United has just gained another notch on its belt, becoming the world’s second business airline by passenger numbers in 2018.

The airline closely beat out Delta’s numbers last year (and dethroning them from the title that they have held since 2015), only being trumped by American Airlines.

How many passengers did United Airlines transport in 2018?

Straight up, the carrier flew 230.2 billion revenue passenger miles, five billion more miles than near competitor Delta. This is surprising as Delta actually just over 100 more jets than United, and yet United seemed to have used them far more efficiently.

They have done this through increasing their passenger capacity by up to 6% in 2018, adding in new routes, new jets, and new aircraft configurations. They also focused on key hub airports, adding routes to and from hubs like Denver, Houston, and Chicago.

“Our goal is not to be the biggest, we want to be the best and as we implement our strategy, we are looking to build on this momentum in 2019.” – Megan McCarthy, United Spokesperson told Bloomberg

This news mirrors the companies share price, that has risen 24% over the last year. Eight other comparable airlines on the American SP index lost value over the year.

Will their growth continue into 2019?

It is very likely that United will be able to stay competitive for this title in 2019. They have the following planned initiatives to keep the competition on their toes:

• United is launching another 22 new domestic routes and 11 regional jet routes.
• They are also adding new routes with their fleet of Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners (The largest capacity Dreamliner and a competitor to the Airbus A350)
• New international routes (for example the seven new routes out of San Fransisco).
• They are also considering the possibility of all business class flights across the Atlantic.

This position will drive passenger numbers and continue to make United a dominated player. However, Delta might have them beaten on regional networks, with their new fleet of Airbus A220 aircraft taking to the sky in 2019.

Naturally, this award is based on passenger numbers and not on actual service or quality customer experience. Additionally, it is not the award for profit (which will be revealed soon when airlines release their Q4 2018 results) which would be an indicator of how good a business they are. This is just a measure of how they gained the 2nd most passengers in the world.

It remains to be seen how the airline will do. What do you think? Let us know in the comments below!

Apple buys fifty business class seats on United Airlines from San Francisco (SFO) to Shanghai, China (PVG) each day, according to promotional banners for United that were shared on Twitter today by LAflyer.

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

Apple is United’s largest global account bringing in $150 million annually. It’s followed by Facebook, Roche, and Google at over $34 million and Deloitte, McKinsey Company, Cisco, Applied Materials, PWC, and Oracle at $12 million to $17 million. Intel, Visa, and Chevron have accounts worth over $10 million annually.

United says that its most important market for Apple is SFO – PVG. That route accounts for $35 million in annual revenue which is around 25% of Apple’s annual spend.

Primary Routes for Apple:
1. PVG (Shanghai, China)
2. HKG (Hong Kong)
3. TPE (Taoyuan, Taiwan)
4. LHR (Heathrow, London)
5. ICN (Incheon, Seoul, South Korea)
6. SIN (Changi, Singapore)
7. MUC (Munich, Germany)
8. HND (Haneda, Tokyo, Japan)
9. PEK (Beijing, China)
10. TLV (Tel Aviv, Israel)

Read More [via Alex]

A US-bound passenger flight made an emergency landing at Shannon Airport on Saturday after the crew declared a medical emergency over the Atlantic.

United Airlines flight UA-879 was about three hours into its journey from London to Houston, Texas when forced to turn around.

The flight was over the Atlantic about an hour south west of Ireland at the time.

There were 199 passengers and a crew of 14 on board.  

The flight crew made contact with controllers at the Irish Aviation Authority’s North Atlantic Communications Centre at Ballygirreen in Co Clare to inform them of their situation.

The crew confirmed they needed to dump aviation fuel to ensure the Boeing 777-200 jet touched down within safe landing weight limits.

Airport fire and rescue crews were standing by for the aircraft when it landed safely shortly after 3pm.

Ambulance paramedics and airport authorities were also waiting for the aircraft at the terminal.

The ill passenger was removed to University Hospital Limerick for treatment.

