United Continental CEO Sees No Sign of Recession in Travel Bookings (UAL)

Jeff A. Smisek, President and CEO of United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL) sees no signs of recession in the airline’s travel booking despite indications of slowdown in the global economy.

Speaking at an event hosted by the Executives’ Club of Chicago, Smisek told reporters that the airline is not seeing any signs of recession in its bookings or in its business travel at the moment. Smisek’s comments come at a time when the airline industry is preparing for global economic slowdown. Experts believe that the slowdown could hurt travel demand. However, a number of major airlines are better positioned this time around due to downsizing and consolidation.

In fact, United Continental is one of the airlines that are better positioned due to consolidation. The airline was formed following the merger between UAL Corporation’s United Airlines and Continental Airlines.
Smisek said at the event that the airline is prepared to be nimble and responsive to weaker demand. He said that if the demand drops off because of economic developments, the airline will take capacity out.

Smisek also said that the airline expects the delivery of its first 787 Dreamliner in the second half of next year. United Continental will be the first airline in North America to fly the 787 Dreamliner. The airline has already ordered 50 Dreamliners. The airline also expects to take delivery of 19 Boeing 737 narrowbodies next year and is also planning to expand its order to replace its fleet with newer planes.

United Continental Holdings shares are marginally higher in trading today. The stock is currently trading 0.94% higher at $20.39. In the last one month, United Continental shares gained 5.38%, outperforming the S&P 500, which gained 2.25% in the same period. Year-to-date, however, the stock has underperformed the broad market, falling 15.36%, compared with a decline of 4.65% for the S&P 500.

Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.