John Tague, United Airlines, executive vice president for customers told the news media last Wednesday the airline has "turned the corner" in its battle to boost revenues and stop losses. Tague's comments came on the heels of the July ATA airline performance report, which has indicated the industry is starting to see improved performance.
The ATA said the positive industry RASM trend of recent persisted in July, but the demand situation remains relatively unchanged year-over-year. Domestic RASM improved 10.2%, while system RASM improved 8.1%. The Atlantic and Latin regions improved 4.0% and 4.9% respectively, however, the Pacific region still appears to be problematic off 4.0% year-over-year.
In my opinion, with the approaching fall season, returning capacity, and a bleak business outlook, the road ahead will undoubtedly continue to prove challenging for the entire industry. Even though the environment appears to be slowly improving, the industry is far from "out of the woods"
Meanwhile, in regard to United, Tague did not provide specific numbers and he said, (the positive trends) "are not strong enough to give us indications of profit," which is a requirement for the airline to obtain the loan guarantee.
Specifically, the company must present a business plan that projects a 7% profit margin within 7 years and have the plan endorsed by Fitch Rating. Moreover, according to the AP, analysts predict the Chicago-based Company would lose "more than $300 million in the quarter ending Sept. 30, even as the industry shows signs of improvement."
Regardless, I believe the July revenue numbers will boost United's chances of surviving, which is something I have said all along albeit a much smaller airline.
Seprately, the Rocky Mountain News reported airline is targeting mid-spring for exiting bankruptcy, which is different than Jake Brace's comments to Susan Carey and indicates the company is not progressing towards an orderly exit as previously presented in the Wall Street Journal interview. This should not come as a surprise because large bankruptcy reorganizations take time.
I agree with those parties interested in the success of United, Tague's comments are the most positive to come from United's executive since the company filed for bankruptcy, but there still are significant obstacles.
First, there are signs the upward revenue trend may be short-lived. Last week's East Coast power outage is likely to affect August industry revenue numbers, there is the September 11 anniversary booking problem, and the fall is the slowest travel time of the year.
Jon Ash, managing director of Global Aviation Associates, told the Denver Post United has major issues to address. The company must line up
billions of dollars in exit financing, potentially re-bid for a government-guaranteed loan, address a massive pension shortfall and develop a detailed business plan. In addition, the Company must resolve issues at their Denver and Dulles and present its Plan of Reorganization to the bankruptcy court in about three months -- in December.
In my opinion, the most difficult issue will be finding exit financing and I continue to believe that United, like other bankrupt airlines in the past, may be forced to sell assets to fund it reorganization emergence, with the likely candidate to acquire such assets US Airways.
Regardless, as with the IRS tax refund and the second federal bailout, the July revenue number will boost United's chances of surviving.
Best regards,
Chip