United Airlines posts better performance than expected

Defying Wall Street predictions, United Airlines announced losses far low than had been forecasted by many. The airline’s third quarter showing was a big improvement on the same period last year, and it has even finished the quarter with a healthy cash reserve in both restricted and unrestricted funds.

The news helped the airline’s shares gain a 9% increase earlier this week. Its significant cuts in costs and steadily improving revenue performance have both helped the airline post a balance sheet that has been quite commendable in the face of the current economic times.

CEO of United Airlines, Glenn Tinton is even more optimistic about the medium term future. He has said the airline is poised to register a better year-on-year performance in unit revenue, as the economy strengthens and businesspeople begin to travel again.

This year’s third quarter loss for the airline was only $57 million, a huge improvement on the $792 million loss the airline recorded for the same period last year.

United has been commended by financial experts for its efficient work in cutting costs. United cut mainline costs by 1.6% year-on-year.

The airline has also ended the quarter with a healthy cash account of $2.8 billion, of which $2.5 billion is unrestricted cash.