United: Q4 'Tailwind' in Corp. Travel Recovery
United Airlines' corporate travel segment performed well in the fourth quarter and is poised to continue that growth into the first quarter, United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella noted multiple times during a Wednesday earnings call.
Kass
United Airlines' corporate travel segment performed well in the fourth quarter and is poised to continue that growth into the first quarter, United chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella noted multiple times during a Wednesday earnings call.
"The business traffic recovery was a nice tailwind in Q4," Nocella said. "Results in Q4 and our outlook for Q1 clearly shows this strength in higher-yield corporate traffic volumes."
Fourth-quarter flown business revenue increased 16 percent year over year, a trend United expects to continue into the first quarter, Nocella said. Contracted business sales for the fourth quarter for all future travel were up 14 percent compared with Q4 2023. Total fourth-quarter corporate revenue was up 7 percent, according to United.
"Q1 was always a strength point for corporate traffic, [and] that didn't exist during the pandemic or right after the pandemic," Nocella added. "What we see today is corporate traffic coming back very strongly in Q1, which I think will be uniquely beneficial to the business-centric airlines, which obviously United is one of them."
United Q4, FY2024 Metrics
United reported fourth-quarter passenger revenue of nearly $13.3 billion, up 6.9 percent year over year, with total revenue of $14.7 billion, an increase of 7.8 percent. Full-year 2024 passenger revenue was more than $51.8 billion, up 5.7 percent compared with 2023 on total revenue of nearly $57.1 billion, a 6.2 percent increase.
Net income for the fourth quarter was $985 million, up from $600 million a year prior. Full-year net income was about $3.1 billion, up 20.3 percent year over year. The average fuel price was $2.40 per gallon for Q4 and $2.65 for 2024.
Capacity in Q4 was up 6.2 percent year over year and increased 6.8 percent for 2024 versus 2023. In addition, United reported that for the full year, it carried the most passengers in its history at 173.6 million, up 5.3 percent year over year.
United in the fourth quarter took delivery of five Boeing Max aircraft, 14 Airbus A321neo aircraft and three Boeing 787 aircraft, United CFO Mike Leskinen said. For 2025, the carrier projects receiving 71 narrowbody aircraft—down from the previously projected 100 aircraft—and 10 widebody aircraft. "Due to the OEM production delays, we are planning for less," Leskinen said.
