UAL on Nasdaq

United Airlines

Logo: United Airlines, Inc., Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons⁵

Airline of the United States

United Airlines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Illinois.³ From Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0

$101.55 up 2.59 (2.62%)Price as of Oct 15, 2026 at 19:45 UTC

Last updated Oct 16, 2026.

Overview

Apr 6, 1926Founded¹

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TickerUAL on Nasdaq¹
Industryair transport¹
HeadquartersChicago¹
Founded inBoise¹
Websitewww.united.com
Legal formlimited company¹

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United Airlines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It operates an extensive domestic and international route network across the United States and to destinations on six continents. Regional service is provided by independent carriers operating under the United Express brand, and the Star Alliance, of which United was one of the five founding airlines, extends its network throughout the world.³

Financials

From the company’s reports to the SEC. Every number links to the filing it came from.

Key numbers, fiscal 2025

8.0%Operating margin⁸

5.7%Net margin⁸

3.5%Revenue growth, 2025⁸

21.9%Return on equity⁸

1.12×Debt to equity⁸

What sells

Revenue by product, business segment and region, as the company reports it to the SEC.

Products and services

Passenger brought in 84% of the revenue United Airlines broke down this way in fiscal 2025.

Passenger$53.4B⁸84%up 3% from 2024
Passenger, Ancillary Fees$4.8B⁸8%up 7% from 2024
Product and Service, Other$3.9B⁸6%up 10% from 2024
Cargo and Freight$1.8B⁸3%up 2% from 2024

Products and services by year

Products and services	2023	2024	2025
Passenger	$49.0B	$51.8B	$53.4B
Passenger, Ancillary Fees	$4.1B	$4.5B	$4.8B
Product and Service, Other	$3.2B	$3.5B	$3.9B
Cargo and Freight	$1.5B	$1.7B	$1.8B

Where the money goes

Where each dollar of revenue went, fiscal 2025

Other costs

Other costs93¢$54.8B
Income tax2¢$953.0M
Profit6¢$3.4B

Out of $59.1B in revenue.⁸

Where each dollar of operating cash went, fiscal 2025

Kept or used elsewhere

Share buybacks8¢$637.0M
Kept or used elsewhere92¢$7.8B

Out of $8.4B of cash from operations.⁸

Financial statements

Revenue⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$59.1B in 2025+37% since 2019

Operating income⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$4.7B in 2025+10% since 2019

Net income⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$3.4B in 2025+11% since 2019

Every line of the income statement in the latest annual report, as filed.⁸

Period ending	2025-12-31	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Total operating revenue	$59.1B	$57.1B	$53.7B
Salaries and related costs	$17.6B	$16.7B	$14.8B
Aircraft fuel	$11.4B	$11.8B	$12.7B
Landing fees and other rent	$3.8B	$3.4B	$3.1B
Aircraft maintenance materials and outside repairs	$3.3B	$3.1B	$2.7B
Depreciation and amortization	$2.9B	$2.9B	$2.7B
Regional capacity purchase	$2.7B	$2.5B	$2.4B
Distribution expenses	$2.1B	$2.2B	$2.0B
Aircraft rent	$252.0M	$193.0M	$197.0M
Special charges	$259.0M	$112.0M	$949.0M
Other operating expenses	$9.9B	$9.1B	$8.1B
Total operating expense	$54.4B	$52.0B	$49.5B
Operating income	$4.7B	$5.1B	$4.2B
Interest expense	-$1.4B	-$1.6B	-$2.0B
Interest income	$611.0M	$726.0M	$827.0M
Interest capitalized	$206.0M	$227.0M	$182.0M
Unrealized gains (losses) on investments, net	$4.0M	-$199.0M	$27.0M
Miscellaneous, net	$144.0M	-$53.0M	$96.0M
Total nonoperating expense, net	-$408.0M	-$928.0M	-$824.0M
Income before income taxes	$4.3B	$4.2B	$3.4B
Total Income Tax Expense	$953.0M	$1.0B	$769.0M
Net income	$3.4B	$3.1B	$2.6B
Earnings per share, basic (in dollars per share)	$10.32	$9.58	$7.98
Earnings per share, diluted (in dollars per share)	$10.20	$9.45	$7.89

Total assets¹⁵⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$76.4B in 2025+45% since 2019

Shareholders’ equity¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$15.3B in 2025+33% since 2019

Cash⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$5.9B in 2025+115% since 2019

Long-term debt¹⁵⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$17.2B in 2025+31% since 2019

