United Airlines SWOT: positive direction after years of upheaval

United Airlines has been through major changes during the past few years, ranging from an upheaval in C-Suite management to a domestic network overhaul. The company has also dealt with high profile customer incidents that generated negative customer sentiment, and brand damage.

But United seems to be slowly turning a corner. It has upped its share price guidance for 2018 and trimmed its capacity targets - a combination that has pleased investors.

However, even as United welcomes some positive recognition from Wall Street, company executives also recognise short term risks spurred by increases in fuel prices, macroeconomic changes and geopolitical events.

Despite those potential headwinds, United is declaring its EPS targets for 2020 as absolute, and they constitute part of the 'no excuses, sir' mentality it has adopted.

This report examines United's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats.