Bankrupt United Airlines parent UAL Corp. on Thursday posted a quarterly loss like other big airlines as high jet fuel prices pinched the bottom line.
The No 2. U.S. carrier, which hopes to emerge from bankruptcy protection by summer, was the last of the major U.S. airlines to report first-quarter results.
It joined rivals AMR Corp., parent of American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and Continental Airlines in posting losses.
Including its restructuring costs and rejection of aircraft leases -- all part of its complicated Chapter 11 process --UAL’s $459 million net loss was the biggest of the top five carriers.
Since the Sept. 11 attacks, all of the big U.S. airlines have been losing money. None of the top five is expected to make money this year, particularly as jet fuel hovers at extremely high levels.
Only airlines with the lowest costs are flying in the black. Southwest Airlines, for example, has an unbroken string of profits.
Talks with Washington continue
United’s chief financial officer, Jake Brace, said in an interview that the airline was still providing data to the U.S. Air Transportation Stabilization Board about its application for a federal loan guarantee to get out of bankruptcy.
He said he had no indication when the board would decide on United’s request for backing of $1.6 billion of a $2.0 billion loan package arranged by major banks.
“We’ve met with them (loan board representatives) quite frequently over the last past several weeks,” Brace said. “We’re going through their process.”
Loan commitments with the banks Citigroup and J.P. Morgan Chase need to be extended, Brace said, as does the airline’s debtor-in-possession financing. He said both were likely to occur.
The loan board was created after the hijacking attacks to dole out up to $10 billion in guarantees of private-sector loans. It rejected United’s first request for the aid in late 2002 and now the airline is seeking it again as part of its plan to get out of bankruptcy by some time this summer -- a goal Brace said the airline is still targeting.
UAL, which filed for bankruptcy protection in December 2002, said its net loss was $459 million, or $4.17 per basic share, including reorganization and special items. That compares with a year-ago net loss of $1.34 billion, or $14.16 per share. The average fuel price for the quarter was $1.07 per gallon.
UAL, based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, said its first-quarter operating loss was $211 million, compared with an operating loss of $813 million in the year-ago period.
Revenue rose 17 percent to $3.73 billion, while total operating expenses fell 1.4 percent to $3.94 billion.
UAL also said it posted a small operating profit for March.
Chief Executive Glenn Tilton said in a statement that the restructuring was on track but much work remained.
