United Airlines reports Q1 2023 financial results

As part of United Airlines’ first-quarter 2023 financial results report, the company highlighted its capacity and operating revenue growth to start the year.

In the first quarter, United reported a net loss of $194 million and an average fuel price per gallon of $3.33. The carrier also revealed that capacity grew by 23.4 percent compared to the first quarter of last year, while total operating revenue reached $11.4 billion, a 51.1 percent increase from 2022.

In addition to reducing adjusted total debt by $4.6 billion over the last 12 months, the airline announced several recent accomplishments, including its largest South Pacific network expansion ever, a new family seating policy and the addition of Oscar the Grouch as its first Chief Trash Officer.

“I am extremely proud of the United team’s performance during the first quarter of 2023,” CEO Scott Kirby said. “Our industry-leading operational performance contributed to an all-time high operating cash flow in the first quarter and keeps us on track to achieve our cost targets for the full year.”

In terms of operational performance, United achieved the lowest first-quarter seat-cancel rate (1.09 percent) since the first quarter of 2012, with the carrier flying the most mainline seats (413,000) in company history and the most mainline flights (2,300) daily for the quarter.

The airline’s network also grew, with domestic premium seat capacity jumping by 25 percent, non-stop service between Shanghai and San Francisco resuming and the joint business agreement with Air Canada adding new routes between Canada and the U.S. for summer 2023.

“We are watching the macroeconomic risks carefully, but demand remains strong, especially internationally, where we are growing at twice the domestic rate,” Kirby continued. “We expect all of these factors will keep us on track to achieve our full-year adjusted diluted EPS1 target.”