United Airlines, while announcing a big first-quarter loss, said Wednesday that it expected record revenue in the coming months, suggesting it had reached a pandemic turning point, the New York Times reported. “The demand environment is the strongest it’s been in my 30 years in the industry,” the airline’s chief executive, Scott Kirby, said in a statement. “We’re now seeing clear evidence that the second quarter will be an historic inflection point for our business.” The airline reported a nearly $1.4 billion loss for the first three months of the year. But it said it expected to collect 17 percent more revenue on a per-seat, per-mile basis from April to June than it did in the same period in 2019. The company also said it expected a healthy profit in the second quarter, despite high fuel prices. United’s outlook, which it described as “bullish,” drove the airline’s shares up more than 7 percent in after-hours trading. The airline cited a handful of reasons for its rosy projection, including strong consumer demand, operating margins that are nearly back to 2019 levels, rapidly rebounding business travel and the carrier’s expectation of a similar upturn in international travel. United said it expected a profit not only in the second quarter but for the full year.
