(Bloomberg) — United Continental Holdings Inc. surged more than 6 percent in early trading after crushing Wall Street earnings estimates and saying its financial momentum from last year will carry over into 2019.

Adjusted profit is set to increase again this year, United said in a statement late Tuesday, as the airline enters the second year of an aggressive expansion plan. Revenue for each seat flown a mile, a pricing-power gauge also known as unit revenue, will extend recent gains with a 3 percent increase this quarter, although a percentage point of that is at risk from the U.S. government shutdown, United said.

The Chicago-based carrier sounded its upbeat note after Delta Air Lines Inc. and American Airlines Group Inc. raised doubts earlier this month about their ability to push fares higher. United began a drive last year to win back market share at key airports, and the effort paid off as it surpassed Delta as the No. 2 U.S. carrier by traffic, trailing only American.

“Overall the guidance is encouraging as revenue growth continues into 2019 despite Easter moving to the second quarter and a weaker macro environment in certain international markets,” Cowen Co. analyst Helane Becker said in a note to clients. “The company did a great job executing their strategic plan in 2018.”

The shares jumped 6.2 percent to $86.20 before the start of regular trading Wednesday in New York. United climbed 24 percent in 2018, the only advance among major U.S. carriers. Even after that advance, however, Delta remains the world’s most valuable airline, with a market value of $32.8 billion. United trails in that measure by more than $10 billion.

Boeing Order

United also disclosed orders for two dozen more Boeing Co. 737 Max single-aisle aircraft and four 777-300ER wide-body jetliners. Based on list prices, the deal would be valued at more than $4 billion depending on which variant of 737 Max the airline is taking, which United didn’t specify. As of Sept. 30, United had firm orders for 154 Max aircraft, mostly for the largest Max 10 model.

United’s adjusted fourth-quarter earnings rose to $2.41 a share, compared with the $2.05 average of analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales increased 11 percent to $10.5 billion, compared with the $10.3 billion that Wall Street expected.

For last year as a whole, adjusted earnings rose to $9.13 a share, easily exceeding the $8.78 average of analyst estimates. This year, United said it expects to earn $10 to $12 a share, compared with analysts’ forecast of $10.99. By 2020, the company has told investors it will earn as much as $13 a share.

Boosting Hubs

To bolster profit, United began an ambitious three-year expansion program a year ago to regain what it considers its “natural share” of travelers at three mid-continent hubs: Chicago, Denver and Houston. United has reworked its flight schedules in Chicago and Houston and plans to begin flying its adjustments at Denver next month. The changes are designed to increase higher-yield connecting traffic.

Beyond its hub revamp, United has focused on improving schedule reliability, as well as customer-service training for flight attendants and other employees who interact with travelers. United also moved to a redesigned revenue-management system last year, which has improved the airline’s ability to forecast seat demand and boost profits.

Capacity Expansion

United said its first-quarter seating capacity would climb as much as 6 percent, in line with the long-term growth goals it unveiled a year ago.

For unit revenue, Delta forecast a first-quarter gain of no more than 2 percent, including the impact of the government shutdown. American is expected to issue its outlook when it reports earnings next week.

The closing of large swaths of the federal government is exacerbating fears of weaker U.S. economic growth this year, putting airline earnings at risk. United has a hub at Washington-Dulles, the capital’s main international airport. The government’s partial shutdown costs $50 million per day in direct domestic travel spending, the U.S. Travel Association said in a blog post last week.

To contact the reporter on this story: Justin Bachman in Dallas at jbachman2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brendan Case at bcase4@bloomberg.net, Tony Robinson, Cecile Daurat

For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.com

©2019 Bloomberg L.P.

Leaked data on United Airlines’ top corporate clients shows Apple books 50 business class seats EVERY DAY between San Francisco and Shanghai

• A poster was displayed in an employee-only area of San Francisco Airport
• A picture of it was taken and leaked on to Twitter by an airline blogger 
• It revealed that United’s biggest clients are Apple, Facebook and Google 
• The poster also revealed that Apple spends $150m with the airline each year 

By

Jennifer Newton for MailOnline

Published:
06:43 EST, 15 January 2019

|
Updated:
12:13 EST, 15 January 2019

Confidential information about United Airlines’ top corporate clients has been leaked on to the internet.

A blogger posted a picture of a promotional poster created by the airline that showed that Apple is its biggest corporate customer, with the tech giant booking a staggering 50 business class seats a day on its No1 route alone – San Francisco to Shanghai. These usually cost around $2,500 (£2,000).

The US-based carrier revealed that Apple spends $150million (£115million) each year on flights, with San Francisco to Shanghai accounting for $35million (£27million), or 25 per cent, of the tech company’s spend with the airline.

