United Airlines posts $1.9 billion loss in pandemic-laden 4Q
United Airlines lost $1.9 billion in the last three months of 2020, but the airline says it’s laying the groundwork for a gradual recovery after the coronavirus outbreak is containedBy DAVID KOENIG AP Airlines WriterJanuary 20, 2021, 11:35 PM• 3 min readUnited Airlines said Wednesday that it finished one of the worst years in its history by losing $1.9 billion in the last three months of 2020, and it predicted more of the same in the first quarter of this year.The loss was wider than analysts expected. The number of U.S. airline passengers had been building slowly since May but was hammered again when COVID-19 cases began surging in the fall, causing health experts to beg people to stay home.United lost $7.1 billion in 2020, an amount exceeded only in 2005, when bankruptcy-related costs pushed the company to a $21 billion loss. Including debt and severance payments, the airline burned through $33 million in cash per day.Revenue plunged 69% in the fourth quarter compared with a year earlier. United predicted a similar decrease — between 65% and 70% — in the first quarter of 2021, a slightly more pessimistic view than the one expressed by Delta Air Lines last week.Analysts
