United Airlines posts $818 million 2Q net profit

United Airlines posted an $818 million net profit for the second quarter of 2017, a 39.1% increase over the Chicago-based airline’s $588 million net income in 2Q 2016.

The airline took a devastating public relations hit at the beginning of the second quarter when passenger David Dao was violently dragged off a United Express flight after being involuntarily bumped from his seat April 9. Over the quarter, United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz apologized publicly and repeatedly atoned for the airline’s early response to the incident.

In its 2Q 2017 financial results SEC filing, released July 18, the airline said it has implemented the majority of the 10 policy changes announced at the end of April to improve overall customer experience, including increased customer compensation incentives for voluntary denied boarding up to $10,000; establishment of  a customer solutions team to provide agents with creative solutions such as using nearby airports, other airlines or ground transportations to get customers to their final destination; reduction of the amount of overbooking, which produced a 79% decrease in involuntary denied boardings in May year-over-year and an 88% decrease in June year-over-year; and elimination of red tape on permanently lost bags by adopting a “no questions asked” policy on lost luggage and paying customers $1,500 for the value of the bag and its contents.

United’s second-quarter revenue increased 6.4% to $10 billion while expenses were up 3.2% to $8.6 billion, producing an operating profit of $1.4 billion, up 32% from a $1.1 billion operating profit in the prior-year quarter. Aircraft fuel costs were up 16.1% year-over-year during the quarter and salaries and related costs increased 10.6%.

United’s second-quarter consolidated traffic rose 4.3% year-over-year to 56.4 billion RPMs on a 4.2% increase in capacity to 67.5 billion ASMs, producing a load factor of 83.5%, matching 2Q 2016’s load factor. Yield increased 2% to 15.3 cents.