A blogger posted this picture of a promotional poster created by United Airlines that revealed who its top corporate clients are

The poster, which was displayed in an employee-only area of San Francisco Airport and posted to Twitter by blogger @LAFlyr, went on to list the top 10 ‘primary routes for Apple’.

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United Airlines has released a statement following the circulation of a tweet that showed Apple as its largest account, spending $150 million on flights every single year.

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In a statement to Kif Leswing, United Airlines said that the information was displayed as part of a (intended to be) private project that has since been discontinued.

United Airlines comment on the Apple sign pic.twitter.com/7njURPxz3j

— kif (@kifleswing) January 14, 2019

United said it contacted the companies featured in the banner and is ‘working to address their concerns’. Translation: Apple wasn’t very happy that this information leaked out.

The banner showed that Apple spends $150 million annually with United, primarily with flights between San Francisco International and Shanghai Pudong airports.

It said that Apple buys 50 business class seats every single day, presumably to transport members of Apple engineering and manufacturing to visit production facilities in China.

Image shared by LAflyer

Big companies don’t like details like this being public knowledge, even if there isn’t anything too sensational about a big corporation buying a lot of flights for its employees.

United was aware of this from the outset of course, but they were still a bit sloppy in even revealing these details to a private group. If you look closely at the banners, the small text at the bottom reads ‘This is confidential information. Please do not share outside of United’. Clearly, this direction was not respected by whoever took the photo.

Today’s statement from United says that they will ‘further restrict sharing of internal customer information’ in the future.

Check out 9to5Mac on YouTube for more Apple news:

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Sidley represented United Airlines on the transaction

United execued its $456 million loan agreement to an affiliate of Synergy Group Corp. and Avianca Holdings, S.A.

United Airlines, Inc. provides air transportation services in North America, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Latin America.

Sidley represented United Airlines with Kevin Lewis (Picture) and included Anna Ha, Eduardo Marquez (MA), Alan Gabbay and John Bonacum (Global Finance).

Involved fees earner: John Bonacum – Sidley Austin LLP; Alan Gabbay – Sidley Austin LLP; Anna Ha – Sidley Austin LLP; Kevin Lewis – Sidley Austin LLP; Eduardo Marquez Certucha – Sidley Austin LLP;

Law Firms: Sidley Austin LLP;

Clients: United Airlines;

United Airlines has opened its United Polaris business class lounge at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) in the US.

Located in Terminal 7 between Gates 73 and 75A, the lounge imitates the distinct culture of Southern California and offers a host of food and beverages to member passengers.

The new lounge is said to be United’s most recent investment at LAX after it recently completed a $573m renovation of Terminal 7.

United Airlines California president Janet Lamkin said: “Los Angeles is one of United’s most important gateways, particularly to Asia and Australia, and this lounge provides our customers with a best-in-class experience before they board their flights, especially for those customers with late-night departures and early-morning arrivals.

“We continue to expand our presence in Los Angeles, connecting customers from all over California and the US to our global network. The addition of the United Polaris lounge is yet another way we provide customers with the best possible travel experience at LAX.”

United Polaris lounge at LAX is spread across 12,000ft² and features 140 seats with a range of seating areas for productivity, privacy and dining.

The lounge also features shower suites with rainfall showerheads as well as private daybeds outfitted with Saks Fifth Avenue bedding.

The new lounge joins other United Polaris lounges located at Chicago O’Hare Airport, George Bush Intercontinental in Houston, Newark Liberty Airport and San Francisco Airport.

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• Apple buys 50 business class flights every day from San Francisco to Shanghai, China, spending over $150 million per year on United Airlines. 
• That’s according to a photo of a “confidential” United sign posted to Twitter. 
• Apple needs to fly its employees to Asia in order to keep an eye on its electronics supply chain. 

There are some frequent flyer miles stacking up in Cupertino.

The iPhone giant spends $150 million on a single airline per year, according to a photo of a United promotional sign posted to Twitter by LAflyer.

Apple spends so much money flying its employees to China, where most of its products are manufactured, that it buys 50 business class seats daily from San Francisco to Shanghai, according to the sign.

Shanghai is a logical connection to Zhengzhou and Shenzen, which have been called “iPhone Cities” for the amount of electronics hardware manufacturing that takes place there.  

Apple also flies a lot of people to Hong Kong, and Taiwan Yaouyuan International Airport, presumably to stay close to its supply chain. Former Apple engineers have said that frequent travel to China is one of the defining features of some hardware roles at Apple. 

The top non-manufacturing destination for Apple is London.

The sign also revealed other top United clients, although they don’t spend as much as Apple. Facebook, Roche, and Google all spend over $34 million on United flights per year, according to the sign. 

