United Airlines Sees Revenue Drop 87 Percent in Second Quarter

Washington (dpa) - United Airlines reported a second quarter net loss of 1.6 billion dollars, amid a drastic decline in passenger travel due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The company said this was "the most difficult financial quarter in its 94-year history."

The airline said it was averaging a cash burn of about 40 million dollars a day, but hopes to reduce this to 25 million dollars daily in the third quarter. United has cut capacity to match demand and lower its losses.

Revenue for the US airline dropped by 87.1 per cent, year-over-year, to just 1.48 billion dollars in the three months to the end of June.

The company has access to billions of dollars in loans from the US federal government that it has not yet tapped.

It is unclear when air travel capacity will rebound, amid continues fears over the pandemic.

A recent report by the trade association Airlines for America predicted that passenger volumes are unlikely to return to their 2019 levels before 2023.

Competitors Southwest and American Airlines will also report earnings this week.

Delta last week said it had a 93-per-cent decline in demand and revenue dropped by some 91 per cent, leaving the company with a quarterly loss of 5.7 billion dollars.

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