Hi it's Glenn, it's Thursday, the 25th of August.
Today, we are filing with the Court our regular monthly status report on our restructuring, and we are also releasing the results of the Monthly Operating Report for July.
These two documents show just how far we have come at United.
In our report to the Court, we provide an update on exit financing.
We shared our business plan with the four financial institutions we have been working with -- and which had earlier expressed interest in providing exit financing to the company.
Although at the time, we had been discussing a 2.5-billion-dollar exit package, following their review of United's plan, they have came back to us with four proposals for all-debt exit financing up to 3 billion dollars, including fully-underwritten commitments that meet our aggressive timetable for exit.
These global financial institutions see opportunity in United -- even in the midst of the ongoing brutally competitive industry environment... and at a time when some of our competitors now find themselves confronting many of the same challenges that we have already taken on and we have dealt with.
Our business plan is viable and financeable and has the full support of the banks. We've earned this level of confidence in our future through the work that we've done to restructure this company, especially the cost and the revenue improvements we are making, and the improved service that we continue to provide to our customers.
We are now focused on working collaboratively with the Creditors' Committee and the lenders to further improve the terms and conditions of the proposals.
This financing will enable us to exit and to compete effectively in this industry.
Pending court approval, we have also overcome the other major hurdle of our restructuring with the agreements recently renegotiated with all but a handful of our aircraft leases, reducing fleet costs by some 850 million dollars annually.
In addition, we won court decisions on municipal bond issues at some of our major hub airports, dramatically reducing those large liabilities.
And at the same time, as I said on an earlier call, we are improving the fundamentals of our business and we continue to deliver the positive operating and financial results consistent with the second quarter.
July, for example, was a good month for United. Mainline unit costs continue to fall, excluding fuel, while mainline unit revenue for the month increased 9 percent year-over-year, outpacing our competitors within the industry.
Our operating earnings for the month of July were 113 million dollars, a 62 million dollar improvement over July one year ago... despite the fact that fuel costs were some 127 million dollars higher than last year.
While we reported a net loss of 274 million dollars, when you exclude the largely non-cash reorganization expenses of 350 million dollars, the company reported a net profit of 76 million dollars for the month of July.
Once again, the important number to focus on is our underlying earnings -- the operating earnings -- which is the correct measure of the strength of the business. The non-cash items will be addressed in the normal bankruptcy process as we exit from Chapter 11.
As we prepare to file our Plan of Reorganization and with the majority of the restructuring work now behind us, we are asking the Court for a two month extension of our exclusivity period to complete the exit process... and the Creditors' Committee supports us in this request.
As we have said from the very beginning, we would take the time to do the work necessary to reposition this company, and to do it right. United's restructuring has been complex and it's been very difficult. It's tough every step of the way, but our work today has been validated. We can now address the challenges everyone in the industry faces with a firm financial foundation at our company.
It's great work and I want to thank everyone for it. I'll be talking to you again soon, this time with another one of our employees reporting on the work that they're doing at United... and until then stay focused on our customers and on one another as one company... and stay united.
Today, we are filing with the Court our regular monthly status report on our restructuring, and we are also releasing the results of the Monthly Operating Report for July.
These two documents show just how far we have come at United.
In our report to the Court, we provide an update on exit financing.
We shared our business plan with the four financial institutions we have been working with -- and which had earlier expressed interest in providing exit financing to the company.
Although at the time, we had been discussing a 2.5-billion-dollar exit package, following their review of United's plan, they have came back to us with four proposals for all-debt exit financing up to 3 billion dollars, including fully-underwritten commitments that meet our aggressive timetable for exit.
These global financial institutions see opportunity in United -- even in the midst of the ongoing brutally competitive industry environment... and at a time when some of our competitors now find themselves confronting many of the same challenges that we have already taken on and we have dealt with.
Our business plan is viable and financeable and has the full support of the banks. We've earned this level of confidence in our future through the work that we've done to restructure this company, especially the cost and the revenue improvements we are making, and the improved service that we continue to provide to our customers.
We are now focused on working collaboratively with the Creditors' Committee and the lenders to further improve the terms and conditions of the proposals.
This financing will enable us to exit and to compete effectively in this industry.
Pending court approval, we have also overcome the other major hurdle of our restructuring with the agreements recently renegotiated with all but a handful of our aircraft leases, reducing fleet costs by some 850 million dollars annually.
In addition, we won court decisions on municipal bond issues at some of our major hub airports, dramatically reducing those large liabilities.
And at the same time, as I said on an earlier call, we are improving the fundamentals of our business and we continue to deliver the positive operating and financial results consistent with the second quarter.
July, for example, was a good month for United. Mainline unit costs continue to fall, excluding fuel, while mainline unit revenue for the month increased 9 percent year-over-year, outpacing our competitors within the industry.
Our operating earnings for the month of July were 113 million dollars, a 62 million dollar improvement over July one year ago... despite the fact that fuel costs were some 127 million dollars higher than last year.
While we reported a net loss of 274 million dollars, when you exclude the largely non-cash reorganization expenses of 350 million dollars, the company reported a net profit of 76 million dollars for the month of July.
Once again, the important number to focus on is our underlying earnings -- the operating earnings -- which is the correct measure of the strength of the business. The non-cash items will be addressed in the normal bankruptcy process as we exit from Chapter 11.
As we prepare to file our Plan of Reorganization and with the majority of the restructuring work now behind us, we are asking the Court for a two month extension of our exclusivity period to complete the exit process... and the Creditors' Committee supports us in this request.
As we have said from the very beginning, we would take the time to do the work necessary to reposition this company, and to do it right. United's restructuring has been complex and it's been very difficult. It's tough every step of the way, but our work today has been validated. We can now address the challenges everyone in the industry faces with a firm financial foundation at our company.
It's great work and I want to thank everyone for it. I'll be talking to you again soon, this time with another one of our employees reporting on the work that they're doing at United... and until then stay focused on our customers and on one another as one company... and stay united.
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