MINNEAPOLIS — United parent UAL reported a $779 million third- quarter loss Tuesday, by far the biggest airline loss of the season. In the same quarter, it suffered from expensive jet fuel and accounting charges as a result of falling oil prices.
The nation’s second-biggest carrier said capacity cuts and charges for things such as checking luggage should help make it profitable again.
Fees for luggage are here to stay, said John Tague, United’s chief operating officer. He said customers have been frustrated as they get used to that but that the business has to be run to make a profit.
“And if that means the business has to be smaller in order to drive to that outcome, so be it,” he said on a conference call. “So I mean, these are just things that are going to be necessary if we’re going to be a real industry.”
Like other carriers, United has been dropping underperforming routes, adding fees and generally cutting capacity.
On Tuesday, the airline said it has switched its U.S.-to-China flights from 747s to smaller 777s and that over the winter it would stop flying daily from Washington to Beijing. It is also dropping its service from Los Angeles to Hong Kong and from Denver to Heathrow airport in London.
The Chicago-based carrier lost $6.13 per share, compared with profit of $334 million, or $2.21 per share, a year ago.
