United Airlines lost $ 1.9 billion in the fourth quarter, bringing total losses for 2020 to just over $ 7 billion, the worst year since merging with Continental Airlines a decade ago. Despite this terrible loss, the airline is anticipating a “transition year” in 2021 as it prepares for a recovery from the coronavirus pandemic.
“The truth is that Covid-19 changed United Airlines forever,” the company’s chief executive Scott Kirby said in a statement. “The passion, teamwork and perseverance shown by the United team in 2020 will precisely help us build a new United Airlines that is better, stronger and more profitable than ever.”
The airline posted operating revenue of around $ 3.4 billion in the last three months of last year, a decrease of more than two-thirds from the same period in 2019. She ended the year with access to nearly $ 20 billion in cash or cash equivalents, not including federal incentive loans.
Delta Air Lines last week reported a loss of $ 12.4 billion in 2020, which rounded off “the toughest year in Delta history.”
In anticipation of a rebound, United has resumed extensive maintenance and engine overhauls to keep planes hit by weak demand ready when more people fly again.
However, it is unlikely that this recovery will occur for any time. United expects to generate roughly a third of the operating revenue in the first quarter of this year it generated in the same three months of 2019. Most analysts anticipate that the aviation industry will not fully recover from the pandemic for several years.
