United CEO doubles down on growth strategy as stock rides tailwind

With many rival airlines scaling back plans to add travel routes and seats in a bid to protect margins, Oscar Munoz is taking United in a different direction. The US air carrier is forging ahead with a strategy to boost its flight network by another 4 to 6% next year after an estimated 5% network growth in 2018, Munoz, CEO of United since 2015, said Wednesday. The growth plan has allowed United to claw back market share in a competitive US airline sector and boost its profitability. Traditionally capacity growth in the airline business has come at a cost to yields because it can drive down fares. So far, United has bucked the industry trend, increasing unit revenues - a closely watched metric that compares airlines’ sales to available seat miles - at a faster pace than rivals American Airlines and Delta. When the airline unveiled an aggressive plan to add capacity in the middle of a price war with low cost carriers in January, the stock of parent company United Continental Holdings fell 7%. But United investors have more than reversed course, sending its shares up about 30% so far this year against a roughly 2% drop on the S&P 500. Munoz offered new details to his growth strategy on Wednesday, saying United will add flights to New Delhi, Toronto and Melbourne from San Francisco to tap higher-paying international routes. “The strategy is working,” Munoz said.<br/>