Every line of the balance sheet in the latest annual report, as filed.⁸

Period ending	2025-12-31	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Cash and cash equivalents	$5.9B	$8.8B	$6.1B
Short-term investments	$6.3B	$5.7B
Receivables, net	$2.4B	$2.2B
Aircraft fuel, spare parts and supplies, net	$1.6B	$1.6B
Prepaid expenses and other	$671.0M	$673.0M
Total current assets	$16.9B	$18.9B
Operating property and equipment, net	$46.1B	$42.9B
Operating lease right-of-use assets	$5.0B	$3.8B
Goodwill	$4.5B	$4.5B
Intangible assets, net	$2.7B	$2.7B
Investments in affiliates and other, net	$1.3B	$1.3B
Total noncurrent assets	$59.6B	$55.2B
Total assets	$76.4B	$74.1B
Accounts payable	$4.6B	$4.2B
Accrued salaries and benefits	$3.9B	$3.3B
Advance ticket sales	$8.1B	$7.6B
Frequent flyer deferred revenue	$3.7B	$3.4B
Current maturities of long-term debt, finance leases, and other financial liabilities	$4.4B	$3.5B
Current maturities of operating leases	$631.0M	$467.0M
Other	$757.0M	$948.0M
Total current liabilities	$26.1B	$23.3B
Long-term debt, finance leases, and other financial liabilities	$20.6B	$25.2B
Long-term obligations under operating leases	$5.4B	$4.5B
Frequent flyer deferred revenue	$4.1B	$4.0B
Pension and postretirement benefit liability	$1.1B	$1.2B
Deferred income taxes	$2.5B	$1.6B
Other	$1.5B	$1.5B
Total noncurrent liabilities	$35.0B	$38.1B
Preferred stock	$0	$0
Common stock at par, $0.01 par value; authorized 1,000,000,000 shares; outstanding 323,470,682 and 327,899,771 shares at December 31, 2025 and 2024, respectively	$4.0M	$4.0M
Additional capital invested	$8.9B	$9.0B
Stock held in treasury, at cost	-$3.8B	-$3.4B
Retained earnings	$10.1B	$6.9B
Accumulated other comprehensive income	$48.0M	$188.0M
Total stockholders' equity	$15.3B	$12.7B	$9.3B
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity	$76.4B	$74.1B
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$0.01	$0.01
Common shares, authorized (in shares)	1.0B shares	1.0B shares
Common shares, issued (in shares)	323.5M shares	327.9M shares
Common shares, outstanding (in shares)	323.5M shares	327.9M shares

Cash from operations⁹¹⁰¹¹¹²⁸$8.4B in 2025+22% since 2019

Share buybacks⁹¹⁰¹²⁸$637.0M in 2025−61% since 2019

Every line of the cash flow in the latest annual report, as filed.⁸

Period ending	2025-12-31	2024-12-31	2023-12-31
Net income	$3.4B	$3.1B	$2.6B
Deferred income tax	$925.0M	$935.0M	$756.0M
Depreciation and amortization	$2.9B	$2.9B	$2.7B
Operating and non-operating special charges, non-cash portion	$13.0M	$158.0M	$84.0M
Unrealized (gains) losses on investments	-$4.0M	$199.0M	-$27.0M
Amortization of debt discount and debt issuance costs	$77.0M	$166.0M	$139.0M
Other operating activities	-$62.0M	$9.0M	$6.0M
(Increase) decrease in receivables	-$297.0M	$280.0M	-$100.0M
Increase in prepaids and other assets	-$264.0M	-$166.0M	-$463.0M
Increase (decrease) in advance ticket sales	$570.0M	$857.0M	-$851.0M
Increase in frequent flyer deferred revenue	$336.0M	$298.0M	$468.0M
Increase in accounts payable	$674.0M	$178.0M	$572.0M
Increase in other liabilities	$171.0M	$454.0M	$1.0B
Net cash provided by operating activities	$8.4B	$9.4B	$6.9B
Capital expenditures, net of flight equipment purchase deposit returns	-$5.9B	-$5.6B	-$7.2B
Purchases of short-term and other investments	-$7.8B	-$5.8B	-$9.5B
Proceeds from sale of short-term and other investments	$7.3B	$8.7B	$10.5B
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment	$98.0M	$109.0M	$39.0M
Other, net	-$96.0M	$3.0M	-$23.0M
Net cash used in investing activities	-$6.3B	-$2.7B	-$6.1B
Proceeds from issuance of debt and other financial liabilities, net of discounts and fees	$578.0M	$6.1B	$2.4B
Payments of long-term debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities	-$4.8B	-$10.1B	-$4.2B
Repurchases of common stock	-$637.0M	-$162.0M	$0
Other, net	-$115.0M	-$21.0M	-$32.0M
Net cash used in financing activities	-$4.9B	-$4.2B	-$1.9B
Net increase (decrease) in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash	-$2.9B	$2.6B	-$1.1B
Right-of-use assets acquired or modified through operating leases	$1.9B	$625.0M	$761.0M
Property and equipment acquired through the issuance or modification of debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities	-$25.0M	$409.0M	$819.0M
Operating leases converted to finance leases	$417.0M	$239.0M	$295.0M
Investment interests received in exchange for loans, goods and services	$45.0M	$24.0M	$33.0M
Interest	$1.3B	$1.5B	$1.8B
Income taxes	$62.0M	$88.0M	$7.0M

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The story

Founded by Walter Varney on Apr 6, 1926, in Boise.¹

Leadership

Who has led United Airlines, and when. Pick a name to see everywhere that person has worked.

