United Releases First-Quarter Financial Results - Rebounding Demand is Driving Clear Path to Profitability

CHICAGO, April 19, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (UAL) today announced first-quarter 2021 financial results. The company has its eyes on the future, making continued progress on its commitment to remove $2 billion in structural costs and investing in key customer programs that will position the airline to capitalize on the recovery of business travel and long-haul international demand.

Following its return to positive core cash flow¹ in the month of March, the company is focused on returning to positive adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margins, even if business and long-haul international demand remain as much as 70% below 2019 levels. United is already moving to capitalize on emerging pent-up demand for travel to countries where vaccinated travelers are welcome. In fact, the company announced new international flying to Greece, Iceland and Croatia earlier today, subject to government approval. These opportunistic steps help position United to return to positive net income even if business and long-haul international demand only returns to about 35% below 2019 levels.

"The United team has now spent a year facing down the most disruptive crisis our industry has ever faced and because of their skill and dedication to our customers, we're poised to emerge from this pandemic with a future that is brighter than ever," said United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby. "We've shifted our focus to the next milestone on the horizon and now see a clear path to profitability. We're encouraged by the strong evidence of pent-up demand for air travel and our continued ability to nimbly match it, which is why we're as confident as ever that we'll hit our goal to exceed 2019 adjusted EBITDA margins in 2023, if not sooner."

United's efforts to improve the customer experience resulted in the company achieving its highest ever customer satisfaction in the first quarter. Looking ahead, the company is planning continued investment in customers, including continuing the United Polaris® retrofit program and starting retrofit on narrowbody aircraft, modernizing gates, upgrading and expanding United Club℠ locations in Newark and Denver, and rolling out tools that give customers the opportunity to pre-order onboard meals.

First-Quarter Financial Results

• Reported first-quarter 2021 net loss of $1.4 billion, adjusted net loss² of $2.4 billion.
• Reported first-quarter total operating revenue of $3.2 billion, down 66% versus first-quarter 2019.
• Reported first-quarter operating expenses down 49% versus first-quarter 2019, down 34% excluding special charges.
• Reported first-quarter 2021 ending available liquidity³ of $21 billion.
• Reported first-quarter capacity down 54% versus first-quarter 2019.
• Reported first-quarter average core cash burn of $9 million per day, an improvement of about $10 million per day versus the fourth-quarter 2020.

Second-Quarter 2021 Outlook

• Based on current trends, the company expects second quarter 2021 Total Revenue Per Available Seat Mile (TRASM) to be down approximately 20% versus the second quarter 2019.
• Expects second quarter 2021 capacity to be down around 45% versus the second quarter 2019.
• Expects second quarter operating expenses excluding special charges⁴ to be down approximately 32% versus the second quarter 2019, with second quarter 2021 fuel price per gallon estimated to be approximately $1.83.
• Expects second quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA margin⁵ of around (20%).

Key Highlights

• Set a new diversity goal and plan for 50% of the 5,000 students the airline has committed to train by 2030 at the new United Aviate Academy to be women and people of color.
• Created the Eco-Skies Alliance℠, a first-of-its-kind program, offering United's corporate customers the opportunity to help reduce their environmental impact by allowing them to pay the additional cost for sustainable aviation fuel (SAF). Additionally, United is giving customers the ability to contribute funds for additional SAF purchases by United or for use on initiatives United believes will help decarbonize aviation – the first of any U.S. airline to do so.
• Launched industry-exclusive "Travel-Ready Center" to ease the burden of COVID-19 travel restrictions. Customers can review COVID-19 entry requirements, find local testing options and upload any required testing and vaccination records for domestic and international travel, all in one place. United is the first airline to integrate all these features into its mobile app and website.
• Announced an agreement to work with air mobility company Archer as part of the company's broader effort to invest in emerging technologies that decarbonize air travel rather than relying on traditional combustion engines.
• Returned to John F. Kennedy Airport after a five-year absence, and are now operating direct service to the airline's West Coast hubs – Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.
• Announced a new luxury bus collaboration for customers to travel to Breckenridge and Fort Collins, Colorado with convenient year-round ground transportation service connecting through its Denver hub. This is the first time Breckenridge has ever been served by an airline and will be Fort Collins' first global network carrier service in 25 years.

