United starts 2014 on a weak note – does this set the stage for more disappointing results?

United's pledges that 2013 was the year it moved past merger integration into improved performance in financial metrics are fading fast as the carrier looks toward a loss for 1Q2014 and continued under-performance in unit revenue growth relative to its peers.

At the same time the carrier's cost are rising, creating an unattractive scenario for an airline that cannot seem to gain solid footing nearly four years after the merger of Continental and United formed the latest iteration of United.

Various challenges including a deluge of winter storms created havoc for the majority of US carriers during 1Q2014, but somehow those airlines will manage to turn a profit during a typically weaker quarter. Weather disruptions are a mainstay in airline operations, so United's expected weaker 1Q2014 performance begs numerous questions over the carrier's exact ailments and when it will rise to par with its peers.