not every airline has first class or lounges, so i guess you can’t compare swa to ual without subtracting those, either

 

We don’t necessarily compete with SWA. Of course, we do to some extent (i.e. DEN), but the primary “competitors” are the big 3.

I believe SWA plans on opening up a lounge IIRC so that would bring them closer inline with the legacy carriers

 

you don’t compete with the third largest domestic passenger airline? lol k

 

Yeah, I kinda Lol'd at that comment too.

 

You think United is competing for passengers going from MCI-STL? lol Unless it goes to a hub or hub city, United isn’t really competing against SWA lol They compare metrics like cancellations and on-time performance, not if they stole a passenger going from Orlando to Aruba lol

 

um, you might want to look at Southwest’s route map. 2 of Southwests 3 largest markets are in the same city as your 2 of your largest domestic hubs

 

You mean 3...DEN, IAH/HOU, and ORD/MDW.

 

mci-stl? probably not. mci to, say, los angeles, providence, or orlando? absolutely.

 

I disagree with part of what you said. LA? Maybe. But I think there are bigger players in LA for UA to worry about. At UA, MCO flights are nearly sold out from nearly every hub. In MCO, SWA is a much bigger player, but United does really well in the MCO market since SWA doesn’t usually fly to United hubs (with the exception of DEN).

Some of the hub cities like Houston and Chicago I guess could be a bigger problem, but it depends where you live. Kinda like LGA to JFK. Sometimes it’s better to go with one over the other depending on the situation.

United is growing IAH and ORD like crazy. SWA wasn’t even brought up as a concern or threat in either markets. I’m not pretending that SWA isn’t a major player, they’re just not necessarily a major player within United’s markets. With the exception of DEN because that’s a shared airport amongst the two carriers.

Enough of this thread drift though. Back to talks about 339, 350, and the 787 lol

 

In terms of actual operating revenue from passengers, United makes more than Delta. 2025 passenger operating revenue was 54.43 billion for United, and 51.8 billion for Delta. That number will only widen as United continues to add high J 787’s to the fleet, XLR’s, and introduces Polaris 2.0 this year. Where Delta blows United out of the water is the “other operating revenue”. For 2025, United was 3.9 billion and Delta was 10.7 billion. I assume this is from the refinery, credit cards, and MRO’s. United just hired Jarad Fisher to help revamp their credit card program and drive significant enhancements to the mileage plus program. Your analysis about the net income is totally irrelevant right now as United is still going through their massive United Next transformation phase and Delta hasn’t really done anything earth shattering. United has engaged in upgrades and Cap-Ex in excess of Delta every year since COVID. New interiors on entire 737 NG and Airbus ceo fleet, Polaris retrofit on 767’s, new paint, Starlink, 80+ aircraft deliveries per year, total revamp in United clubs, major terminal construction in EWR, DEN, IAH, IAD. Earnings per share gives a better sense of where the two airlines would be if growth plans were more in line. United 2025 GAAP EPS was $10.20 and Delta was $7.66. The next couple of years are going to be very interesting for United and Delta