UAL Reports Improved Loss for February
UAL Corporation, the holding company whose
primary subsidiary is United Airlines, today filed its February Monthly
Operating Report (MOR) with the United States Bankruptcy Court. The
company reported a loss from operations of $112 million, which represents
an improvement of approximately $195 million over February 2003. Mainline
passenger unit revenue improved 12% year-over-year, well ahead of the
industry average. The company reported a net loss of $259 million,
including $119 million in reorganization expenses. The majority of
reorganization expenses were non-cash items resulting from the rejection
of aircraft as the company aligns its fleet with the market. UAL met the
requirements of its debtor-in-possession (DIP) financing, including its
trailing 12-month EBITDAR (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation
amortization and aircraft rent) covenants, for the thirteenth straight
month. “United continues to make steady progress in our restructuring,” said Jake
Brace, United’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “Our
unit revenue was up 12%, our mainline unit costs for February improved 14%
year-over-year, and we improved our cash position in February by more than
$200 million, resulting in positive cash flow of $7 million a day.”
UAL ended February with a cash balance of about $2.5 billion, which
included $654 million in restricted cash (filing entities only). The cash
balance increased $205 million during the month of February.
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