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United Continental Holdings, Inc. announced individual third quarter 2010 financial results for United Airlines and Continental Airlines. On Oct. 1, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc., formerly UAL Corporation, merged with Continental Airlines, Inc. Financial results for United and Continental will be combined when the company reports fourth quarter 2010 results.
- United reported third quarter 2010 net income of $473 million or $2.12 diluted earnings per share excluding certain special items, an improvement of $533 million year-over-year. On a GAAP basis, United reported third quarter net income of $387 million.
- Continental reported third quarter 2010 net income of $367 million or $2.24 diluted earnings per share excluding certain special items, an improvement of $365 million year-over-year. On a GAAP basis, Continental reported third quarter net income of $354 million.
"Thanks to the efforts of my more than 80,000 co-workers across both airlines, we achieved strong third quarter financial and operational results at both United and Continental," said Jeff Smisek, United’s president and chief executive officer. "We have begun our merger integration, and we have a lot of work ahead of us. By working together, we will create the airline that customers want to fly, employees want to work for, and shareholders want to own."
- United consolidated passenger revenue increased 21.4 percent in the third quarter 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
- Continental consolidated passenger revenue increased 20.6 percent in the third quarter 2010 compared to the same period in 2009.
"The strong revenue performance of the two carriers reflects the commitment of our co-workers to provide industry leading-products and service to our customers," said Jim Compton, executive vice president and chief revenue officer. "As we integrate the two networks and create the world’s leading airline, we will provide even more value to our customers."
The companies ended the third quarter with a combined $9.1 billion of unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
"The teams did a great job containing costs at both companies while running solid operations during the third quarter," said Zane Rowe, United’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. "Our strong liquidity position gives us flexibility as we integrate our companies and manage our debt maturities."
Standalone United Airlines Third Quarter Revenue and Capacity
For the third quarter of 2010, United’s total revenue was $5.4 billion, an increase of 21.7 percent compared to the same period in 2009. Consolidated passenger revenue for the third quarter rose 21.4 percent, or $878 million, compared to the same period in 2009.
Consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for the third quarter of 2010 increased 3.9 percent while capacity increased 2.6 percent year-over-year, resulting in a third quarter consolidated load factor of 85.9 percent.
Consolidated yield for the third quarter 2010 increased 16.9 percent year-over-year. Combined with the 1.0 point year-over-year increase in consolidated load factor, third quarter 2010 consolidated passenger revenue per available seat miles (RASM) increased 18.3 percent compared to the same period in 2009.
United’s mainline RPMs in the third quarter of 2010 increased 1.9 percent on a mainline capacity increase of 0.7 percent year-over-year, resulting in a third quarter mainline load factor of 86.8 percent. Mainline yield for the third quarter 2010 increased 17.6 percent over the same period in 2009. Together with the 1.0 point year-over-year increase in mainline load factor, third quarter 2010 mainline RASM increased 18.9 percent year-over-year.
Theodore is the Co-Founder and Managing Editor of TravelDailyNews Media Network; his responsibilities include business development and planning for TravelDailyNews long-term opportunities.
