First I will qualify that I have not read the financials for UAL, which means I am unaware of this "expense" some are writing about.

With that said here is a problem with the think of some, a misunderstanding of what paying off debt is categorized as.

Debt payment is not an expense in accounting, it is a use of cash and therfore should not reduce the "profit" of the Corp. Interest on that debt is an expense and does reduce profits. If the pre-payment of the debt incurs a penalty that penalty is an expense.

The problem with most of us is we think in terms of "cash" when it comes to profits and losses. A Corp can be profitable but have a net negative cash flow for the time period. It can also show a loss and have a net positive cash flow.

In the "old days" airlines, because of the high non-cash expenses had a very strong cash flow. They invested this cash often in real estate. At one time NWA was long term debt free and owned hotels and real estate around the world. United owned Westin (Western International Hotels) debt free and AA had their own hotel chain, the 'Americana.'

Today the airlines own almost nothing, except LT debt.

The real question is how much cash did on going operations generate?