United Airlines has doubled its first quarter profit to $292 million, despite the grounding of its 737 MAX fleet.
The increase has been due to a combination of effective cost management and increased passenger numbers, which rose 7.1% compared to the corresponding period last year. First-quarter passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM) increased 1.1%, while unit cost per available seat mile (CASM) decreased by 2.1% year-over-year.
Earlier this month, United Airlines removed 14 MAX aircraft from its flying schedule following two fatal crashes.
"We delivered another strong financial quarter in which we made important progress on our customer investments while making strategic decisions to manage our costs and producing pre-tax margin growth that we expect will lead our peers," said Oscar Munoz, chief executive officer of United Airlines. "That's why we are more confident than ever that we'll reach our long-term adjusted EPS targets we unveiled last year."
A statement from Cowen & Company said: "United reported first quarter adjusted EPS well ahead of our and street estimates as non-fuel unit cost growth came in better than expected...United is maintaining its 2019 EPS guidance range of $10 to $12, as well as slowing its capacity growth. We believe the slowing of 2019 capacity is due to the grounding of the 737 MAX as well as normal adjustments.