Taking Care of Our Customers

• The only airline that lets customers upload travel documents to the United app and have them certified allowing customers to get their boarding pass before arriving at the airport.
• Announced plans to introduce United Premium Plus® service on seven Hawaii routes to Honolulu (Oahu), Kahului (Maui), and Kona (Hawaii) beginning in May 2021.
• Expanded COVID-19 testing and pre-clearance program to make Hawaii travel easier.
• Reducing stress of international travel by starting a test on Houston to Brazil flights, allowing customers to take an Abbott BinaxNOW test prior to their re-entry into the United States.
• In partnership with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), launched a program to collect information from passengers, allowing them to be contacted in the event they are near a Covid-19 positive passenger while on a United aircraft.
• Expanded rollout of virtual, on-demand customer service, now available at all U.S. hub airports.
• Recognized by the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) and SimpliFlying for providing a hospital-grade standard of cleanliness and safety during the travel journey. United is the first airline among the four largest U.S. carriers to receive the highest possible certification.

Reimagining the Route Network

• In the first quarter, announced 41 new domestic routes and two new international routes and launched six domestic routes and four international routes, with 13 more international routes planned to launch in 2021.
• The company resumed nonstop service on 12 domestic routes and five international routes compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.
• Compared to December 2020, United had nonstop service in 12 more domestic and three more international routes in March 2021.
• Announced plans to fly roughly 52% of its full schedule in May 2021 compared to May 2019.
• Announced plans to expand the company's global route network with new, nonstop service between Boston Logan International Airport and London Heathrow – the only U.S. carrier to offer nonstop service between the nation's top seven business markets and London Heathrow.

Assisting the Communities We Serve

• More than 7 million miles donated to charities in need of travel through United's Miles on a Mission program.
• Over 65,000 lbs. of food and beverages ($322,549 value) donated to Houston Food Bank for winter storm relief.
• Unique Black History Month campaign raised over $255,000 for The Thurgood Marshall College Fund, The Leadership Conference Education Fund, The NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, and United Negro College Fund.
• In the first quarter of 2021, through a combination of cargo-only flights and passenger flights, United has transported nearly 290 million pounds of freight, which includes nearly 60 million pounds of vital shipments, such as medical kits, PPE, pharmaceuticals, and medical equipment, and more than 800,000 pounds of military mail and packages.

Additional Noteworthy Accomplishments

• For the tenth consecutive year received a perfect score of 100% on the Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a premier benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBTQ+ workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign (HRC) Foundation.
• Teamed up with Chase and Visa in honor of Black History Month to encourage and reward United Credit Cardmembers to make donations to non-profits focused on providing access to educational opportunities for Black students and supporting human and civil rights policies.

Earnings Call

UAL will hold a conference call to discuss first-quarter 2021 financial results as well as its financial and operational outlook for the second-quarter 2021, on Tuesday, April 20, at 9:30 a.m. CT/10:30 a.m. ET. A live, listen-only webcast of the conference call will be available at ir.united.com.

The webcast will be available for replay within 24 hours of the conference call and then archived on the website for three months.

