Big 2Q for UA...

The parent of United Airlines says its profit rose 38 percent as it spent less on fuel and slightly boosted fares.

United cut flying by 2 percent compared to a year earlier, but passengers paid slightly more to fly. Also, United's fuel bill dropped 10 percent as it flew less and the price of fuel dropped.
Lower fuel bills helped all of the big airlines in the most recent quarter. In the quarter ended June 30, the per-gallon cost of United's fuel fell 8 percent. But oil prices have risen in recent weeks, likely dampening the relief for airlines.

A year ago, United was struggling to merge some of its large computer systems with United, resulting in snafus that frustrated passengers and hurt fares.
A key measure of per-seat passenger revenue rose 1 percent in the most recent quarter as United recovered.
"I am encouraged by the progress we made in the second quarter — in our operations, in our customer service and in our financial performance," said Jeff Smisek, the airline's chairman, president, and CEO.

As someone who will be eligible for a UA profit sharing check for the first time ever at the beginning of next year, I'm happy to see something like that. Especially when we reported a loss in Q1, as I recall.

1st Time Ever? Cool. I remember my 1st one at HP years ago. It was $400 and it came as a 2nd check right around Christmas. Then I compared it to friends at WN. Theirs were pushing $2000. Geez..

Yep... basically, you have to work the full calendar year. Since I started halfway through 2012, I wasn't eligible in 2013 to get the previous year's profit sharing. At least I didn't start 2 weeks into January, that would have sucked to be so close.

I'm not sure how big the profit sharing check usually is, but my department also has performance bonuses around the same time. I was able to get that last year, since it was based on how much you made in salary the previous year (since I didn't work the full year, it was essentially pro-rated). That's the bigger of the two, and I'm looking forward to early next year when we get both bonuses and a tax refund around the time we'll start looking at condos (and need a down payment)