CHICAGO, Feb. 8, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (UAL) today reported January 2016 operational results.

UAL's January 2016 consolidated traffic (revenue passenger miles) increased 0.1 percent and consolidated capacity (available seat miles) decreased 0.1 percent versus January 2015. UAL's January 2016 consolidated load factor increased 0.2 points compared to January 2015.

The company continues to expect first-quarter 2016 consolidated passenger unit revenue to decline 6 to 8 percent compared to the first quarter of 2015, with the decline driven largely by a strong U.S. dollar, lower surcharges, travel reductions from customers impacted by declining oil prices and softening domestic and international yields.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate an average of nearly 5,000 flights a day to 342 airports across six continents. In 2015, United and United Express operated nearly two million flights carrying 140 million customers. United is proud to have the world's most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.United operates more than 700 mainline aircraft, and this year, the airline anticipates taking delivery of 20 new Boeing aircraft, including 737 NGs, 787s and 777s. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 192 countries via 28 member airlines. Approximately 84,000 United employees reside in every U.S. state and in countries around the world. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.

Preliminary Operational Results

January

2016

2015

Change

REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000)

Domestic

6,553,528

6,505,209

0.7%

International

6,997,246

6,984,470

0.2%

Atlantic

2,303,588

2,458,650

(6.3%)

Pacific

2,769,842

2,797,499

(1.0%)

Latin

1,923,816

1,728,321

11.3%

Mainline

13,550,774

13,489,679

0.5%

Regional

1,870,500

1,911,562

(2.1%)

Consolidated

15,421,274

15,401,241

0.1%

AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000)

Domestic

7,853,840

7,828,480

0.3%

International

8,848,445

8,831,743

0.2%

Atlantic

3,210,993

3,312,605

(3.1%)

Pacific

3,353,674

3,449,667

(2.8%)

Latin

2,283,778

2,069,471

10.4%

Mainline

16,702,285

16,660,223

0.3%

Regional

2,357,966

2,421,651

(2.6%)

Consolidated

19,060,251

19,081,874

(0.1%)

PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR

Domestic

83.4%

83.1%

0.3 pts

International

79.1%

79.1%

0.0 pts

Atlantic

71.7%

74.2%

(2.5) pts

Pacific

82.6%

81.1%

1.5 pts

Latin

84.2%

83.5%

0.7 pts

Mainline

81.1%

81.0%

0.1 pts

Regional

79.3%

78.9%

0.4 pts

Consolidated

80.9%

80.7%

0.2 pts

ONBOARD PASSENGERS (000)

Mainline

7,177

6,862

4.6%

Regional

3,181

3,331

(4.5%)

Consolidated

10,358

10,193

1.6%

CARGO REVENUE TON MILES (000)

Total

201,043

200,621

0.2%

First QuarterPreliminary Fuel Costs Per Gallon

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, excluding hedges

$1.21 - $1.26

Operating cash-settled hedge loss price per gallon

$0.16

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including operating cash-settled hedges

$1.37 - $1.42

Non-operating cash-settled hedge loss price per gallon

$0.01

Estimated average price per gallon of fuel, including all cash-settled hedges

$1.38 - $1.43

This price per gallon corresponds to fuel expense in the income statement

This price per gallon corresponds to the impact of non-operating hedges that appear in non-operating expense in the income statement

This price per gallon corresponds to the total economic cost of the company's fuel consumption including all cash-settled hedges but does not directly correspond to fuel expense in the income statement

Preliminary Operational Results

2016

2015

Change

January On-Time Performance

61.5%

49.5%

12.0 pts

January Completion Factor

94.7%

95.8%

(1.1) pts

Based on consolidated scheduled flights arriving on or before scheduled arrival time

Consolidated completion percentage

Safe Harbor Statement

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements included in this investor update are forward-looking and thus reflect our current expectations and beliefs with respect to certain current and future events and financial 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,' 'anticipates,' 'indicates,' 'believes,' 'forecast,' 'guidance,' 'outlook,' 'goals' 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 report are based upon information available to us on the date of this report. 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: our ability to comply with the terms of our various financing arrangements; the costs and availability of financing; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to execute our operational plans, including optimizing our revenue; our ability to control our costs, including realizing benefits from our resource optimization efforts, cost reduction initiatives and fleet replacement programs; our ability to utilize our net operating losses; our ability to attract and retain customers; demand for transportation in the markets in which we operate; an outbreak of a disease that affects travel demand or travel behavior; demand for travel and the impact that global economic conditions have on customer travel patterns; excessive taxation and the inability to offset future taxable income; general economic conditions (including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, investment or credit market conditions, crude oil prices, costs of aircraft fuel and energy refining capacity in relevant markets); our ability to cost-effectively hedge against increases in the price of aircraft fuel; any potential realized or unrealized gains or losses related to fuel or currency hedging programs; the effects of any hostilities, act of war or terrorist attack; the ability of other air carriers with whom we have alliances or partnerships to provide the services contemplated by the respective arrangements with such carriers; the costs and availability of aviation and other insurance; industry consolidation or changes in airline alliances; competitive pressures on pricing and on demand; our capacity decisions and the capacity decisions of our competitors; U.S. or foreign governmental legislation, regulation and other actions (including open skies agreements and environmental regulations); the impact of regulatory, investigative and legal proceedings and legal compliance risks; the impact of any management changes; our CEO's health prognosis and return from medical leave; labor costs; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and the results of the collective bargaining agreement process with our union groups; any disruptions to operations due to any potential actions by our labor groups; weather conditions; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Item 1A., Risk Factors, of UAL's Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the SEC.

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SOURCE United Airlines

United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com

United Continental Holdings Inc. issued this content on 08 February 2016 and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 08 February 2016 22:02:24 UTC

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