United Airlines Reports December Mainline Traffic Results

CHICAGO, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Airlines today reported its preliminary mainline traffic results for December 2008. The company reported a December mainline passenger load factor of 79.9 percent. Total scheduled mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) decreased in December by 11.5 percent on a capacity decrease of 12.7 percent in scheduled mainline available seat miles (ASMs) compared with the same period in 2007.

About United

United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA) operates nearly 3,000* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 975 destinations in 162 countries worldwide. United's 52,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.

    *Based on United's flight schedule between October 2008 and October 2009.



                                      2008            2007           YOY
                                    December        December        Change

    MAINLINE SCHEDULED SERVICE
     ONLY:
    REVENUE MILES FLOWN (000)        52,837          62,048        -14.8%
    ACTUAL NUMBER OF DEPARTURES      37,210          43,801        -15.0%

    REVENUE PASSENGERS BOARDED (000)  4,658           5,129         -9.2%

    REVENUE PASSENGER MILES
     (000):
    NORTH AMERICA                 4,703,599       5,199,839         -9.5%
    PACIFIC                       1,812,297       2,231,540        -18.8%
    ATLANTIC                      1,343,633       1,453,423         -7.6%
    LATIN AMERICA                   344,903         381,277         -9.5%
    SYSTEM                        8,204,432       9,266,079        -11.5%

    AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000):
    NORTH AMERICA                 5,767,415       6,692,469        -13.8%
    PACIFIC                       2,358,522       2,813,484        -16.2%
    ATLANTIC                      1,680,861       1,756,285         -4.3%
    LATIN AMERICA                   457,056         499,715         -8.5%
    SYSTEM                       10,263,854      11,761,953        -12.7%

    PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
     (PERCENT):
    NORTH AMERICA                      81.6            77.7        3.9pts
    PACIFIC                            76.8            79.3       -2.5pts
    ATLANTIC                           79.9            82.8       -2.9pts
    LATIN AMERICA                      75.5            76.3       -0.8pts
    SYSTEM                             79.9            78.8        1.1pts

    CARGO TON MILES (000):
    FREIGHT                          95,703         141,625        -32.4%
    MAIL                             25,209          30,215        -16.6%
    SYSTEM                          120,912         171,840        -29.6%

    TOTAL MAINLINE SYSTEM
     INCLUDING CHARTER (000):
    REVENUE PASSENGER MILES       8,216,730       9,268,472        -11.3%

    AVAILABLE SEAT MILES         10,281,664      11,767,208        -12.6%

    REVENUE PSGR. KM.            13,223,184      14,915,752        -11.3%
    AVAILABLE SEAT KM.           16,546,282      18,936,968        -12.6%

    TOTAL REVENUE TON MILES         942,585       1,098,686        -14.2%
    TOTAL AVAIL. TON MILES        1,539,671       1,896,609        -18.8%

    TOTAL REV. TON KM.            1,366,618       1,593,303        -14.2%
    TOTAL AVAIL. TON KM.          2,247,920       2,769,049        -18.8%



                                 YEAR TO DATE    YEAR TO DATE        YOY
                                      2008            2007          Change

    MAINLINE SCHEDULED SERVICE
     ONLY:
    REVENUE MILES FLOWN (000)       714,026         754,870         -5.4%

    ACTUAL NUMBER OF DEPARTURES     509,635         550,438         -7.4%

    REVENUE PASSENGERS BOARDED
     (000)                           63,070          68,363         -7.7%

    REVENUE PASSENGER MILES
     (000):
    NORTH AMERICA                63,865,584      69,853,107         -8.6%
    PACIFIC                      23,837,043      26,431,222         -9.8%
    ATLANTIC                     18,289,889      17,058,375          7.2%
    LATIN AMERICA                 3,810,642       4,032,742         -5.5%
    SYSTEM                      109,803,158     117,375,446         -6.5%

    AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000):
    NORTH AMERICA                77,328,074      83,915,989         -7.9%
    PACIFIC                      30,750,862      32,462,745         -5.3%
    ATLANTIC                     22,483,420      20,389,876         10.3%
    LATIN AMERICA                 4,918,243       5,059,031         -2.8%
    SYSTEM                      135,480,599     141,827,641         -4.5%

    PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR
     (PERCENT):
    NORTH AMERICA                      82.6            83.2       -0.6pts
    PACIFIC                            77.5            81.4       -3.9pts
    ATLANTIC                           81.3            83.7       -2.4pts
    LATIN AMERICA                      77.5            79.7       -2.2pts
    SYSTEM                             81.0            82.8       -1.8pts

    CARGO TON MILES (000):
    FREIGHT                       1,646,320       1,780,944         -7.6%
    MAIL                            274,839         230,894         19.0%
    SYSTEM                        1,921,159       2,011,838         -4.5%

    TOTAL MAINLINE SYSTEM
     INCLUDING CHARTER (000):
    REVENUE PASSENGER MILES     110,060,717     117,398,638         -6.3%

    AVAILABLE SEAT MILES        135,860,327     141,889,743         -4.3%

    REVENUE PSGR. KM.           177,120,712     188,929,628         -6.3%
    AVAILABLE SEAT KM.          218,640,024     228,343,163         -4.3%

    TOTAL REVENUE TON MILES      12,927,232      13,751,679         -6.0%
    TOTAL AVAIL. TON MILES       21,849,279      22,744,094         -3.9%

    TOTAL REV. TON KM.           18,745,756      19,940,949         -6.0%
    TOTAL AVAIL. TON KM.         31,899,947      33,206,377         -3.9%