A senior United Airlines executive told investors Thursday that European travel is expected to recover by next spring and summer, but when it comes to travel to Asia — a key source of traffic at SFO for the airport’s dominant carrier — there is no recovery in sight.
“We feel really bullish about Europe for next summer. We had a glimpse of that this summer,” said Andrew Nocella, chief commercial officer at United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAL), pointing to strong travel demand to Greece and Croatia when the carrier recently started new flights to those markets. “We feel really bullish that there will be a lot more demand flying across the Atlantic next year.
“Across the Pacific, it does seem to be a little bit of a slower pace of recovery, and we’ll have a wait-and-see approach,” Nocella said. “We’re not expecting our Asian capacity to get back to normal anytime soon.”
United’s outlook for international travel occurs amid a pullback in domestic travel due to the Delta variant. Hotels and airlines have scaled back expectations for the rest of 2021.
United now expects total third quarter revenue to be down 33% compared to the third quarter of 2019, according to an SEC filing Thursday. The carrier said it’s cutting third quarter capacity at least 28% over the third quarter of 2019, slightly worse than its initial guidance that this year’s third quarter capacity would be down 26%. United is currently adjusting fourth quarter capacity to meet falling demand. United now expects adjusted pre-tax losses in both the third and fourth quarters.
On a brighter note, Nocella hinted at innovations and improvements ahead at United.
Nocella said the airline is making its MileagePlus loyalty program more useful by letting members combine dollars and miles to buy tickets and upgrades. That’s good news for MileagePlus credit cardholders who racked up miles from their spending during the pandemic.
Last month, United debuted its new Money + Miles ticketing option in a handful of domestic markets and is expected to roll it out slowly, according to the travel blog One Mile at a Time, citing a company memo to employees.
“We have projects that we are unleashing. We have recently and will continue to do so to make the mileage that you hold in your MileagePlus account even more useful,” Nocella said.
United is also working to take advantage of its seat-back screens to find other ways to enhance the passenger experience.
“We intend for that screen to be a lot more than just watching your favorite TV show,” said Nocella, who was tight-lipped on details. “We intend for that screen to ultimately be a level of interaction with the passengers and to make that journey easier and smoother. There’s a long way between where we are today and making that happen.”
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United Airlines has bad news for SFO, but hints at innovations to come – San Francisco Business Times – San Francisco Business Times
