United Airlines would have reported a first-quarter profit, the company said, if it didn’t have to ground its Boeing 737 MAX 9 fleet for three weeks after a door plug blew out on an Alaska Airlines flight in January. Instead, the airline reported a pre-tax loss of $164 million for the quarter. Because the loss was less than expected, however, the airline’s shares rose more than 5% after the announcement.
With 79 Boeing 737 MAX 9s in its fleet, United has more of the aircraft than any other airline, save for Alaska Airlines. Both airlines were required to cancel thousands of flights in January before regulators allowed the aircrafts to fly again. Because of other safety incidents at United, regulators are now investigating the airline’s operations, which will delay putting new planes into service until at least September, United said.
Additionally, operations have been affected by delivery delays of Boeing planes. Chief Executive Scott Kirby said that the airline has adjusted its fleet plan to better align with the reality of what the manufacturers can deliver.
