UAL Stock Rises After CEO Scott Kirby Reaffirms Strong Revenue Despite Fuel Price Surge

• The airline company has been pressured by rising fuel costs since the start of the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran.
• Scott Kirby said United Airlines is succeeding in navigating higher fuel prices. 
• Kirby said the airline has cut a point of capacity reductions for the months of June and May and plans to extend it as well. 

Shares of United Airlines (UAL) rose on Tuesday after its chief executive officer made optimistic remarks about the airline's revenue growth during a JPMorgan Industrials Conference. 

Shares of UAL jumped 4.5% at the time of writing. 

Strong Revenue For UAL 

“The revenue environment is really strong. By the way, we have a goal this year to fully offset the increase in fuel prices, which is about $4.6 billion at the moment for revenue to fully offset,” Scott Kirby, CEO of United Airlines said in the conference. 

The airline company has been pressured by rising fuel costs since the start of the U.S. and Israel's war with Iran that has led to an increase in crude oil prices across the globe. Iran has effectively blocked the critical oil supply route of the Strait of Hormuz. 

Kirby also said that the airline has about a $400 million headwind in the quarter related to higher fuel prices. “That's consistent with what you've heard from our peers. So it shouldn't be a big surprise. And we're having a lot of success passing through price,” he added. 

Cut Capacity

Kirby said the airline has cut a point of capacity reductions for the months of May and June, and plans to extend it 

“I'd much rather and proactively at the near term, at least, mostly means cutting capacity and eliminating marginal flying. I'd much rather make the mistake of leaving a couple of months worth of demand on the table, because we cut more, and then you can get it back, as opposed to making the mistake of oil prices stay higher and longer and you're flying flights that lose cash. So we already last Friday loaded about a point of capacity reductions for May and June,” Kirby said. 

Retail Reaction

Retail sentiment around UAL trended in ‘Neutral’ territory amid ‘normal’ message volume. 

UAL shares have fallen 17% in 2026. 

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