United Airlines reported better-than-expected second-quarter results and raised its full-year earnings guidance, even as sharply higher fuel prices erased much of the benefit from record revenue.
United Airlines Posts Record Revenue, Raises 2026 Profit Outlook
United Airlines has reported second-quarter operating revenue of $17.7 billion, a 16% increase over the same period last year.
The airline earned $805 million on a GAAP basis, or $2.46 per diluted share. Excluding special items, United reported adjusted net income of $649 million and adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, beating Wall Street expectations.
United also raised its full-year adjusted earnings guidance to between $9 and $11 per share. The previous range was $7 to $11, meaning the airline now expects results to land toward the stronger end of its original outlook.
That confidence comes despite a tremendous fuel bill this last quarter.
United spent $5.1 billion on aircraft fuel during Q2, an increase of 84% over last year. Fuel expense rose by approximately $2.3 billion year-over-year, while United estimates that its expected 2026 fuel bill has increased by nearly $6 billion compared to its assumptions at the start of the year.
CEO Scott Kirby said:
“The United Next strategy continues to deliver durable earnings and margin expansion despite a volatile operating environment.”
United says it recovered approximately half of the second-quarter fuel increase through higher revenue. It expects to recover 80% to 90% during the third quarter and fully offset the increase by the fourth quarter.
Strong Revenue Across The Business
United’s revenue growth was not confined to one portion of the aircraft.
Premium-cabin revenue increased 16% year-over-year, while Basic Economy revenue rose 11%. Corporate and other contracted business revenue increased 27%, MileagePlus revenue rose 11%, and cargo revenue grew nearly 23%.
Total revenue per available seat mile increased 12.1%, even as capacity grew 3.5%.
That is an impressive combination…United carried more passengers, charged more for the capacity it offered, and saw growth across premium, economy, corporate travel, loyalty, and cargo.
Starlink also continues to move quickly through the fleet. United says approximately 450 aircraft are now equipped, with nearly 1,000 expected to have the high-speed internet system by the end of the year.
Operationally, United reported its best second-quarter on-time departure rate since 2021. Newark, which has historically been the weak point in United’s network, recorded its best-ever second-quarter on-time departure performance.
Did United Beat Delta This Quarter?
United and Delta each reported approximately $17.7 billion in adjusted operating revenue for the second quarter, making the comparison particularly interesting.
United reported adjusted earnings of $1.99 per share, compared to $1.56 at Delta. On that widely quoted metric, United came out ahead.
But United did not produce more total profit.
Delta generated $1.4 billion in adjusted pre-tax income, compared to $843 million at United. Delta’s adjusted pre-tax margin was 7.7%, while United’s was 4.8%.
The difference between the per-share and total-profit comparisons is largely explained by the number of shares each company has outstanding. United divides its earnings among roughly half as many shares as Delta, making its earnings-per-share figure appear higher even though the company earned less money overall.
So the fairest conclusion is that United beat Delta on adjusted EPS, while Delta remained substantially more profitable on the same amount of adjusted revenue.
United also faced a larger fuel burden. It spent $5.1 billion on fuel during the quarter, compared to $4.4 billion at Delta. That helps explain why United converted identical adjusted revenue into less profit.
A Strong Result, But Fuel Remains The Story
United expects third-quarter adjusted earnings of $2.50 to $3.50 per share. The airline says that figure would have been approximately $1.12 higher without the renewed fuel-price increase seen during the first half of July.
That neatly illustrates the problem.
United is producing record revenue and enjoying remarkable pricing power, but fuel is consuming a large portion of the benefit. The airline has managed to raise fares without materially weakening demand so far, but there is always a limit to what customers will absorb.
United also indicated that fourth-quarter schedules currently on sale will be reduced. That capacity discipline should help preserve pricing, though it may also mean fewer inexpensive seats for travelers.
CONCLUSION
United produced record second-quarter revenue, exceeded Wall Street’s earnings expectations, and raised the lower end of its full-year profit guidance despite an enormous increase in fuel expense.
United also posted higher adjusted earnings per share than Delta on essentially identical adjusted revenue. But Delta converted that revenue into far more total profit, with an adjusted pre-tax margin nearly three points higher.
Both airlines remain in a commanding position in the U.S. airlines industry. United’s quarter was strong, but Delta still won the more meaningful profitability comparison.
UNITED rising
Absolutely.
“United’s quarter was strong, but Delta still won the more meaningful profitability comparison.”