An airline spokesperson said: “United flight 879 (London Heathrow – Houston) diverted to Shannon Airport due to a medical emergency on board.

“The aircraft landed safely at 3.02 p.m. (local time). We apologise to our customers for the inconvenience caused.”

The flight continued to the US soon before 5.30pm.

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The Visa and United Airlines app, United MileagePlus X, is getting an upgrade, allowing members of the program the opportunity to earn awards miles on their everyday purchases, Visa announced on Thursday (Jan. 10).

The loyalty program inside the app, called United Visa Rewards, is powered by the Visa Commerce Network, Visa’s specific loyalty platform. It is available to United Chase Visa cardholders who live in the United States. Once they have enrolled their eligible card through the app, members can peruse all of the enhanced mileage-related offerings from different merchants in the program.

Everything happens in real time – once someone makes a qualifying purchase, they will get a notification inside the app. Members who enroll by March 31 can earn 1,000 miles by adding an eligible card.

The Visa Commerce Network, which was introduced in 2016, allows merchants to connect with customers online in in the app, increasing loyalty and pushing sales. Also, cardholders who use Uber can get rewards through Visa Local Offers with Uber, saving on upcoming rides when they dine or shop.

The Visa Commerce Network is available through commerce APIs developed on Visa’s network, the company said.

Honda also recently teamed up with Visa to offer a payment in the car program. Called the Honda Dream Drive prototype, it’s being billed as the “next generation of infotainment, commerce, services and rewards.”

In a press release on Tuesday (Jan. 8), Olabisi Boyle, vice president of IoT at Visa, said that “by continuing our partnership with Honda, a leader in automotive innovation, we are furthering the development of in-car commerce solutions that focus on security, safety and convenience for the driver. Combining Visa’s payment expertise and Honda’s expansive platform, we are one step closer to transforming the car into a new epicenter for commerce.”

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While it’s impacting our company to some degree, more importantly our customers, it’s also impacting others in the industry beyond TSA – you’ve got CBP, you’ve got FAA, you’ve got certification of aircraft across the industry. And then of course, there’s people beyond our industry that are also going to be affected.

CHICAGO, Jan. 10, 2019 /PRNewswire/ — Today, United Airlines is introducing the relaunch of the United MileagePlus X app, which offers United MileagePlus® members a unique opportunity to earn award miles for everyday purchases. The app has been refreshed to integrate additional programs to make it even easier for members to accumulate miles. Additionally, the app features the launch of United Visa Rewards with offers from merchants like Sam’s Club®, Wayfair®, and StubHub^TM, offering United^SM Chase Visa Cardmembers even more ways to earn miles.

App enhancements

• MileagePlus Dining^SM: The existing MileagePlus Dining program has been integrated into the MileagePlus X app. With seamless enrollment and showcasing nearby restaurants, members’ ability to choose where to dine and earn miles is now in the palm of their hand.
• MileagePlus Shopping: The longstanding shopping program is now available through the MileagePlus X app, and offers members the ability to shop and earn miles on the go at more than 900 retailers.
• United Visa Rewards: This new program is powered by Visa Commerce Network, which allows enrolled individuals to receive valuable offers within MileagePlus X thanks to the power of the Visa payments network. United Visa Rewards is available exclusively to United Chase Visa Cardmembers in the U.S. who are now able to enroll their eligible card into the program via the app. From there, they can view active enhanced mileage earning offers from participating merchants. Once program participants make a qualifying purchase with a participating merchant, they will receive a near real-time reward notification within the app. As a special launch offer, from now until March 31, 2019, United Chase Visa Cardmembers can earn 1,000 bonus award miles by simply enrolling their eligible credit card for the first time into the program.¹

“We are excited to launch the new MileagePlus X app, which allows MileagePlus members to earn and redeem award miles in real time for their everyday purchases at hundreds of merchants across the U.S, matching the increased benefits our United^SM Explorer Cardmembers received with the new credit card last summer,” said Luc Bondar, president of MileagePlus Holdings and vice president of loyalty at United Airlines. “As mobile payments become more commonplace, it was a natural tie for United to update the features, enable members to make purchases and earn and use miles on the go.”

