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Sentiment · FY2026 Q1
What companies say about each other on earnings calls — extracted verbatim from public transcripts. Mentions from the newest quarter are a Pro feature.
“United has made -- the executives have made some comments about trying to catch up to Delta in terms of profit and including getting some more customers and more up-for-grab markets like L.A.”
A media questioner noted United is publicly targeting profit catch-up with Delta and pursuing more customers in contested markets like L.A.
“We've all seen Delta and United out since last week, I think, talking confidently about 2026.”
GE cites United (alongside Delta) speaking confidently about 2026, supporting a strong commercial aftermarket demand backdrop.
“we expect 60% of the overall industry profits to be driven by Delta Air Lines. Expect the rest of it probably to be driven by United.”
Delta frames an industry bifurcation in which it and United capture essentially all industry profits, a positive read-through on United relative to lower-end carriers.
“we are overbuilt, for example, on Tuesdays and Wednesdays versus where we were last year and higher than American or United in the mid-to-upper 90s.”
Delta benchmarks its off-peak weekday capacity index against American and United, indicating it currently carries more excess midweek capacity than both peers and has room to trim it.
“We did announce in Q4 that a deal to sell United Airlines 8 million gallons up to 8 million gallons of SAF.”
Phillips 66 signed a deal to supply United Airlines with up to 8 million gallons of sustainable aviation fuel, part of its renewable fuels customer base.
“we've received 5 upgrades to our credit ratings across Moody's, S&P and Fitch over the last 13 months.”
United reports five credit-rating upgrades across Moody's, S&P and Fitch over 13 months, reflecting Fitch rating action on United.
“we've received 5 upgrades to our credit ratings across Moody's, S&P and Fitch over the last 13 months.”
United reports five credit-rating upgrades across Moody's, S&P and Fitch over 13 months, reflecting S&P Global Ratings action on United.
“we've received 5 upgrades to our credit ratings across Moody's, S&P and Fitch over the last 13 months.”
United reports five credit-rating upgrades across Moody's, S&P and Fitch over 13 months, reflecting Moody's rating action on United.
“United Signature Interior mods and Starlink installs are now moving at pace and will be completed in 2027”
United is rolling out Starlink (SpaceX) in-flight Wi-Fi across its fleet, with installs targeted for completion in 2027.
“Obviously, Chase is our largest co-brand partner, and we talk to them all the time on this issue.”
United identifies Chase (JPMorgan) as its largest co-brand credit-card partner amid discussion of potential credit-card interchange/rate changes.
“Boeing and Airbus have been doing a better job of repairing the supply chain that's been damaged from the pandemic.”
United says aircraft suppliers Boeing and Airbus are improving delivery rates as supply chains heal, a positive read-through on Airbus production.
“Boeing and Airbus have been doing a better job of repairing the supply chain that's been damaged from the pandemic.”
United says aircraft suppliers Boeing and Airbus are improving delivery rates as supply chains heal, a positive read-through on Boeing's production recovery.
“American, and we're pretty good at estimating this is likely to push to about $1 billion in losses in Chicago.”
United says competitor American Airlines is likely to run about $1 billion of losses in Chicago as it adds capacity, a negative read-through on American's Chicago economics.
“you'd have to have technology, product, services that were somehow better than United and somehow better than Delta to even start”
United frames Delta as the other brand-loyal legacy airline, implying an entrenched two-carrier structure that is hard for others to break into.
“I'm not going to divulge the details of our Chase contract in terms of its term, that remains confidential, but the term doesn't go forever”
United's co-brand credit-card partnership with JPMorgan Chase is central to its plan to double loyalty EBITDA, with the contract term finite and up for eventual renegotiation.
“our first Starlink Equipped Boeing 737-800 took off from Newark following FAA certification last month. This marks a major milestone in our journey to deliver the fastest, most reliable and free for Mileage Plus members, WiFi in the skies.”
United is rolling out SpaceX's Starlink WiFi across its fleet (over half of regional flights done, all aircraft by 2027), calling it a potential game-changer for the customer experience, a strong read-through for Starlink aviation connectivity.
“we have large gauge increases coming as both Boeing and Airbus get back to a better delivery cadence.”
United expects gauge (larger-aircraft) growth as Airbus returns to a better delivery cadence, though widebody deliveries remain somewhat delayed; mixed but improving read-through on Airbus deliveries.
| Analyst | Firm | Questions (Challenge)Percentage of questions scored as challenging — where the analyst pushed back, pressed for specifics, or questioned management's assumptions. |
|---|---|---|
| Conor Cunningham | Melius Research | 12 (0%) |
| Jamie Baker | JPMorgan | 11 (18%) |
| Tom Fitzgerald | TD Cowen | 8 (0%) |
| Catherine O'Brien | Goldman Sachs | 8 (0%) |
| Andy Didora | Bank of America | 8 (13%) |
| Sheila Kahyaoglu | Jefferies | 7 (0%) |
| Ravi Shanker | Morgan Stanley | 7 (0%) |
| Duane Pfennigwerth | Evercore ISI | 7 (0%) |
| Brandon Oglenski | Barclays | 6 (0%) |
| Scott Group | Wolfe Research | 6 (17%) |
| Firm | Analysts | Questions (Challenge)Percentage of questions scored as challenging — where the analyst pushed back, pressed for specifics, or questioned management's assumptions. |
|---|---|---|
| Melius Research | 1 | 12 (0%) |
| JPMorgan | 1 | 11 (18%) |
| TD Cowen | 1 | 8 (0%) |
| Goldman Sachs | 1 |
United was the only US airline to grow EPS in 2025, delivering Q4 EPS of $3.10 within guidance despite a government shutdown driving a $250M pretax hit, with revenue up 4.8% to $15.4B. FY2026 guidance of $12-14 was introduced, implying over 20% earnings growth, supported by premium revenue outperformance accelerating with a 10-point PRASM gap and industry-leading CASM-ex of 0.4% enabled by technology-driven efficiency. The company reached one notch below investment grade after 5 upgrades in 13 months, while main cabin weakness persisted from unprofitable competitor capacity.
Competitive Dynamics | Margin | Pricing | Cost Pressure | Demand | Capex Investment | Macroeconomic | Revenue Growth | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024Q4 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 2 | ||
| 2025Q1 | 4 | 5 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 3 | |
| 2025Q2 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 4 | 7 | 4 | 4 | 1 |
| 2025Q3 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 2 | 3 |
| 2025Q4 | 8 | 7 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 |
| 2026Q1 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| '24Q4 | '25Q1 | '25Q2 | '25Q3 | '25Q4 | '26Q1 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Competitive Dynamics | 4 | 4 | 5 | 5 | 8 | 8 |
| Margin | 1 | 5 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 5 |
| Pricing | 2 | 2 | 4 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| Cost Pressure | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 3 | 3 |
| Demand | 1 | 7 | 6 | 4 | 1 | |
| Capex Investment | 2 | 1 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Macroeconomic | 3 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 1 | |
| Revenue Growth | 2 | 1 | 3 | 3 | 2 |
| 8 (0%) |
| Bank of America | 1 | 8 (13%) |
| Jefferies | 1 | 7 (0%) |
| Evercore ISI | 1 | 7 (0%) |
| Morgan Stanley | 1 | 7 (0%) |
| Company | Score | Trend | Rev YoY |
|---|---|---|---|
UAL United Airlines Holdings | 6 | +10.6% | |
| DAL Delta Air Lines | 7 | +18.7% | |
| LUV Southwest Airlines | 8 | +12.8% |