*hands Tim a trophy*
Countdown to Tim Dunn telling us why United is in big trouble based on these numbers
I wonder how much difference is due to the extra capital expenditures UA currently has due to their fleet renewal. They’re taking on a record amount of planes, though that cash outlay should decrease in a few years when delivery rates subside.
Also, how much is due to the difference in credit card revenues generated by the AMEX vs Chase deals?
Good questions.
It is true that UA is buying significantly more planes than DL. UA is in the middle of the largest fleet purchase in American aviation history, with roughly 800 new aircraft scheduled for delivery through 2032. In contrast, DL has a smaller, more modest order book of about 350 aircraft.
In summary, the war between the two U.S. airline titans continues at full speed.
For aviation enthusiasts → The UA jetliner seen in the foreground in the article photo is a B777-200. It is 30.3 years old and is currently en route from SFO to ORD.
Good doctor, it appears N776UA, operating as UA2480, is scheduled to arrive 16 minutes early; however, ORD-regulars will note that often early-arriving aircraft merely sit on the taxiway as they wait for preoccupied gates. Such fun!
Dear ORD, always hyper busy… Safe flight and landing to UA2480!
It is worth noting that growth for both airlines was entirely salvaged by wealthier consumers. For the first time in DL’s history, premium ticket revenue ($6.92 billion) surpassed economy cabin sales ($6.85 billion).
I saw a great video on this exact subject…
https://youtu.be/VVcCqMAfMyk
He makes great content – and touches on some great points between delta and united.
holy cow. the real reasons get so sorely missed.
The difference between DL and UA’s revenue is DL’s higher credit card/loyalty revenue – which is a comparable measure since both DL and UA offer the same loyalty type programs and because of DL’s refinery business – which is not comparable.
DL paid 25 cents/gallon less than UA for jet fuel for the quarter – and the refinery was offline part of the quarter.
DL gets revenue from Delta Tech Ops – and that was over $300 million for the quarter. UA doesn’t have that line of business – or at least not enough to break it out as a separate business.
DL simply gets a higher percentage of its revenue from higher margin non-transportation sources.
UA took a charge for labor contract settlement, presumably the final piece of the retro it has to pay its FAs and also got an earnings credit due to sale/leaseback transations; it increased debt via more sale/leaseback transactions and also took on debt to provide a cash cushion due to “geopolitical uncertainty”. UA took on more debt including to ensure it can pay for all of the massive number of aircraft it has on order esp. in the next few years.
UA flew 10% more ASMs than DL which is the ONLY metric on which it beats DL or anybody. On financial metrics, UA underperformed DL by a country mile including in net profit – even w/o the refinery.
As I said would be the case months ago, DL’s financial lead over UA is widening and that will continue throughout the year.
It is not a surprise that this is the time when DL is shifting its competitive focus to the west coast and Asia/Pacific markets; DL simply has a far larger financial advantage over everyone else in the industry and they are using that to grow in UA strength markets after having spent the last decade growing at AA and WN’s expense.
Another bad take from Tim:
DL Q2 Pax Rev: +13% UA: +16.4% – so UA is taking Pax share (relative to DL anyway need to see the other airlines report to know for whole market). UA’s revenue growth exceeded DL’s in literally all markets.
DL total revenue increase of $3.1B vs UAs $2.45B so you’d say Delta’s whole business is growing faster… but
DL Overall revenue was boosted by $950M of increased refinery sales (which are a function of the oil price and you see that in their refinery costs also increasing 83% lol…) – so really they are growing slower than United.
Now TD would love to say “wah wah Delta is growing more profitably etc.” but lets dive into that too – DL’s yield grew 12%…. United’s yield grew 12.1% so basically the same. Delta’s CASM grew 21% and CASM-Ex 6.8% for UA CASM grew 15.8% and CASM-EX 6.1% – so United grew revenue faster than Delta, with comparable yield growth while costs grew less than Delta. Tim: How on earth do you get to the conclusion that the gap is widening between the two? Delta’s load factor fell 1% while United’s rose 1.2% – so Delta is also losing pax… Nice
Sure Delta has a refinery and a better loyalty agreement, but as an airline United is clearly closing the gap on Delta, and has been proven many times over, once an airline becomes more dominant its loyalty business can improve economics over time – literally proven by Delta in 2010-2020.
It was good to see that Delta finally crossed that 1,000 aircraft mark that you said they would beat UA and AA to, they now have 1,004! United has 1,100 – and got to 1,000 like a year ago – you were really wrong on that prediction weren’t you Tim? AA has also smashed DL in the race to 1,000. UA’s regional fleet is bigger than Delta’s too!
