United Airlines has seen cargo revenue increase by 15.8 per cent in the first quarter of 2015 to $242 million, making up for the fall in the same period of 2014.

In the first quarter of 2014, cargo revenue had fallen by 7.9 per cent to $209 million from $227 million the previous year. Cargo revenue was down by 1.7 per cent year-on-year (YOY) in the second quarter of 2014, from $236 million to $232 million. Volumes recovered in the third quarter, increasing by 19.1 per cent YOY from $199 million to $237 million. Fourth quarter cargo revenue was up by 18.2 per cent from $220 million to $260 million. For the whole of 2014 it increased by 6.3 per cent to $938 million.

United chairman, president and chief executive officer, Jim Smisek, says: “We are making significant progress on our long-term plan to reduce costs, improve our margins and grow our earnings.” In the first quarter of 2015, United Airlines made a profit of $508 million, compared to a loss of $609 million in the same period of 2014. In the second quarter it made a profit of $789 million, followed by $924 million in the next period. 

In the fourth quarter it made a profit of $28 million. For 2014 as a whole, United Airlines made a profit of $1.1 billion. It will upgrade its fleet throughout 2015, which will include exchanging 10 Boeing 787 orders for Boeing 777-300 Extended Range for the beginning of 2016.

The airline will extend the life of 21 Boeing 767-300 Extended Range through investments including winglets and reliability improvements. It will move 10 Boeing 777-200 onto domestic routes and an undefined number of Boeing 757-200s into domestic and Latin American markets.