United Airlines News

Unprecedented losses forced airlines to focus on cash burn as the metric to watch early on during the coronavirus pandemic. The recent surge in new infections has delayed breakeven goals but, with billions of dollars on hand, most are looking ahead and getting ready for when travelers return in droves.

Airlines shed jobs at the fastest rate since 1990 this fall as they slashed costs to weather the coronavirus pandemic. With prospect of additional federal relief still mired in politics, very real questions remain about the industry's ability to ramp up flights once travelers — and the economy — return.

United Airlines plans to stay ahead of the pack with a new effort to go "100 percent green." But it's unclear whether the decision to invest in something called direct carbon sequestration plants is any better than the industry norm of buying offsets for the nearly billion tons of greenhouse gases planes pump into the atmosphere every year.

Covid-free flights have officially landed, but businesses on the whole aren’t quite convinced.

United is optimistic that even the most-struggling sectors like corporate travel will eventually return. But the airline will continue to play it safe with capacity cuts until the positive impact of a vaccine fully resonates throughout the broader economy.

In this roundup, we highlight our coverage of Airbnb's financials released ahead of its initial public offering (we wrote eight articles!), the key takeaways from the inaugural Skit Aviation Forum, and a look at smarter destination marketing.

Will soundbites like "Zoom parties every day, every night" and other headline-grabbing quotes influence perceptions of the value of business travel, or do we take them with a pinch of salt?

In spite of a rise in holiday flight cancellations, United Airlines remains confident for the long-term return of business and international travel — there is pent-up travel demand and the airline has had success with its early pre-flight testing programs. Still, even with a vaccine on the horizon, the airline remains cautious.

The travel industry needed a new reason to believe after months of enduring the body blows from coronavirus, coming on top of four bizarro years of a president who seemed to have little regard for his former industry. Read what executives had to say about the election of Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

United's CEO may have been one of the most bearish airline leaders at the start of the pandemic. Scott Kirby continues to offer blunt assessments but says his airline can lead by example in a recovery.