Tim, I really hope you don’t work in aviation because your analysis of these results was poor at best.
1st Half 2026 Net Income/OCF/Capex/FCF in $b
UAL: 1.5/6.4/3.2/3.2
DAL: 1.3/4.1/2.7/1.4
to precisely no one’s surprise, you cherrypick data to avoid admitting the obvious reality which everyone knows which is that DL runs a better airline and a better business.
UA is taking on debt on lower earnings – in part due to higher fuel costs – in order to support the massive fleet growth even as UA cannot add capacity at the rate of new aircraft is coming in – so UA’s fleet utilization goes down. They have a bad case of FOMO so hold onto older and less fuel efficient widebodies even as they add CRJ 550s and 450s, the least cost efficient aircraft in the US airline fleet.
As I have said repeatedly, there are real and valid reasons why DL makes more money than UA even though UA flies more capacity and it has only partly to do with DL’s pricing strength in its hubs
DL’s pricing strength is clearly failing, their load factor went down while they increased prices and UA’s went up. Tim can you please just once look at actual data to support your conclusions?
we all know that you are paid UA cheerleaders but could you possibly look at the ENTIRE picture instead of cherrypicking out the tidbits that allow you to paint a narrative which no one in their right mind believes is accurate.
UA underperformed DL again.
They mix the cake differently but it is still flat and tasteless.
Some day you two will be able to admit that DL runs a better airline and a better business but until the day when you can admit that – or at least stop with your non-sensical rants, I will have a “job” to do.
By the way Timmy, I don’t disagree that Delta runs a better business than UA. Never have disagreed tbh, you just conflate airline with business whenever it suits you. Airlines suck as a business, UA is more purely an airline than Delta and so Delta benefits from its conglomeration. But I don’t fly on Delta’s refinery, don’t use its MRO business and don’t use an Amex Skymiles credit card so the only business I care about is their airline, which clearly underperformed UA this past quarter.
I should also clarify, I don’t own stock in either (maybe through index funds which would mean I’m more invested in DL than UA due to its market cap?), I don’t work for either, never have worked for either. I fly both of them regularly and I don’t hate DL’s product, I just find UAs to be better, I also think UA is doing more to win customers over whereas it feels like DL is just content with trying to charge people more for no additional value. I do live at a UA hub so I do fly them more but I’m usually just trying to find the best way to get to my destination for reasonable value.
Ah, yes – the usual arguments from Tim about why Delta posted better financials than United, and how Delta is a better airline as a result. And Tim may be 100% right – Delta MAY regularly produce better financial results via most common measurements.
And yet Tim forgets – on here, and all the other blogs he posts comments on, they all are focused on people who want to buy airline TICKETS instead of airline STOCKS. People don’t buy products because the parent company posted better quarterly results. They go to, and purchase from, businesses that provide them the best value proposition for the product (or experience) they wish to receive.
Don’t believe me? Here are some simple examples:
– The bank with the highest profit margin in 2025 was JPMorgan Chase. I think few would say they are the “best” bank, and that they provide the best customer experience. Smaller, locally owned banks regularly trounce Chase in customer satisfaction surveys, as to Credit Unions.
– The grocery store with the highest profit margin in 2025 was Sprouts. It is a fine store, but has a limited, focused product line and many items sold there are more expensive than the same product at other stores. It’s great for investors, but I doubt everyone would call Sprouts “best” for consumers. Or is everyone who buys food at Kroger, Publix, WalMart, Albertsons, Aldi, etc. misguided?
– How about phones? This comparison may be a little more fair to compare Delta to United et.al. Apple has the highest profit margin among phones, and it also has a loyal cadre of fans and dedicated users (and internet supporters who take great offense at any criticism). But there are plenty of quality Android phones from other makers, and when comparing specs (battery life, memory, processor speed) you either get less for the same price with Apple, or pay more to Apple to get the same as the competition. And Apple tends to live on it’s reputation rather than its current reality. So I believe the comparison to Delta really fits! Again – Apple is great for investors, but not so stellar for consumers.
Focus on the experience, not the financials. Yes, it matters that an airline is profitable. Spirit is a good example of why that’s necessary. But being “more profitable” doesn’t mean a “better” airline experience for consumers. Yep. Delta made money – but the idea that any other airline will not continue to challenge them for passengers, create growth, increase loyalty, etc. because they made a little less money is childish.