United Airlines (UAL) CEO Scott Kirby is all in on upgrading the flying experience on his airline as it aims to boost sales and profits at a time of sky-high fuel prices.
His focus: convenience, unleashing the power of AI, and, of course, great Wi-Fi.
“Instead of texting you and saying, ‘Oh, the weather in Newark tomorrow, be aware,’ we’re going to send you something that will say … ‘You’re on the noon flight to L.A., and we think it has a 41% chance of being delayed because of weather. If you want to switch to the 10:00 a.m., it’s a 12% chance.’ You just click one button to do it. AI enables stuff that I’ve wanted to do my whole career but was just so hard to get done. And AI makes it possible for us to do something like that,” Kirby said at Yahoo Finance Invest.
As for when travelers might see this feature rolled out, Kirby said, “I’m hoping we’re going to have it out at least in beta in time for Christmas for some flights.”
Beyond weather, United is looking at ways to have food ready and waiting as you get off the plane: “So actually one of the things that we’ve started doing … that eventually I hope to get everywhere, is if you’re on a tight connection, you can, from the seatback screen or the app, order food to be delivered to your gate,” Kirby said. “We’ve just started it. But we’re doing it in Newark and Houston for some flights. It’s just really cool. That’s the kind of stuff that’s exciting to me.”
Kirby added that SpaceX’s (SPCX) Starlink service is expected to be available on all United flights by the end of 2027.
Every enhancement is welcome for United as it tries to bounce back from a mixed third quarter, hurt in large part by soaring fuel costs.
Third quarter sales rose 17.4% from the prior year to $17.88 billion. Domestic and international passenger unit sales rose 14.5% and 17.4%, respectively. Passenger counts rose 2% from a year ago.
The company did warn, however, that fourth quarter profits would be in a range of $0.50 to $1.50. At the time, the Street expected $1.76.
“For United, this earnings season is the time to reset the bar for 2027, where consensus EPS of $12.32 looks too high given where fuel sits today. Again, United has proven its floor is higher in challenging environments, and the sequential improvement in unit revenue growth from 3Q to 4Q is encouraging. But airline stocks work best in a positive revisions cycle, which has been lacking in 2026. We continue to view United favorably, and if fuel remains here there will be further forced [change] in the industry that will solidify its position further,” Melius Research analyst Conor Cunningham said.
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Source: finance.yahoo.com
