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United Reports January 2017 Operational Performance

Direct News Source

08-Feb-2017 United Airlines (UAL) today reported January 2017 operational results, achieving the company's best ever January completion factor on mainline flights.

UAL's January 2017 consolidated traffic (revenue passenger miles) increased 4.0 percent and consolidated capacity (available seat miles) increased 4.7 percent versus January 2016. UAL's January 2017 consolidated load factor decreased 0.5 points compared to January 2016. Over 3.0 points of capacity growth in January 2017 was attributed to a higher completion percentage compared to January 2016 due to fewer winter weather disruptions in the month.

"Building on 2016's great results, United kicked off 2017 with a record-shattering operational performance," said Scott Kirby, president of United Airlines. "Our team of 86,000 employees is running harder and working harder than at any other time in recent memory as we continue to deliver on our ambition to be the world's best airline for our employees, customers and everyone we serve."

Operational achievements and records from January (mainline):

  • Achieved best ever January completion factor.
  • Finished first among industry peers in completion factor -- the first time the company has ever achieved this in January.
  • Had six days with 100 percent departure completion, setting a new record for the most the company has ever had in one month.

The company continues to expect first-quarter 2017 consolidated passenger unit revenue to be down 1.0 percent to up 1.0 percent compared to the first quarter of 2016.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate more than 4,500 flights a day to 339 airports across five continents. In 2016, United and United Express operated more than 1.6 million flights carrying more than 143 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 737 mainline aircraft and the airline's United Express partners operate 483 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol "UAL".

Preliminary Operational Results

January

2017

2016

Change

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

Domestic

8,733,944

8,342,824

4.7%

Mainline

7,006,363

6,553,528

6.9%

Regional

1,727,581

1,789,296

(3.4%)

International

7,311,680

7,078,450

3.3%

Atlantic

2,246,440

2,303,588

(2.5%)

Pacific

2,937,858

2,769,842

6.1%

Latin

2,127,382

2,005,020

6.1%

Mainline

2,046,229

1,923,816

6.4%

Regional

81,153

81,204

(0.1%)

Consolidated

16,045,624

15,421,274

4.0%

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

Domestic

10,635,046

10,097,930

5.3%

Mainline

8,461,124

7,853,840

7.7%

Regional

2,173,922

2,244,090

(3.1%)

International

9,329,270

8,962,321

4.1%

Atlantic

3,213,178

3,210,993

0.1%

Pacific

3,556,157

3,353,674

6.0%

Latin

2,559,935

2,397,654

6.8%

Mainline

2,443,172

2,283,778

7.0%

Regional

116,763

113,876

2.5%

Consolidated

19,964,316

19,060,251

4.7%

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

Domestic

82.1%

82.6%

(0.5) pts

Mainline

82.8%

83.4%

(0.6) pts

Regional

79.5%

79.7%

(0.2) pts

International

78.4%

79.0%

(0.6) pts

Atlantic

69.9%

71.7%

(1.8) pts

Pacific

82.6%

82.6%

0.0 pts

Latin

83.1%

83.6%

(0.5) pts

Mainline

83.8%

84.2%

(0.4) pts

Regional

69.5%

71.3%

(1.8) pts

Consolidated

80.4%

80.9%

(0.5) pts

ONBOARD PASSENGERS (000)

Mainline

7,763

7,177

8.2%

Regional

3,060

3,181

(3.8%)

Consolidated

10,823

10,358

4.5%

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

Total

233,478

201,043

16.1%

OPERATIONAL PERFORMANCE

Mainline Departure Performance1

60.7%

61.7%

(1.0) pt

Mainline Completion Factor

99.4%

96.5%

2.9 pts

1Based on mainline scheduled flights departing by or before scheduled departure time

Note: See Part II, Item 6 Selected Financial Data of the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 for the definition of these statistics