United Airlines revenue rises 17% to record $17.9 billion, expects Q4 growth over 20%

United Airlines Holdings Inc. (UAL) said Tuesday that third-quarter revenue rose 17% to a record $17.9 billion, while higher jet fuel costs cut adjusted profit. The parent of United Airlines Inc. reported the results in a press release and an investor update furnished in a regulatory filing.

Pre-tax earnings were $1.3 billion, a pre-tax margin of 7.3%. Adjusted pre-tax earnings were $1.1 billion, with an adjusted pre-tax margin of 6.2%, according to the filing.

Here's how the company did:

• Diluted earnings per share: $3.14, vs. $2.90 a year earlier
• Adjusted diluted earnings per share: $2.54, vs. $2.78 a year earlier
• Total operating revenue: $17.9 billion, vs. $15.2 billion a year earlier
• Net income: $1.03 billion, vs. $949 million a year earlier
• Adjusted net income: $833 million, vs. $909 million a year earlier

Total operating revenue rose 17.4% from a year earlier. Passenger revenue was $16.2 billion, up 17.6%.

Cargo revenue rose 22.9% to $529 million, and other operating revenue rose 12.9% to $1.1 billion. Premium revenue rose 17%, loyalty revenue rose 17% and contracted business revenue rose 26% against the third quarter of 2025.

Aircraft fuel expense rose 61.6% to $4.8 billion, up $1.8 billion from a year earlier. The average fuel price was $3.90 per gallon, against $2.43 a year earlier, as jet fuel prices remained volatile.

"Our employees met the challenge of our ever-changing environment and our results prove the resilience of focusing on building a brand-loyal airline for customers," said United CEO Scott Kirby.

Capacity, measured in available seat miles, rose 1.3%. Total revenue per available seat mile, or TRASM, rose 15.9%, while cost per available seat mile, or CASM, rose 17.3%.

Excluding fuel, profit sharing, special charges and third-party business expenses, unit costs rose 7.8%. The company calls that measure CASM-ex.

The company carried a record 49.5 million passengers, up 2.4% from a year earlier. The passenger load factor was 83.9%, down 0.5 points.

United now offers Starlink on more than 640 aircraft. The company expects Starlink availability to reach 61% of its flights by the end of 2026 and 87% by June 1, and it expects the service to be available fleet-wide by the end of 2027.

The company recorded a $215 million special credit in the quarter. It included $294 million of gains on aircraft sale-leaseback transactions.

For the first nine months, total operating revenue was $50.2 billion, up 14.8%. Diluted earnings per share were $7.74, against $7.02 a year earlier.

Ending available liquidity was $17.7 billion, which the filing defines as cash, short-term investments and undrawn credit facilities. Total debt, finance lease obligations and other financial liabilities were $26.4 billion at quarter end.

On Oct. 16 the company expanded its revolving credit facility, raising available liquidity under it to $5 billion from $3 billion. Trailing twelve-month net leverage was 2.4x, up from 2.1x a year earlier. The measure divides adjusted net debt by adjusted EBITDAR, or earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and the fixed portion of operating lease expense.

The Investor Update gave adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance of $0.50 to $1.50 for the fourth quarter of 2026. The guidance is effective only as of the date given, the company said.

The company expects fourth-quarter total operating revenue to rise more than 20% from a year earlier, which it said would set another record.

The company assumes an all-in average fuel price of about $4.80 per gallon for the fourth quarter, based on the Gulf Coast jet forward curve as of Oct. 16. Every one-cent change in the fuel price equates to roughly 2.5 cents of earnings per share in the quarter.

The company expects unit revenue growth to accelerate in the fourth quarter and unit cost excluding fuel growth to step down from the third quarter. It expects profit sharing accruals of $50 million to $140 million in the fourth quarter.

For full-year 2026, the company expects adjusted total capital expenditures of about $7.5 billion. The fleet stood at 1,575 aircraft at quarter end, up 6.0% from 1,486 a year earlier.

Employee headcount was 117.9 thousand as of Sept. 30, up 5.4% from a year earlier.

The company announced its largest-ever international network expansion, with service to 10 new destinations planned to start in summer 2027. All new routes are subject to government approval.

The company will hold a conference call on Oct. 21 at 9:30 a.m. CDT to discuss the results and the outlook for the fourth quarter and beyond.