Full Transcript: United Airlines Holdings Q2 2026 Earnings Call

United Airlines Holdings (NASDAQ: UAL ) reported second-quarter financial results on Thursday.

The transcript from the company's second-quarter earnings call has been provided below.

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View the webcast at Summary United Airlines Holdings Inc reported a strong financial performance with a 16% increase in second quarter revenues, driven by robust demand and successful brand loyalty strategies.

The company adjusted its guidance to account for recent fuel price increases, impacting EPS by $1.12, but anticipates full recovery by Q4 if prices normalize.

Operationally, United achieved record passenger numbers and top-tier on-time performance, with significant improvements at its Newark hub.

Strategic initiatives include the accelerated rollout of free Starlink Wi-Fi, expected on 1,000 aircraft by year-end, and plans for fleet expansion with new aircraft models like the Max 10 and A321XLR.

Management expressed confidence in achieving double-digit pre-tax margins by 2027, citing structural changes in the industry and United's brand loyalty strategy as key factors.

Full Transcript Regina, OPERATOR Good morning and welcome to United Airlines Holdings earnings conference call for the second quarter 2026.

My name is Regina and I will be your conference facilitator today.

Following the initial remarks from management, we will open the lines for questions at that time.

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This call is being recorded and is copyrighted.

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I will now turn the presentation over to your host for today's call, Christina Edwards, Managing Director of Investor Relations.

Please go ahead.

Christina Edwards, Managing Director of Investor Relations Thank you, Regina.

Good morning everyone and welcome to United's second quarter 2026 earnings conference call.

Yesterday we issued our earnings release which is available on our website at ir.united.com.

Information in yesterday's release and the remarks made during this conference call may contain forward-looking statements which represent the Company's current expectations and are based upon information currently available to the company.

A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations.

Please refer to our Earnings Release Form 10-K & 10-Q and other reports filed with the SEC by United Airlines Holdings and United Airlines for a more thorough description of these factors.

Unless otherwise noted, we will be discussing our financial metrics on a non-GAAP basis on this call and historical operational metrics will exclude pandemic years of 2020-2022.

Please refer to the related definitions and reconciliations of these non-GAAP measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures at the end of our earnings release.

Joining us today to discuss our results and our outlook are our Chief Executive Officer Scott Kirby, President Brett Hart, Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer Andrew Nisella, and Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer Mike Luskinen.

We also have other members of the executive team on the line available for Q and A.

And now I'd like to turn the call over to Scott.

Scott Kirby, Chief Executive Officer Thank you, Christina, and good morning everyone.

I want to start by thanking the United team for staying focused on taking care of our customers and running a best-in-class airline and not letting the conflict in Iran distract from the consistent execution we've become accustomed to.

2026 is once again demonstrating the durability and strength of the United business model.

Our focus on building brand loyalty is evident in our strong top-line performance with second quarter revenues of 16%, recovering about half the increase in fuel price for the period.