This was written by a couple analysts today from Stifel. I choke on vomet too at the confidence in management line, but it's clear our crud results are going to result in street pressure to restructure (read shrink DEN, LAX, IAD). Sadly I think firing Jeff is not in the cards unless Carl Ichan shows up.



"United has struggled to improve its operating margin performance since it began experiencing integration and operational challenges in late 2011 which has resulted in a significant degree of margin underperformance as Delta’s profitability has improved as United’s has not. While United has outlined a strategy designed to improve its revenue performance (near-to-mid term) and cost structure (mid-to-long term), the pace at which it is able to show improvement – both on an absolute basis and relative to Delta and American Airlines – remains somewhat unclear.

In addition, we believe there are some investors who believe that United’s plans for improvement do not go far enough and that a more aggressive strategy is necessary – one that would likely revolve around a restructuring of the company’s hubs and the breadth of its domestic network. In our view, United’s management team is willing to adjust its strategy – and become more aggressive – if the underperformance continues, but would prefer not to restructure any additional hubs (beyond the de-hubbing of Cleveland) given the complexity of such efforts and the impact to headcount.

Our point, to be clear, is not to suggest that United needs an activist to force the hand of management (we have confidence in the current management team), but rather to point out that the company appears to fit the criteria of what certain activists have been looking for recently to identify opportunities."