About United

United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements in this release, including statements regarding our outlook for the second quarter 2021 and our adjusted EBITDA margin targets, are forward-looking and thus reflect our current expectations and beliefs with respect to certain current and future events and anticipated financial and operating performance. Such forward-looking statements are and will be subject to many risks and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Words such as "expects," "will," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "indicates," "remains," "believes," "estimates," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals," "targets" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Additionally, forward-looking statements include statements that do not relate solely to historical facts, such as statements which identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of current known trends or uncertainties, or which indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to us on the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: the adverse impacts of the ongoing COVID-19 global pandemic, and possible outbreaks of another disease or similar public health threat in the future, on our business, operating results, financial condition, liquidity and near-term and long-term strategic operating plan, including possible additional adverse impacts resulting from the duration and spread of the pandemic; unfavorable economic and political conditions in the United States and globally; the highly competitive nature of the global airline industry and susceptibility of the industry to price discounting and changes in capacity; high and/or volatile fuel prices or significant disruptions in the supply of aircraft fuel; our reliance on technology and automated systems to operate our business and the impact of any significant failure or disruption of, or failure to effectively integrate and implement, the technology or systems; our reliance on third-party service providers and the impact of any failure of these parties to perform as expected, or interruptions in our relationships with these providers or their provision of services; adverse publicity, harm to our brand; reduced travel demand and potential tort liability as a result of an accident, catastrophe or incident involving us, our regional carriers, our codeshare partners, or another airline; terrorist attacks, international hostilities or other security events, or the fear of terrorist attacks or hostilities, even if not made directly on the airline industry; increasing privacy and data security obligations or a significant data breach; disruptions to our regional network and United Express flights provided by third-party regional carriers; further changes to the airline industry with respect to alliances and joint business arrangements or due to consolidations; changes in our network strategy or other factors outside our control resulting in less economic aircraft orders, costs related to modification or termination of aircraft orders or entry into less favorable aircraft orders; our reliance on single suppliers to source a majority of our aircraft and certain parts, and the impact of any failure to obtain timely deliveries, additional equipment or support from any of these suppliers; the impacts of union disputes, employee strikes or slowdowns, and other labor-related disruptions on our operations; extended interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports where we operate; the impacts of the United Kingdom's withdrawal from the European Union on our operations in the United Kingdom and elsewhere; the impacts of seasonality and other factors associated with the airline industry; our failure to realize the full value of our intangible assets or our long-lived assets, causing us to record impairments; any damage to our reputation or brand image; the limitation of our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes; the costs of compliance with extensive government regulation of the airline industry; costs, liabilities and risks associated with environmental regulation and climate change; our inability to accept or integrate new aircraft into our fleet as planned; the impacts of our significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations, the possibility we may seek material amounts of additional financial liquidity in the short-term and the impacts of insufficient liquidity on our financial condition and business; failure to comply with the covenants in the MileagePlus financing agreements, resulting in the possible acceleration of the MileagePlus indebtedness, foreclosure upon the collateral securing the MileagePlus indebtedness or the exercise of other remedies; failure to comply with financial and other covenants governing our other debt; changes in, or failure to retain, our senior management team or other key employees; current or future litigation and regulatory actions, or failure to comply with the terms of any settlement, order or arrangement relating to these actions; increases in insurance costs or inadequate insurance coverage; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Part I, Item 1A., "Risk Factors," of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2020, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

-tables attached-

Core cash flow (burn): The company's management views "core cash burn" or "core cash flow" as an important measure in monitoring liquidity in order to assess the company's cash needs without the impact of certain extraordinary actions or events, and the company believes this provides useful information to investors about the company's  core operational performance.

UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION

UAL evaluates its financial performance utilizing various accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (GAAP) and Non-GAAP financial measures, including adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (adjusted EBITDA), adjusted operating income (loss), adjusted operating margin, adjusted pre-tax income (loss), adjusted pre-tax margin, adjusted net income (loss), adjusted diluted earnings (loss) per share and CASM, excluding special charges, third-party business expenses, fuel, and profit sharing, among others. UAL believes that adjusting for special charges (credits) and for nonoperating credit losses and nonoperating special termination benefits is useful to investors because these items are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. UAL believes that adjusting for unrealized (gains) losses on investments, net is useful to investors because those unrealized gains or losses may not ultimately be realized on a cash basis. 

CASM is a common metric used in the airline industry to measure an airline's cost structure and efficiency. UAL reports CASM excluding special charges (credits), third-party business expenses, fuel and profit sharing. UAL believes that adjusting for special charges (credits) is useful to investors because special charges (credits) are not indicative of UAL's ongoing performance. UAL also believes that excluding third-party business expenses, such as maintenance, ground handling and catering services for third parties, provides more meaningful disclosure because these expenses are not directly related to UAL's core business. UAL also believes that excluding fuel costs from certain measures is useful to investors because it provides an additional measure of management's performance excluding the effects of a significant cost item over which management has limited influence. UAL excludes profit sharing because this exclusion allows investors to better understand and analyze our operating cost performance and provides a more meaningful comparison of our core operating costs to the airline industry.

