United Airlines yesterday reported its financial results for the fourth quarter of 2022 and the annual balance of its operation. It reported positive numbers, despite the operational difficulties it faced in December.

The airline reversed the previous year’s situation and reported adjusted net income of 831 million dollars in 2022. In the last quarter it even surpassed the profit it had reported in the same period of 2019.

«The changes United made to increase staffing and resources, and invest in technology and infrastructure, created strong operations and allowed United to recover quickly after winter storm Elliott» the company said in a press release.

«Thank you to the United team that, last month, managed through one of the worst weather events in my career to deliver for so many of our customers and get them home for the holidays», said Scott Kirby, the company’s CEO.

In that sense, the airline remarked that, despite the fact that about 36% of its flights between 21 and 26 December were affected by the weather conditions, 90% of passengers arrived at their destination within four hours of schedule.

Also in the last month of 2022, the airline placed the largest wide-body aircraft order in the history of the United States. It ordered one hundred Boeing 787 Dreamliners plus options for another hundred aircraft, to be delivered between 2024 and 2032. In addition, it executed options to acquire 44 Boeing 737 MAX, to be delivered between 2024 and 2026, and ordered another 56 that the company would add to its fleet between 2027 and 2028.

«Over the last three years, United has made critical investments in tools, infrastructure and our people, all of which are essential investments in our future», Kirby added. As for the near future, he said the company has «a big head start» that will allow it to accelerate the implementation of its plans during 2023.

United Airlines key results for the fourth quarter 2022

• Net income of 811 million dollars.
• Capacity 9% lower than reported in the four quarter of 2019, the last year prior to the start of the pandemic.
• Operating revenue of 2.4 billion dollars. The figure represents a 14% increase over the same period in 2019.
• Total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) up 26% compared to fourth-quarter 2019.
• Operating margin of 11.2%, two percentage points above October to December 2019.
• Pre-tax margin of 9%, one percentage point above that reported in the fourth quarter of 2019.
• Average price of fuel per gallon of USD 3.54 dollars.
• On-time performance of 80% for air services between October and December (best quarterly result in 2022).

United Airlines key results for 2022

• Net revenues of 831 million dollars.
• Operating margin of 5.5%.
• Pre-tax margin of 2.5%.
• Liquidity of 18.2 billion dollars as of 31 December 2022.

See also: Delta reports profit in the last quarter of 2022 and expects revenue growth this year