Chief executive

197019801990200020102020

FounderWalter Varney¹
Chief executive officerScott Kirby 2020 to now¹
Chief executive officerScott Kirby Aug 2016 to now¹
Chief executive officerOscar Munoz Sep 8, 2015 to 2020¹
Chief executive officerJeff Smisek 2012 to Sep 8, 2015¹
Chief executive officerGlenn Tilton 2002 to 2012¹
Chief executive officerJohn W. Creighton, Jr. 2001 to 2002¹
Chief executive officerStephen M. Wolf 1987 to 1994¹
Chief executive officerRichard J. Ferris 1979 to Jun 1987¹
Chief executive officerEdward Carlson 1971 to 1979¹
Chief executive officerWilliam A. Patterson 1934 to 1966¹
Chief executive officerPhilip G. Johnson until 1934¹

Products and brands

Network

Destinations

As of 2026, United Airlines flies (or has flown) to the following destinations. This table does not include destinations served by United's regional subsidiary, United Express.

Hubs

As of 2026, United operates eight hubs:

Chicago–O'Hare

Denver

Read the full text

Guam

Houston–Intercontinental

Los Angeles

Newark

San Francisco

Washington–Dulles

Alliance and codeshare agreements

United Airlines is a member of the Star Alliance that has 26 member airlines that operate a combined fleet of over 5,000 aircraft, with more than 19,000 flights, serving more than 1,150 airports with access to over 1,000 lounges in 190 countries.

United has codeshare agreements with the following airlines:

United First and United Business

United First is the highest cabin offered on domestically configured aircraft. When these aircraft operate internationally, the cabin is marketed as United Business. Seats on narrowbody aircraft have a 38-inch (970 mm) seat pitch, while domestically configured Boeing 777-200ERs feature fully flat seats in a staggered layout. Amenities include priority services, complimentary alcoholic beverages and meals on longer flights, and dedicated check-in areas.

United introduced a redesigned domestic first-class seat in 2015, initially on Airbus A320 family aircraft, subsequently rolling it out across the mainline fleet.

In 2019, United announced a fleet-wide increase in first and business class seating, including the introduction of the premium-configured CRJ550 and later the CRJ450 regional aircraft.

United's newest narrowbody interiors debuted on the Airbus A321neo in 2023.

From Wikipedia’s article on United Airlines, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.⁶

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

United Airlines Holdings

Owners

United Airlines Holdings

Subsidiaries

CommuteAir
Shuttle by United
United Club

Divisions

Chelsea Food Services
MileagePlus
United p.s.

Also owns

Boeing 787 #363
Hemispheres

Former owners and parents

UAL Corporation until 2010

From Wikidata.¹

Acquisitions

Succeeded Varney Air Lines¹

Controversies and legal

Accidents and incidents

United Airlines has been involved in numerous accidents and incidents since its founding, including Flight 175 and Flight 93 as part of the September 11 attacks, in which roughly 1000 were killed. The deadliest non-terrorism accident was in 1989, when Flight 232 crash-landed at Sioux Gateway Airport, following an uncontained engine failure leading to total loss of flight controls. 112 of the 296 on board were killed.

Controversies and passenger incidents

2017 passenger removal

On the evening of April 9, 2017, a passenger was forcibly removed by law enforcement from United Airlines flight 3411 at Chicago-O'Hare, bound for Louisville. United announced that it needed four seats for airline staff on the sold-out flight. When no passengers volunteered after being offered vouchers worth $800, United staff selected four passengers to leave. Three of them did so, but the fourth, a doctor named David Dao, declined as he said that he had patients to treat the following morning. He was pulled from his seat by Chicago Department of Aviation security officers and dragged by his arms down the aisle after his head was hit against an armrest and he was rendered unconscious. Dao sustained a concussion, broken teeth and a broken nose among other injuries. The incident was captured on smartphone cameras and posted on social media, triggering angry public backlash. Afterwards, United's then-chief executive officer, Oscar Munoz, described Dao as "disruptive and belligerent", apologized for "re-accommodating" the paying customers, and defended and praised staff for "following established procedures". He was widely criticized as "tone-deaf". Munoz later issued a second statement calling what happened a "truly horrific event" and accepting "full responsibility" for it. After a lawsuit, Dao reached an undisclosed settlement with United and airport police. In the aftermath, United's board of directors decided that Munoz would not become its chairman and that executive compensation would be tied to customer satisfaction. Following this incident, passenger complaints increased by 70 percent.

Mail-scan fraud

In February 2021, United Airlines was fined $49 million by the United States Department of Justice on charges of fraud on postal service contracts for transportation of international mail. According to investigators, between 2012 and 2015 United submitted delivery scan data to make it appear that United and its partner airlines complied with International Commercial Air requirements with accurate delivery times when in fact they were automated delivery scans with aspirational delivery times. Some employees within United worked to hide this fact from the United States Postal Service.