Five Takeaways from United's Earnings Call

What's the new seasonality? How are the airline's new routes performing? And does this carrier fly domestically anymore?

Dear readers,

United Airlines reported a net loss of $194 million in the first quarter, which should not surprise anyone, as winter is always the weakest period, and this year United didn’t have as much business traffic as pre-pandemic.

On Wednesday, United held its earnings call, and as usual, CEO Scott Kirby and chief commercial officer Andrew Nocella shared (relatively) candid assessments of United’s commercial strategy and the competitive landscape.

Here’s the short version: There’s a new seasonality in air travel, and United needs to increase its Florida flying as a result. Most long-haul travel is on fire, with almost every new United route a “home run” for bookings. And United is going for yield this summer, which means load factors could be down.

Here’s the longer and more detailed version, with five items I found interesting: