United Airlines kicked off 2025 with a powerful performance, posting its best first-quarter financial results in five years. Despite a challenging economic climate, the airline delivered a record $13.2 billion in revenue, driven by robust growth across all major business segments.
United Announces Strong First Quarter Results
United reported $478 million in pre-tax earnings and a 3.6% pre-tax margin, alongside adjusted pre-tax earnings of $391 million. Diluted earnings per share came in at $1.16, with adjusted EPS at $0.91—both in line with the company’s earlier guidance. Total revenue per available seat mile (TRASM) was up 0.5% year-over-year. It’s 3.0% adjusted pre-tax margin leads all major U.S. airlines for Q1 2025.
The carrier’s diversified revenue streams showed impressive gains, including a 9.2% jump in premium cabin revenue, a 7.4% rise in business travel revenue, and a 7.6% increase in Basic Economy bookings. International demand remained strong, with Atlantic and Pacific RASM up 4.7% and 8.5%, respectively. Cargo and loyalty programs also posted solid year-over-year growth of 9.7% and 9.4%.
United credits the part of the growth to its ability to win brand loyal customers. It sees this as a competitive advantage that will keep the carrier resilient regardless of the economic climate.
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby had this to say about the carriers performance and position in the market:
“Our strategy coming out of the COVID pandemic was simple: Build the best airline in the world to attract brand-loyal customers. The people of United Airlines have executed and built that airline. United Next is on track and we will continue to execute our multiyear plan that has allowed United to thrive in any demand environment. It has given us industry-leading margins in the good times and we expect to expand our lead further in challenging economic times. Our ability to win brand-loyal customers and the resiliency of our business is a competitive advantage, and we are accelerating our investments in our product, service, technology and experience to further expand that lead.”
The economy is clearly something the airline is watching closely as it plans to trim domestic capacity by 4% beginning in Q3 2025. As part of the capacity cuts, United is adjusting fleet utilization to match demand. The airline plans to retire 21 aircraft earlier than scheduled and will reduce off-peak flying on lower demand days.
United is Making Improvements in Multiple Areas of Its Operation
In addition to posting strong financial results, United also made significant improvements in passenger experience, operations, and its network. The carrier posted its best first-quarter on-time performance since 2021. It also cut its cancellation rate in half while flying the most seat miles in its history.
On the passenger experience front, United returned my favorite onboard snack, the Daelmans Stroopwafel, and introduced Laurent-Perrier champagne in Polaris Business Class. The fleetwide rollout of Starlink Wi-Fi also began in Q1, as the first aircraft was outfitted with the service.
The airline is also investing in operational improvements, such as six new gates at Chicago O’Hare International Airport (ORD), an expansion at San Francisco International Airport (SFO), and the opening of a Tech Ops training facility at Houston’s George Bush Intercontinental Airport (IAH).
On the network side of things, United took delivery of its 1,000th mainline jet earlier this year, enabling a continued expansion of its route map. Service to Tel Aviv, Israel was restored with 2x daily service from New York/Newark (EWR) and extra flights were added for major events including the College Football Playoff, Super Bowl, and Mardi Gras.
Nowhere is the carrier’s growth and market position more apparent than in Chicago. Over the last ten years, United has put a sizeable gap between itself and American Airlines as the favored carrier for local traffic.
Overall, Scott Kirby appears to have the airline running on all cylinders and it is in hot pursuit of Delta when it comes to capturing premium market share (who would have thought we’d be saying this a few years ago).
Summary
United Airlines posted strong financial results in Q1 2025, beating all major U.S. airlines with an adjusted pre-tax margin of 3%, just edging out rival Delta. The airline is continuing to improve the customer experience by adding Starlink Wi-Fi and taking delivery of new aircraft.
Unfortunately, due to the market uncertainty, United plans to reduce capacity beginning in Q3 2025 and retire some aircraft earlier than originally planned. All in all, the airline is off to a hot start for 2025 but the outlook for the remainder of the year is murky.
