United Airlines gets hit by a $6 billion added-fuel-cost headwind

By Claudia Assis

Investors zero in on a potentially fatter jet-fuel bill for United, dragging the stock down

A United jet departing from the Vancouver airport. United's jet-fuel costs rose 84% year over year to $2.3 billion.

United Airlines late Wednesday reported earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations and raised its guidance for the year. It didn't seem to matter.

Investors zeroed in on United's potentially fatter jet-fuel bill - the airline said it expects nearly $6 billion in additional fuel expenses for the year, based on crude prices as of Tuesday. The airline said it aims to recover some of it.

United's jet-fuel costs in the second quarter rose 84% year over year to $2.3 billion, the company said. The airline said it recovered about half of that increase. For the current quarter, the company expects to recover some 80% to 90% of the increase, and all of it by the fourth quarter.

United shares (UAL) fell 2.4% in after-hours trading Wednesday, after ending the regular trading day up 0.5%.

When oil prices spiked in March due to the U.S. war with Iran and the standstill in the Strait of Hormuz, United said it "quickly and decisively" adjusted its schedules and doubled down on what it called "customer investments."

"Our brand-loyal customers value their travel on United" whether they are seated in first class or in economy, United CEO Scott Kirby said in a statement, citing United's network expansions and availability of SpaceX's (SPCX) Starlink in-flight internet service as "giving customers new reasons to choose United."

Concerns around fuel costs - the second-highest cost for airlines after labor - had derailed Delta Air Lines' (DAL) second-quarter earnings report last week.

Delta also topped Wall Street's expectations and reinstated its outlook for the year, saying it had absorbed "the highest quarterly fuel expense" in its history. Delta's stock dropped on Friday nonetheless.

United reported adjusted earnings of $1.99 a share in the quarter on sales of $17.7 billion, up 16% compared with the second quarter of 2025.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected United to report adjusted profit of $1.88 a share on sales of $17.6 billion.

The company raised its full-year adjusted EPS guidance to between $9 and $11 a share, compared with a previous expectation of between $7 and $11. The revised guidance compares with FactSet consensus of adjusted profit of $10.47 a share for the year.

United praised its "ongoing resilience" as revenue from premium segments to economy and cargo saw increases as compared to the year-ago quarter - revenue from its premium airfares rose 16%, while revenue from basic economy was up 11%, United said. Loyalty revenue increased 11% and cargo revenue was up 23%, the airline said.

United said that it has installed SpaceX's Starlink on 450 United and United Express aircraft, and that it is on track to bring the onboard satellite-internet service to its whole fleet by the end of next year - ahead of its U.S. competitors, it said.

United in late May joined American Airlines (AAL) in tapping Starlink. Delta went with Amazon.com's (AMZN) in-flight wifi service.

Starlink is SpaceX's moneymaker, bringing in more than $11 billion in revenue last year - about 60% of the space company's total annual revenue.

-Claudia Assis

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07-15-26 2025ET