OREANDA-NEWS. United Airlines (UAL) today reported September 2016 operational results.

UAL's September 2016 consolidated traffic (revenue passenger miles) increased 3.9 percent and consolidated capacity (available seat miles) increased 3.6 percent versus September 2015. UAL's September 2016 consolidated load factor increased 0.3 points compared to September 2015.

The company now expects third-quarter 2016 consolidated passenger unit revenue to decline 5.5 to 6.0 percent compared to the third quarter of 2015. The year-over-year performance was primarily impacted by a strong U.S. dollar, lower surcharges, travel reductions from customers impacted by lower oil prices, competitive actions and passenger demand not growing at the same pace as industry capacity. The company's consolidated passenger unit revenue result was near the top end of the initial guidance range largely due to better than expected September close-in bookings driven by the timing of certain holidays.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate more than 4,500 flights a day to 339 airports across five continents. In 2015, United and United Express operated more than 1.5 million flights carrying more than 140 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 more than 720 mainline aircraft, and this year, the airline anticipates taking delivery of 21 new Boeing aircraft, including 737 NGs, 787s and 777s. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.

 

Preliminary Operational Results
         
   

 September

  

Year-to-Date
   

2016

2015

Change

 

2016

2015

Change

                 

 REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

             
 

Domestic

8,070,260

7,529,120

7.2%

  

71,286,960

69,903,636

2.0%
                 
 

International

7,477,243

7,292,562

2.5%

  

69,286,239

69,268,354

0.0%
 

Atlantic

3,513,479

3,566,853

(1.5%)

  

27,916,951

29,101,239

(4.1%)
 

Pacific

2,820,300

2,674,280

5.5%

  

25,565,376

25,358,292

0.8%
 

Latin

1,143,464

1,051,429

8.8%

  

15,803,912

14,808,823

6.7%
                 
 

Mainline

15,547,503

14,821,682

4.9%

  

140,573,199

139,171,990

1.0%
 

Regional

1,972,045

2,043,123

(3.5%)

  

18,197,746

18,720,990

(2.8%)
 

Consolidated

17,519,548

16,864,805

3.9%

  

158,770,945

157,892,980

0.6%
                 

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

              
 

Domestic

9,492,348

8,815,651

7.7%

  

83,125,381

80,970,986

2.7%
                 
 

International

9,211,276

9,055,645

1.7%

  

86,126,450

85,203,692

1.1%
 

Atlantic

4,370,090

4,309,967

1.4%

  

36,632,973

36,456,123

0.5%
 

Pacific

3,470,415

3,395,146

2.2%

  

30,744,965

30,767,017

(0.1%)
 

Latin

1,370,771

1,350,532

1.5%

  

18,748,512

17,980,552

4.3%
                 
 

Mainline

18,703,624

17,871,296

4.7%

  

169,251,831

166,174,678

1.9%
 

Regional

2,360,375

2,463,507

(4.2%)

  

21,820,140

22,524,606

(3.1%)
 

Consolidated

21,063,999

20,334,803

3.6%

  

191,071,971

188,699,284

1.3%
                 

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

              
 

Domestic

85.0%

85.4%

(0.4) pts

  

85.8%

86.3%

(0.5) pts
                 
 

International

81.2%

80.5%

0.7 pts

  

80.4%

81.3%

(0.9) pts
 

Atlantic

80.4%

82.8%

(2.4) pts

  

76.2%

79.8%

(3.6) pts
 

Pacific

81.3%

78.8%

2.5 pts

  

83.2%

82.4%

0.8 pts
 

Latin

83.4%

77.9%

5.5 pts

  

84.3%

82.4%

1.9 pts
                 
 

Mainline

83.1%

82.9%

0.2 pts

  

83.1%

83.8%

(0.7) pts
 

Regional

83.5%

82.9%

0.6 pts

  

83.4%

83.1%

0.3 pts
 

Consolidated

83.2%

82.9%

0.3 pts

  

83.1%

83.7%

(0.6) pts
                 

ONBOARD PASSENGERS (000)

              
 

Mainline

8,420

7,684

9.6%

  

75,417

72,158

4.5%
 

Regional

3,561

3,633

(2.0%)

  

31,737

33,059

(4.0%)
 

Consolidated

11,981

11,317

5.9%

  

107,154

105,217

1.8%
                 

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

              
 

Total

244,996

211,666

15.7%

  

2,014,855

1,934,973

4.1%
 

Note: See Part II, Item 6 Selected Financial Data of the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for the definition of these statistics

Third Quarter Preliminary Fuel Costs Per Gallon
 

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including operating cash-settled hedges1

$1.52

   Operating cash-settled hedge loss price per gallon

($0.03)

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, excluding hedges

$1.49
   

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including operating cash-settled hedges1

$1.52

   Non-operating cash-settled hedge loss price per gallon2

$0.00

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including all cash-settled hedges3

$1.52
   

1This price per gallon corresponds to fuel expense in UAL's income statement

2This price per gallon corresponds to the impact of non-operating hedges that appear in non-operating expense in the income statement

3This price per gallon corresponds to the total economic cost of the company's fuel consumption including all cash-settled hedges but does not directly correspond to fuel expense in UAL's income statement
 

 Preliminary Operational Results

         
 

2016

2015

Change

September On-Time Performance4

70.9%

67.7%

3.2 pts

September Completion Factor5

99.2%

99.1%

0.1 pts
         

4Based on consolidated scheduled flights arriving on or before scheduled arrival time

5Consolidated completion percentage