the anticipated delivery of more than 250 new aircraft by April 2028.
- Completed Starlink Wi-Fi installations on a total of 327 dual-class United Express aircraft, with Starlink installations expected fleet-wide by the end of 2027.
- Reached a tentative agreement with the Association of Flight Attendants; if ratified, United’s 30,000 flight attendants will receive industry-leading wages, better scheduling and other quality-of-life improvements.
- Enhanced miles earnings for United MileagePlus primary cardholders, offering up to twice as many miles per dollar for United flights than non-cardholders, and at least 10% off award tickets and access to special inventory.
Customer Experience
- Achieved the best first-quarter customer satisfaction scores for on-time customers as measured by the Net Promoter Score, including categories such as inflight entertainment, gate, boarding and security. On April 1, United unveiled TSA wait times within the United mobile app. Nearly 1.6 million customers used this feature in the first two weeks.
- An all-time high of 87% of customers used digital check-in, and a record 86% of customers used the United app on the day of travel.
- Expanded Touchless ID so customers traveling with their family or other multi-passenger reservations can opt-in independently of others in their group. Roughly 141% more customers in multi-passenger itineraries opted-in to Touchless ID with the change.
- Embedded live weather maps directly into customer messages.
- Announced a collaboration with Chef’s Table to introduce 10 exclusive meals to United Polaris® dining starting August 1.
- Launched the next phase of the BlueSky collaboration with JetBlue, enabling customers to book directly within each airline’s booking path.
Operations
- Carried the most passengers in the first quarter in United’s history, and set the record for the most narrowbody departures scheduled for the first quarter among U.S carriers.
- Achieved a per-seat cancellation rate averaged 44% lower than the next two largest U.S. carriers by available seat miles.
- During the spring break travel period, offered the most daily available seat miles on average of all major U.S. carriers and achieved United’s best on-time departure performance since 2019.
- Achieved the best on-time departure rate for the quarter among the eight largest U.S. carriers, closing out March as the fourth consecutive month with the best on-time departure rate among this group, the longest streak in United’s history.
Network
- Began selling tickets from San Francisco to Singapore for the first 787-9 Dreamliner with the new Elevated interior, introducing customers to the new aircraft with 99 total premium seats, including 64 United Polaris seats and the new United Polaris Studio℠ product.
- Amid the spring break travel season, United flew the largest Florida schedule in United’s history.
- Launched 14 domestic routes to new destinations including Carlsbad, California; Abilene, Texas; Lynchburg, Virginia; Paducah, Kentucky; and Roswell, New Mexico.
- Unveiled the first Guam-based Boeing 737 MAX 8 in March, significantly improving the customer experience on Micronesia and intra-Asia routes with seatback entertainment at every seat, larger overhead bins and Wi-Fi.
Employees, Communities and Investments
- Named to Fortune’s «World’s Most Admired Companies» and TIME’s «America’s Most Iconic Companies,» while the MileagePlus program was recognized as one of Newsweek’s «Most Trusted Brands in the U.S.»
- Recognized as a leading workplace in Forbes list of «Best Large Employers,» Newsweek’s «America’s Greatest Workplaces for Women» and Handshake’s «Early Talent Award.»
- Named a finalist for two 2026 Halo Awards from Engage for Good in recognition of disaster relief efforts, including Los Angeles Wildfire recovery support.
- Transported over 322 million pounds of cargo, including nearly 9 million pounds of medical shipments and 257 thousand pounds of military shipments.
- Employees volunteered nearly 7,000 hours in local communities across hub communities, participating in meal packing events, young adult aviation programs and more.
- Donated 9.8 million miles to non-profit organizations in partnership with MileagePlus members.
- Hosted the Special Olympics Service Ambassador Summit (SOSA) to celebrate and further the leadership skills in United’s SOSA Program. In February, United supported the advocacy of more than 300 Special Olympics athletes, organizers and partners in the annual Special Olympics Capitol Hill Day.
Earnings Call
UAL will hold a conference call to discuss first-quarter 2026 financial results, as well as its financial and operational outlook for the second-quarter 2026 and beyond, on Wednesday, April 22, 2026 at 9:30 a.m. CDT/10:30 a.m. EDT. 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 second quarter 2026 and beyond 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.»
