United Airlines has reported second-quarter 2014 net income of $919 million, an increase of 51 per cent year-over-year, or $2.34 per diluted share, excluding $130 million of special items.

Including special items, UAL reported second-quarter 2014 net income of $789 million, or $2.01 per diluted share.

United’s consolidated passenger revenue per available seat mile increased 3.7 per cent in the second quarter of 2014 compared to the second quarter of 2013.

“I am encouraged by the solid progress we made in the second quarter.

“Our team is focused on improving our operations and service and on continuing to improve year-over-year revenue performance and cost control,” said Jeff Smisek, UAL’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.

“The $1 billion share repurchase program we announced today demonstrates our progress and commitment to increasing value for our shareholders and the confidence we have in our plan.”

For the second quarter of 2014, total revenue was $10.3 billion, an increase of 3.3 percent year-over-year.

Second-quarter consolidated passenger revenue increased 3.6 per cent to $9.0 billion, compared to the same period in 2013.

Ancillary revenue per passenger in the second quarter increased 7.9 per cent year-over-year to more than $21 per passenger.

Second-quarter cargo revenue decreased 1.7 per cent versus the second quarter of 2013 to $232 million.

Other revenue in the second quarter increased 1.7 per cent year-over-year to $1.1 billion.

Consolidated revenue passenger miles increased 0.6 per cent and consolidated available seat miles decreased 0.1 per cent year-over-year for the second quarter, resulting in a second-quarter consolidated load factor of 85.3 per cent.

Second-quarter 2014 consolidated PRASM increased 3.7 per cent and consolidated yield increased three per cent compared to the second quarter of 2013.

The company’s consolidated domestic PRASM, including both mainline and regional flying, increased 5.6 per cent year-over-year.

“We are beginning to see the benefits of the changes we’re implementing to our network and revenue management processes,” said Jim Compton, UAL’s vice chairman and chief revenue officer.

“We have more work to do, however, and will continue to make the appropriate adjustments to accelerate our revenue growth.”