United Airlines of UAL Corp. (UAUA) Thursday reported a 2.6 point decline in passenger load factor for June, as traffic slipped 3.6% on a capacity decrease of 0.6%. The Chicago, Illinois-based company said load factor declined to 86.5% from 89.1%, while total scheduled revenue passenger miles or RPMs decreased to 10.344 billion from 10.726 billion. Available seat miles or ASMs for the month dropped to 11.965 billion from 12.033 billion.
Among others in the industry, Continental Airlines Inc. (CAL) reported Tuesday that traffic for June declined 0.1%, while passenger load factor fell by 2.1 points. However, capacity rose 2.5%.
Southwest Airlines Co. (LUV), a low-cost carrier, Tuesday reported 0.7% rise in traffic for the month of June as capacity improved 5.7%. However, the load factor, an industry measure of occupancy, slipped 3.9 points for the period.
Airlines world over are burdened with soaring fuel prices, while in the U.S. the situation is further aggravated by a decline in demand for travel due to a softening economy. In an effort to remain profitable, many airlines have grounded flights, reduced staff, formed alliances and increased fares.
United recently announced elimination of as many as 1,600 workers and grounding of 100 airplanes. United has also increased domestic fares up to $60 round trip to mitigate the impact of higher fuel prices.
Though negotiations for mergers have been active, opposition from labor unions and regulatory hurdles have been dampeners in this regard. Continental and United were in merger talks earlier, though the move was called off after UAL reported a huge first quarter loss.
United Thursday said traffic for North America declined 4.8% from last year, while the Pacific sector declined 7.8%. Atlantic reported traffic increase of 8.4%, whereas Latin America traffic declined 6.3%.
North America reported a decrease in capacity of 2.4% from last year, Pacific dropped 2.7% from June 2007 and capacity in the Latin America sector fell 5.1%. However, for the Atlantic sector, capacity rose 11.1%.
Passenger load factor for the second-biggest U.S. carrier declined from the previous year across all sectors. North American sector reported a decline of 2.2 points, the Pacific a drop of 4.5 points, Atlantic a decrease of 2.1 points, and for the Latin American sector, load factor slipped 1.1 points.
Year-to-date, capacity slipped 0.8%, traffic 3.8% and load factor 2.6 points.
Last month, United announced a framework agreement with Continental that would link their networks and services worldwide to create revenue opportunities and cost savings. In the domestic market, the two airlines plan to begin broad code-sharing, which can create itineraries using both carriers, as well as frequent Flier program, elite customer recognition and airport lounge reciprocity.
UAUA closed Thursday's regular trade at $3.86, down $0.15 or 3.74%, on 6.51 million shares. The stock gained 3 cents in the extended trade.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.