Reconciliations of reported non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP financial measures are included below.                          

UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS, INC.
NON-GAAP FINANCIAL RECONCILIATION (Continued)

UAL believes that adjusting capital expenditures for assets acquired through the issuance of debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities is useful to investors in order to appropriately reflect the total amounts spent on capital expenditures. UAL also believes that adjusting net cash provided by operating activities for capital expenditures, adjusted capital expenditures, and aircraft operating lease additions is useful to allow investors to evaluate the company's ability to generate cash that is available for debt service or general corporate initiatives.

CARES Act grant. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the company received approximately $2.6 billion in funding pursuant to the Payroll Support Agreement (the "PSP2 Agreement") with the U.S. Treasury Department, which included a  $753 million unsecured loan. The company recorded $1.8 billion as grant income and $47 million for warrants issued to Treasury as part of the PSP2 Agreement, within stockholders' equity, as an offset to the grant income.

Severance and benefit costs: During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the company recorded $417 million related to pay continuation and benefits-related costs provided to employees who chose to voluntary separate from the company. The company offered, based on employee group, age and completed years of service, pay continuation, health care coverage, and travel benefits. Approximately 4,500 employees elected to voluntary separate from the company.

Impairment of assets: Impairment of assets. In February 2021, the company voluntarily and temporarily removed all 52 Boeing 777-200/200ER aircraft powered by Pratt & Whitney 4000 series engines from its schedule due to an engine failure incident with one of its aircraft. The company viewed this incident as an indicator of potential impairment. Accordingly, as required under relevant accounting standards, United performed forecasted cash flow analyses and determined that the carrying value of the Boeing 777-200/200ER fleet is recoverable from future cash flows expected to be generated by that fleet and, consequently, no impairment was recorded.

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the company recorded a $50 million impairment for its China routes which was primarily caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and the company's subsequent suspension of flights to China.

Gains (loss) on sale of other assets and other special charges:: During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the company recorded $16 million of net charges, driven by charges for the termination of the lease associated with three floors of its headquarters at the Willis Tower in Chicago and utility charges related to the February winter storms in Texas, partially offset by net gains, primarily on sale-leaseback transactions. 

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the company recorded a $10 million one-time special charge related to the wind-down of the capacity purchase agreement with Trans States Airlines, LLC and $3 million for costs related to the transition of fleet types within other regional carrier contracts.

Nonoperating credit loss on BRW term loan and related guarantee: During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the company recorded a $697 million expected credit loss allowance for the company's Term Loan Agreement (the "BRW Term Loan"), with, among others, BRW Aviation Holding LLC and BRW Aviation LLC, and the related guarantee.  BRW's equity and BRW's holdings of Avianca Holdings S.A.'s ("AVH") equity are secured as a pledge under the BRW Term Loan, which is currently in default.

Nonoperating special termination benefits. During the three months ended March 31, 2021, as part of first quarter voluntary separation leave programs, the company recorded $46 million of special termination benefits in the form of additional subsidies for retiree medical costs for certain U.S. based front-line employees. The subsidies are in the form of additional subsidies for retiree medical costs as a one-time contribution into the employee's Retiree Health Account of $125,000 for full-time employees and $75,000 for part-time employees.

Unrealized losses on investments, net: During the three months ended March 31, 2021, the company recorded losses of $22 million primarily for the decrease in the market value of its investment in Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras S.A. ("Azul"). 

During the three months ended March 31, 2020, the company recorded losses of $319 million primarily for the $293 million decrease in the market value of its investment in Azul and $24 million for the decrease in fair value of the AVH share call options, AVH share appreciation rights, and AVH share-based upside sharing agreement that United obtained as part of the BRW Term Loan and related agreements with Kingsland Holdings Limited.

Effective tax rate

The company's effective tax rate for the three months ended March 31, 2021 and March 31, 2020 was 22.5% and 19.4%, respectively. The provision for income taxes is based on the estimated annual effective tax rate which represents a blend of federal, state and foreign taxes and includes the impact of certain nondeductible items. The first quarter 2020 rate was impacted by a $66 million valuation allowance related to unrealized capital losses.

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SOURCE United Airlines