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United Airlines’ cargo sales slump 37% in Q1

Performance reflects weaker shipping conditions, economic uncertainty

A United Airlines Boeing 757 jet takes off from Los Angeles International Airport. (Photo: Shutterstock/Michael Gordon)

(UPDATED April 18, 3:30 p.m. ET with comments by CEO Scott Kirby)

The higher they climb, the harder they fall. United Airlines is the king of cargo among the U.S. international passenger airlines and took its cargo business to unparalleled heights during the COVID crisis, when supply chains were shattered and companies needed alternative transport. 

The Chicago-based carrier on Tuesday reported cargo revenue dropped 36.5% in the first quarter to $398 million, surpassing the 28% fall in cargo business at Delta Air Lines. But the earnings report was mostly positive overall, showing a company that continues a strong recovery from the pandemic. United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) posted a smaller-than-expected adjusted net loss of $207 million (or 63 cents per share), on revenue of $11.4 billion.

The fact that United’s cargo revenue shrank was no surprise considering the first quarter of 2022 set a record and the airfreight market has been in a slump ever since, weighed down by high inflation, overstocked retail shelves and economic disruption from the Ukraine war. During the first quarter, global cargo volumes were down about 5% year over year, and the price of shipping goods by air is 40% lower than a year ago. The only question was how much of a sales hit United would experience.


United’s cargo revenue was 39% above the same period in 2019, before the COVID crisis.

In 2022, the airline posted cargo revenue of $2.17 billion, down 7.6% from the record $2.4 billion the prior year.

CEO Scott Kirby said low yields across the industry impacted United’s cargo sales.

“We are holding our own. We do expect to see more and more pressure on cargo yields going forward. But the United team is executing in an amazing way. Our relative size to our primary competitors, you can see it in the numbers,” Kirby said on an earnings call with analysts the next day. “And so I am still actually bullish about the business relative to 2019. [Last year], we reached an unbelievable high based on where we were with the pandemic and COVID. We didn’t expect we would be able to re-achieve that number.”


United said revenue-ton miles declined 7.6% from the first quarter of 2022, reflecting a mix of less weight and distance carried. 

Global airfreight traffic has tumbled several points in April compared to previous weeks, when demand and rates regained some footing, according to price reporting agencies.

“We are watching the macroeconomic risks carefully, but demand remains strong, especially internationally, where we are growing at twice the domestic rate. We expect all of these factors will keep us on track to achieve our full-year adjusted diluted EPS target” of $3.50 to $4, said Kirby in a news release.

U.S. carriers have said that January and February traffic was a bit soft, but that they see strong booking activity in the spring and summer.

Earlier on Tuesday, United announced its largest South Pacific network expansion ever, with 66 weekly flights to Australia and New Zealand for the upcoming season. During the quarter it also added four new international routes between Dubai and Tokyo and three of its main U.S. hubs. It also resumed four routes it hadn’t flown since the pandemic and resumed nonstop service between Shanghai and San Francisco, becoming the first U.S. airline to not require a refueling stop between the U.S. and Shanghai since November 2020.

More widebody flights offer opportunities for freight forwarders to book cargo shipments to those cities.

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Eric Kulisch

Eric is the Supply Chain and Air Cargo Editor at FreightWaves. An award-winning business journalist with extensive experience covering the logistics sector, Eric spent nearly two years as the Washington, D.C., correspondent for Automotive News, where he focused on regulatory and policy issues surrounding autonomous vehicles, mobility, fuel economy and safety. He has won two regional Gold Medals and a Silver Medal from the American Society of Business Publication Editors for government and trade coverage, and news analysis. He was voted best for feature writing and commentary in the Trade/Newsletter category by the D.C. Chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists. He won Environmental Journalist of the Year from the Seahorse Freight Association in 2014 and was the group's 2013 Supply Chain Journalist of the Year. In December 2022, Eric was voted runner up for Air Cargo Journalist by the Seahorse Freight Association. As associate editor at American Shipper Magazine for more than a decade, he wrote about trade, freight transportation and supply chains. He has appeared on Marketplace, ABC News and National Public Radio to talk about logistics issues in the news. Eric is based in Vancouver, Washington. He can be reached for comments and tips at ekulisch@freightwaves.com