One Apple employee who is not flying United is CEO Tim Cook, who flies private at the request of Apple’s board. Cook spent $294,082 on private air travel in 2018, according to a recent SEC filing. 

Neither United nor LAflyer immediately returned a requests for comment, but that shouldn’t be surprising given the sensitivity of this information. At the bottom of the poster, small text says that it is “confidential information” and shouldn’t be shared outside United. 

See Also:

• Tim Cook made over $136 million in total compensation in 2018, including a $12 million bonus
• Apple charges a ton of money for built-in storage — here’s how to get around it
• A hidden trick for turning your iPhone and AirPods into a spy microphone is going viral. Here’s what the feature is really about.

A venture of United Airlines plans to buy ExpressJet Airlines from SkyWest for $70 million in cash.

As part of the definitive agreement announced Tuesday, SkyWest will continue to own the Bombadier regional jets currently in service at ExpressJet and will lease 20 of of the CJR200 aircraft to ExpressJet for up to five years.

SkyWest and ExpressJet operate through partnerships with United and other carriers. Both regional carriers fly some flights under the United Express name.

SkyWest’s transaction with ManaAir, a company in which United Airlines has a minority interest, is expected to close in early 2019. The deal also includes ManaAir assuming ExpressJet’s liabilities.

Shortly after takeoff, the flight from Spokane, Wa., to Denver experienced the collision and “safely diverted” to Seattle.

United Airlines is displaying some very interesting promotional banners at its terminal at San Francisco International. LAFlyer shared a photo of the banners on Twitter a couple of days ago.

According to one of the banners, Apple is the airlines’ largest global account and contributes $150 million to United’s annual revenue.

Yes, $150 million annually.

Curious who are @United largest global corporate accounts? @Apple is in the top spot and contributes very much to success of SFO international flying especially the Shanghai service #UnitedAirlines #United #Apple #SFO #PVG #Shanghai #China pic.twitter.com/HNvIrz8wDg

— LAflyer (@LAflyr) January 11, 2019

San Francisco to Shanghai

The number one route for Apple is San Francisco (SFO) to Shanghai Pudong International Airport (PVG). As a matter of fact, Apple spends $35 million a year just on this route. This is roughly 25% of its annual spending with United. Amazingly, Apple purchases 50 business class seats for this route every day. It is not quite clear, however, if the tech giant buys 50 seats in total for both directions or 50 seats in each direction. Nevertheless, it is an astounding number.

Let’s take a closer look at these numbers. When we divide $35 million by 365 by 50, we get a cost of roughly $1,900 per ticket. This price seems very low at first. Nonetheless, a quick search on United’s website reveals that round-trip business class tickets from SFO to PVG are available for as little as $2,700. Is Apple getting a good deal, or is the company paying more for its seats? I would assume that the tech giant gets preferred pricing and pays $1,900 a round-trip ticket. However, there is no way for us to tell with the information provided.

It would also be interesting to know how many of the seats Apple is actually using. Is it really using all of the seats on a daily basis, or is it paying for them no matter if they are occupied or not?

United offers two daily flights between San Francisco and Shanghai. The flights are operated on a Boeing 787-8 and a Boeing 787-9. According to United’s seat maps, there are 36 business class seats on a 787-8 and 48 business class seats on a 787-9. Based on this information, we are looking at a total of 84 business class seats offered in each direction each day.

Even if we assume that Apple’s 50 seats a day are the total for both directions, this means that Apple occupies almost one-third of United’s business class seats between San Francisco and Shanghai. This is definitely quite a bit.

Apple’s Primary Destinations

Apple’s headquarters are located about 30 miles from SFO, so it makes perfect sense that the tech giant uses this airport for most of its flights.

Anyway, here is the list of Apple’s primary destinations:

• PVG – Shanghai
• HKG – Hong Kong
• TPE – Taipei
• LHR – London
• ICN – Seoul
• SIN – Singapore
• MUC – Munich
• HND – Tokyo
• PEK – Beijing
• TLV – Tel Aviv

Other Large Accounts

Corporate accounts are very important for the airlines, and, apparently, United has other large accounts in the Bay Area as well. Even though they contribute less to United’s annual revenue combined than Apple does by itself, Facebook, Roche, and Google spend over $34 million each a year making them number 2. Deloitte, McKinsey Company, Cisco, Applied Materials, PwC, and Oracle come in behind them with $12 million to $17 million a year followed by Intel, Visa, and Chevron with over $10 million a year. Still not too shabby.

Although the banners were made to promote United Airlines and convince people to “fly California’s global airline,” they provide interesting information about the amount of money large corporations spend on air travel every year.

Did you expect these companies to spend this much on air travel?