Outgoing United Airlines chief executive Oscar Munoz is leaving the carrier in good shape for his successor after posting a $US3 billion net profit in 2019 and declaring the future “has never been brighter”.
The good financial result came after a strong fourth quarter that exceeded analysts’ expectations and saw the airline reach an earnings per share target a year ahead of schedule.
United had set itself a target in January 2018 of achieving adjusted diluted earnings per share of $US11 to $US13 by 2020. It hit $US12.05 in 2019, up 32 percent versus 2018.
The full-year results included adjusted pre-tax earnings $US3.9 billion with a corresponding margin of 9 percent, an increase of 2.6 points versus 2018.
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Munoz described 2019 as a great year for United and said he expected the airline’s full-year pre-tax margin growth to be the highest among its competitors.
“When I look at United’s fundamental strength, I could not be prouder of what we’ve accomplished in such a short time,’’ he said in the results announcement.
“This is the New United we set out to build more than four years ago. As we embark on a new year and decade, I believe the outlook for United’s future has never been brighter.”
The US giant has been one of the airlines affected by the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX fleet but it did not reveal how much the issue had cost it.
With 14 MAX aircraft on the ground and another 16 due to be delivered this year, United will be in the queue of airlines talking about compensation.
Boeing revealed Tuesday that it now estimates the MAX will not return to scheduled service until mid-2020.
However, United did record an impairment charge of $US90 million associated with its Hong Kong routes, which were affected by political turmoil in the city.
The airline’s operations also hit a high point in 2019, with new records set for revenue passengers and mainline departures.
More than 40.3 million people flew on the carrier with a domestic passenger load factor of 83.8 percent and an international figure of 80.8 percent. There were almost 800,000 mainline departures.
It also claimed the crown from direct competitors for on-time departures from its Chicago, Denver and Los Angeles hubs.
Customer experience improvements included its ConnectionSaver tool to help customers connect between its flights, Mileage Plus points that no longer expire and free live DIRECTTV on more than 200 Boeing 737s.
It also rolled out new lounges, including a new Polaris lounge in Los Angeles, and added more than 1600 Polaris business class and United First seats to almost 250 aircraft.
The US giant launched 11 new international routes in 2019 and 54 domestic routes as it took delivery of 49 aircraft, including eight Boeing 787-10s that made it the world’s first carrier to operate all three Dreamliner models.
