MW Business air travel is back, and that's good news for this arline

By Claudia Assis

United Airlines slated to report quarterly earnings on Tuesday

United Airlines jets lined up at Chicago's O'Hare airport. United is seen reporting higher revenue in a quarter marred by the U.S. government shutdown.

An uptick in business air travel is fueling loftier hopes for United Airlines, which is slated to report its holiday-quarter results this week.

Corporate air travel ended 2025 "depressed," analysts at Citi said in a recent note. But there has been a "meaningful" bounce for it at the start of 2026, which is favoring "supermajors" such as Delta Air Lines and United Airlines $(UAL)$, the analysts said.

Corporate airfares are among the most profitable for airlines, as businesses snapping those up usually pay full price for their tickets in exchange for some flexibility for their employees.

Major U.S. airlines have been focusing on such pricier fares - and the people willing to pay more for some of their premium offerings.

Don't miss: Rich fliers are making United and Delta billions by buying premium perks

United is slated to report its fourth-quarter earnings and outlook after market close on Tuesday. Delta $(DAL)$ reported earnings last week, offering investors a disappointing outlook.

For United, Wall Street is hoping to see higher revenue in the quarter than in the fourth quarter of 2024.

FactSet consensus calls for adjusted earnings of $2.93 a share on revenue of $15.4 billion, which would compare with adjusted EPS of $3.26 on revenue of $14.7 billion in the year-ago quarter.

U.S. airlines' holiday quarter was marred by the U.S. government shutdown, which clipped demand right around the Thanksgiving holiday, the industry's busiest period.

In early November, the Trump administration imposed flight cuts at major U.S. airports, citing safety concerns around staff shortages.

Air-traffic controllers, classified as essential personnel, worked through the funding impasse with deferred pay until the end of the shutdown. Staffing shortages already had triggered flight delays and cancellations even before the flight cuts took effect.

-Claudia Assis

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 19, 2026 09:00 ET (14:00 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2026 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.