United shares rise on upbeat demand forecast despite delta variant

Shares of United rose close to 4% on Wednesday after the carrier forecast that the rebound in travel demand will continue in the coming months. United reported its sixth consecutive quarterly loss after the market closed on Tuesday. But the airline’s losses are narrowing and the carrier said bookings have continued to improve, even for hard-hit segments like business travel and international long-haul trips. United’s CEO, Scott Kirby, said Wednesday that the fast-spreading delta variant of Covid-19 hasn’t affected bookings, echoing similar comments from Delta’s CE last week. However, Kirby said on an earnings call that the spread of the delta variant might cause a “pullback” in the reopening of the economy but added that he thinks it would be temporary “if it does happen” “There will be ups and downs,” he said on the call. “And we’re prepared to deal with whatever those are, knowing that we can’t precisely forecast exactly what the ups and downs are going to be.” Kirby said that the US should lift an entry ban on most non-US citizens arriving from the UK and the European Union, restrictions that have been in place since March 2020. “We’re not going to prevent the delta variant from coming to the United States by closing those borders because it’s already here,” Kirby said. United, and other airlines and travel companies have repeatedly pressed the Biden administration to lift the restrictions, but the peak travel season has passed without any change from the US. Kirby said there is a “human element” to the ban. “There’s families who haven’t seen each other in 18 months,” he said.<br/>