United seeks to combat merger challenges and shore up its balance sheet

United Airlines believes the pain it has endured from its merger integration with Continental throughout much of 2012 is a regular byproduct of the complex process required in combining two companies. But the carrier is not disregarding the operational integrity that has vanished from its service during the last few months, and is working to correct those issues while working to get its financial performance in order to consistently deliver a return on invested capital in excess of 10%.

During the busy summer months between Jun-2012 and Aug-2012 United's on-time performance fell by 4.6 ppts, 10.2 ppts and 4 ppts, respectively. Based on data reported to the US Department of Transportation (DoT) in Jun-2012, United reported the lowest on-time arrival of US carriers rate at 70%. United CFO John Rainey recently declared to investors that the carrier's operational performance during the summer was unacceptable to its customers, while CEO Jeff Smisek admitted the less than stellar performance was triggered by "some mistakes on our part".