“Visa and United have been working together for over 20 years,” said Terry Angelos, SVP, loyalty offers, Visa. “As digitally-savvy individuals continue to help shape the future of digital commerce, Visa continues to work with United and Chase to bring new ways to reward consumers for their loyalty. At the same time, participating merchants will benefit from Visa Commerce Network’s ability to deliver custom solutions that will help increase their customer base and loyalty, ultimately helping them continue to grow their business.”

Through the MileagePlus X app, members can purchase eGift Cards from hundreds of restaurants and retailers. One of the savviest ways to take advantage of this feature is to buy an eGift Card in the amount of the purchase price while at checkout at a participating merchant. In addition, primary United Chase Cardmembers earn a 25% bonus on miles earned from MileagePlus on eGift Card purchases made through the app. Customers can find eGift Cards from a variety of categories such as shopping, dining, transportation, lodging, music, and more.

About MileagePlus®

MileagePlus® is United’s industry-leading loyalty program. With a wide network of partners through which members may earn and redeem miles. MileagePlus members earn award miles by flying United, United Express, Star Alliance airlines or other airline partners, and by purchasing products or services from partners around the globe. Members enjoy a host of options for using those award miles, including award travel, hotel stays, car rentals and merchandise. For the 15th consecutive year, Global Traveler voted United’s MileagePlus® loyalty program the best overall frequent-flyer program in the world.

About United

United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,800 flights a day to 353 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 million customers. United is proud to have the world’s most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark/New York, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 770 mainline aircraft and the airline’s United Express carriers operate 559 regional aircraft. The airline is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 28 member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United’s parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “UAL”.

¹ Available to first time enrollees only

SOURCE United Airlines

Related Links

http://www.united.com

Schilhabel, a football coach, is paraplegic. As he told ABC7 in Chicago, he had already encountered problems when he and his wife were trying to make a connection at Chicago’s O’Hare airport, on their way to the Dominican Republic from Los Angeles.

United Continental Holdings’ (UAL – Free Report) wholly owned subsidiary, United Airlines, has yet again reported strong traffic figures. For December 2018, consolidated traffic — measured in revenue passenger miles (RPMs) — was 19.33 billion, up 6.9% from the year-ago figure.

Consolidated capacity (or available seat miles/ASMs) rose 6.4% on a year-over-year basis to 23.37 billion. Also, load factor (percentage of seats occupied by passengers) expanded 40 basis points (bps) to 82.7% as traffic growth outpaced capacity expansion. Notably, this is the carrier’s eighth consecutive month of load factor increase. The successive rise in load factor indicates the carrier’s efficiency and is a key catalyst for its profitability position.

Moreover, load factor climbed 120 bps at the end of 2018 with the carrier registering a 6.4% and 4.9% expansion in RPMS and ASMs, respectively.

Apart from solid traffic figures, the carrier’s expansion initiatives are encouraging. Last month, this Chicago, IL-based airline announced 11 new services from its hubs in Chicago, Houston, Los Angeles and Washington, DC. The carrier will begin weekend operations to Colorado, Florida and Oregon. Additionally, it will introduce daily flights to Nova Scotia effective Jun 6. (Read more: United Airlines to Offer Extra Services From Key Hubs)

United Continental Holdings, Inc. Price

United Continental Holdings, Inc. Price | United Continental Holdings, Inc. Quote

Zacks Rank Other Key Picks

United Continental holds a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). Some other top-ranked stocks in the same space are Azul SA (AZUL – Free Report) , Allegiant Travel Company (ALGT – Free Report) and Spirit Airlines, Inc. (SAVE – Free Report) , each flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Shares of Azul and Spirit Airlines have rallied more than 13% and 32%, respectively, in a year’s time. Meanwhile, Allegiant boasts an impressive earnings surprise history, having trumped the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters, the average beat being 18.7%.

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