United, American Say Unit Revenue Better Than Expected

American Airlines Group Inc. and United Continental Holdings Inc., the nation's No. 1 and No. 3 airlines, indicated upbeat performance in September, when carriers expected higher Labor Day demand than last year.

Earlier Tuesday morning, Southwest Airlines Co. reported a 7.9% increase in September traffic.

American shares rose 2.1% in recent premarket trading as United stock rose 1.4%. The news also lifted shares of JetBlue Airways Corp., up 1.2%, and Delta Air Lines Inc., up 1.5%. Shares of Southwest rose 1.1%.

American said it expects unit revenue in the third quarter to fall a less-than-expected 2% to 3% year-over-year, compared with its prior guidance of a 3% to 5% drop.

United now anticipates third-quarter unit revenue—the key metric in the industry that measures the amount taken in for each passenger flown a mile—to decline 5.5% to 6% compared with the year-ago period. It previously expected unit revenue to fall 5.5% to 7.5%. The result was near the top end of the initial guidance range "largely due to better than expected September close-in bookings driven by the timing of certain holidays."

United said its passenger traffic improved 3.9% in September versus the year-ago period while American reported a 1.7% decline.

Airlines for America, the leading industry trade group, previously said the major U.S. airlines anticipated demand to climb 4% over the seven-day Labor Day period compared with 2015. Both United and American are members of the group.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 11, 2016 09:55 ET (13:55 GMT)

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