After the stock market closed Tuesday, United said it earned
The
United predicted that its first-quarter earnings per share will easily top analysts' expectations. Its stock rose modestly, less than 2%, in after-market trading.
The report from United comes on the heels of upbeat comments by its closest rivals,
Officials with all three carriers say that consumers are still booking travel despite concern about the economy — tech companies in particular have been laying off workers — and high inflation.
Airline tickets are contributing to inflation. In December, they cost 28.5% more than a year earlier, according to government figures. United passengers paid on average 25.5% more per mile than a year ago, and 20.8% more than in late 2019.
Those higher fares are due to strong demand and a limited number of flights as airlines continue to rebuild operations that were slashed after the pandemic devastated air travel.
United said in a regulatory filing that the number of flights this year will be held down by a pilot shortage, the need to keep bigger staffs as a cushion against COVID-10 sick calls, delays in getting new planes, and technology limits.
Most major airlines say they are fully staffed now, although they are catching up on training thousands of new workers, including pilots.
United said its fourth-quarter profit worked out to
For the first quarter, United is projecting profit of
Company officials were scheduled to hold a call with analysts on Wednesday.
Also last week,
Copyright by Automated Insights, Inc. All rights reserved., source