United second-quarter profit soars despite Dao incident

The public battering United Airlines suffered over its treatment of a 69-year-old doctor has not translated to its bottom line with the carrier on Tuesday reporting a strong increase in second-quarter net profit to $US881 million.

The result, up 39 per cent compared to last year, came as revenue rose 6.4 per cent to $US10 billion, passenger revenue per available seat mile rose 2.1 per cent and consolidated yield increased 2 per cent in what president Scott Kirby described as “an outstanding quarter”.

Calls for a boycott of the airline after Dr David Dao was dragged screaming from his seat on April 9 went unheeded with the airline reporting a 5 per cent rise in passenger numbers over the three months to June 30 to 38.25 million.The increase on mainline services was even higher at 9.5 per cent.

Read: United satisfaction ratings may survive furor.

Th results prompted chief executive Oscar Munoz to observe the results demonstrated “United is firmly on the right path’’.

“From investing in our products and our people, redoubling our focus on the customer experience, closing the margin gap with our peers and delivering strong returns to our investors, we have made important progress and moved United decisively forward,’’ Munoz said in the results announcement.

“No single quarter constitutes a trend and we still have much further to go before we fully realize the potential of this airline and exceed the expectations of our customers.

“But, we also know that one success begets another and the strong financial and operating performance we posted this quarter adds to the momentum that all of us here at United are determined to build upon."

United started the quarter in crisis mode after Dao incident prompted a global backlash that resulted in a mea culpa by Munoz and the introduction of changes to the way the airline operated.

These included increased customer compensation for voluntary denied boarding of up to $10,000 and a reduction in the level of overbooking that saw involuntary denied boardings in June down 88 per cent on the previous year.

The airline said it had implemented the majority of the 10 changes it announced to address the backlash.

It also pointed to improvements in its premium transcontinental services that included flat-bed seats in business class and complimentary meals and alcohol for passengers in Economy Plus.

Other pluses included improvements at Los Angeles International Airport and better ways to redeem frequent flyer rewards.

From an operational perspective, United said it delivered in the second quarter the best competition, on-time departure and performance in company history.

“As a result, United had fewer cancellations than any major competitor,’’ it said.