United vows to extend profit gains after a sizzling 2018

United Continental, seen until recently as the laggard of the airline industry, promised Wall Street that the improvement in its earnings performance has plenty of room to run. The shares jumped the most in six months. “The pipeline of ideas and changes was not just for 2018,” CCO Andrew Nocella said Wednesday. Much of last year’s moves extend into 2019 “and then there is a whole host of other initiatives that come online.” The carrier is bucking the industry gloom stoked by Delta and American Airline, which cautioned investors this month about their ability to push fares higher. United, meanwhile, is pushing ahead with an aggressive expansion plan, stepping up its luxury offerings and planning tweaks to its new revenue-management system. “Overall the guidance is encouraging as revenue growth continues into 2019 despite Easter moving to the second quarter and a weaker macro environment in certain international markets,” Cowen & Co. analyst Helane Becker said. “The company did a great job executing their strategic plan in 2018.” “We are committed to, as we said before, moving heaven and Earth to hit our numbers,” United President Scott Kirby said on the conference call. There are short-term risks. A percentage point of United’s passenger revenue forecast is under threat from the U.S. government shutdown.<br/>