UAL posts $53.618 million March operating income

By Caroline Salls

Pittsburgh, May 11 - UAL Corp. reported $53.618 million in operating income for March on sales of $1.64 billion, according to an 8-K filed Wednesday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

In February, the company posted an operating loss of $179 million.

"Although we had a modest profit in the seasonally strong month of March, we need to complete our restructuring to be a viable company," said executive vice president and chief financial officer Jake Brace.

The Chicago-based parent of United Air Lines reported a $457.82 million net loss for March, compared to $291 million in February.

The March net loss included $538.59 million in reorganization expenses, compared to $92 million of largely non-cash reorganization expenses in February.

UAL ended March with a cash balance of $2.31 billion, up from $2.2 billion in February.

UAL also reported a $250 million first-quarter operating loss, which it attributes primarily to continuing high fuel costs.

The net loss for the first quarter was $1.1 billion, which includes $768 million in reorganization expenses.

Resolving one of the most significant issues remaining in the company's restructuring, on Tuesday the Bankruptcy Court approved an agreement with the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp., which settles various disputes and controversies with respect to United's defined benefit pension plans.

"In an extremely tough industry environment, we made progress in executing our business plan," said Glenn Tilton, United's chairman, chief executive officer and president.

"Our revenue plan is also tracking well against the reallocation of capacity to robust international markets, with more improvement to come. Progress to reduce costs throughout the system has been substantial and we are pressing ahead to further reduce costs and inefficiencies in all areas of the business."

United filed for bankruptcy on Dec. 9, 2002 in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Northern District of Illinois. Its Chapter 11 case number is 02-48191.

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