ELK GROVE VILLAGE, Ill. (AP) - United Airlines' parent company said Thursday it lost $124 million in April, citing higher fuel costs and bankruptcy reorganization expenses.
UAL Corp., which reports results monthly to federal bankruptcy court, has lost more than $1.3 billion in the first four months of 2005 and $6 billion since entering Chapter 11 bankruptcy in December 2002.
The company said it had a $47 million operating loss for April, improved from a $75 million loss a year earlier despite $91 million more in fuel expenses. Reorganization costs totaled $28 million, and mainline unit costs rose 7 percent because of soaring fuel prices.
Passenger revenue increased 7 percent over a year earlier, helping UAL boost its cash balance by $102 million to a total of $2.4 billion.
''Given the challenge of high fuel prices, our success lowering non-fuel unit expenses, increasing unit revenue and building our cash balance is encouraging,'' Chief Financial Officer Jake Brace said.
He added that this week's labor deals with machinists and mechanics marked ''a significant milestone for United, as we now have in place consensual cost-savings agreements with all of our six union groups after a great deal of hard work.''
