United Airlines (UAL) has reported its third-quarter net income jumped nearly 23% to more than $1.02 billion from the year-earlier period on revenue of $11.38 billion, an increase of 3.4% from a year ago.
UAL has been forced to cancel thousands of flights due to the grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX and announced that it would take the aircraft out of its schedules until January 2020, with no MAX return date set.
The grounding has weighed heavily on UAL's growth plans. The airline said it expects to increase capacity by 3.5% this year, below the 4%-6% annual capacity growth it targeted.
Revenue per available seat mile (RASM) rose 1.7%, in line with UAL’s forecast over the summer.
"Thanks to the outstanding efforts of our employees, United extended our streak of expanding pre-tax margin on a quarterly basis," said Oscar Munoz, CEO of United Airlines. "While headwinds affected the sector as a whole this quarter, United's team once again demonstrated a robust ability to overcome adverse cost pressure, managing to continue growing our network while investing in winning our customers' loyalty through smart enhancements to the United experience."