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CHICAGO, Oct. 25, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) today reported third-quarter 2012 net income of $520 million, or $1.35 per diluted share, excluding $514 million of net special charges. Including special charges, UAL reported third-quarter 2012 net income of $6 million, or $0.02 per diluted share.
UAL ended the third quarter with $7.2 billion in unrestricted liquidity.
"I want to thank my co-workers for working together to help us earn more than half a billion dollars of profit this quarter," said Jeff Smisek, UAL's president and chief executive officer. "We overcame tough operational challenges and remain focused on running a reliable airline, delivering to our customers the benefits of our product investments and delivering to our co-workers tools and training to provide good customer service."
For the third quarter of 2012, total revenue was $9.9 billion, a decrease of 2.6 percent year-over-year. Third-quarter consolidated passenger revenue decreased 2.6 percent to $8.8 billion, compared to the same period in 2011.
2012—Special items
Labor Agreement Costs: On Aug. 3, 2012, the company announced it had reached an agreement in principle with respect to a new joint collective
bargaining agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association ("ALPA"), representing pilots at United and Continental. The company recorded $454
million of expense in the third quarter associated with lump sum cash payments that would be made in conjunction with the ratification of the contract
and the completion of the integrated pilot seniority list. This charge also includes costs associated with changes to existing pilot disability plans
negotiated in connection with the agreement in principle. The lump sum payments are not in lieu of future pay increases and were accrued in the third
quarter as a result of the payments becoming probable, primarily due to reaching the agreement in principle. The agreement in principle is subject to
definitive documentation, and any such definitive documentation is subject to approvals by each of the United and Continental ALPA master executive
councils and ratification by the company's pilots.The company currently expects to make cash payments of approximately $250 million in late 2012 or
early 2013 relating to these charges and the balance in subsequent periods.