Fiji Times Friday 20 October 2017 UNITED Airlines on Wednesday said its third-quarter net income fell slightly less than investors had feared as the third-largest US carrier was hit by $185 million in pre-tax losses caused by cancelled flights during the Atlantic hurricane season.
Looking forward, it forecast a pre-tax margin of between 3 per cent and 5 per cent for the current quarter, a steep drop from 9.8 per cent a year ago, largely because of an increasingly competitive fare war in key markets against low-cost carriers Spirit Airlines Inc, Frontier Airlines and others.
United has acknowledged the short-term impact on profit from matching sharply discounted fares against its competitors, but has said it would continue matching until it could outpace low-cost rivals.
United’s shares hovered around the unchanged mark in after-hours trading. Read more…
