United Airlines Holdings, Inc.: Form 10-K for the period ended Dec 31, 2024

Overview

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "UAL" or the "Company") is a holding company and its wholly-owned subsidiary is United Airlines, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "United"). United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

As UAL consolidates United for financial statement purposes, disclosures that relate to activities of United also apply to UAL, unless otherwise noted. United's operating revenues and operating expenses comprise nearly 100% of UAL's revenues and operating expenses. In addition, United comprises approximately the entire balance of UAL's assets, liabilities and operating cash flows. When appropriate, UAL and United are named specifically for their individual contractual obligations and related disclosures and any significant differences between the operations and results of UAL and United are separately disclosed and explained. We sometimes use the words "we," "our," "us," and the "Company" in this report for disclosures that relate to all of UAL and United.

The Company's principal executive office is located at 233 South Wacker Drive, Chicago, Illinois 60606 (telephone number (872) 825-4000). The Company's website is located at www.united.com (http://www.united.com) and its investor relations website is located at ir.united.com. The information contained on or connected to the Company's websites is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this or any other report filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"). The Company's filings with the SEC, including annual reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K, and all amendments to those reports, as well as UAL's proxy statement for its annual meeting of stockholders, are accessible without charge on the Company's investor relations website, as soon as reasonably practicable, after we electronically file such material with, or furnish such material to, the SEC pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act. Such filings are also available on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov (http://www.sec.gov).

Operations

The Company transports people and cargo throughout North America and to destinations in Asia, Europe, Africa, the Pacific, the Middle East and Latin America. UAL, through United and its regional carriers, operates across six continents, with hubs at Chicago O'Hare International Airport ("ORD"), Denver International Airport ("DEN"), George Bush Intercontinental Airport ("IAH"), Los Angeles International Airport ("LAX"), Newark Liberty International Airport ("EWR"), San Francisco International Airport ("SFO"), Washington Dulles International Airport ("IAD") and A.B. Won Pat International Airport ("GUM").

All of the Company's domestic hubs are located in large business and population centers, contributing to a large amount of "origin and destination" traffic. The hub and spoke system allows us to transport passengers between a large number of destinations with substantially more frequent service than if each route were served directly. The hub system also allows us to add service to a new destination from a large number of cities using only one or a limited number of aircraft. As discussed under Alliances below, United is a member of Star Alliance, the world's largest alliance network.

United Next. In 2024 the Company continued to make progress with its United Next plan to align its network and product with the potential of its hubs while remaining focused on protecting the safety of its employees and customers and providing a superior customer experience. United Next aims to increase customer choice and win brand-loyal customers by offering a diversity of products ranging from Basic Economy to Polaris and growing our leading global network, which the Company believes will lead to diverse revenue streams for the Company. As part of its United Next growth plan, the Company expects to take delivery of over 660 new narrow- and widebody aircraft by the end of 2033. The new aircraft that the Company has taken delivery of to date have increased the Company's gauge, scale and connectivity as well as improved the Company's fuel efficiency. Other key highlights of its United Next plan include:

• increasing our employee headcount by more than 30,000 employees since 2020;
• surpassing 300 new and retrofit aircraft featuring United's signature interior with bigger bins, seatback screens at every seat and Bluetooth connectivity;
• expanding the Company's leading global network to destinations like Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Nuuk, Greenland; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Palermo, Italy; Bilbao, Spain; Faro, Portugal; Madeira Island, Portugal; Puerto Escondido, Mexico; and Dakar, Senegal;
• launching Kinective MediaSM (the first media network that uses insights from travel behaviors to connect customers to personalized advertising, experiences and offers from leading brands);
• announcing an industry-leading agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink's Wi-Fi service (the world's fastest, most reliable Wi-Fi in the sky) to our aircraft; and
• making significant technology changes that empower the Company's employees and improve the customer experience.

Regional. The Company's business and operations are dependent on its regional flight network, with regional capacity accounting for approximately 6% of the Company's total capacity for the year ended December 31, 2024. The Company has contractual relationships with various regional carriers to provide regional aircraft service branded as United Express. This regional service complements our operations by carrying traffic that connects to our hubs and allows flights to smaller cities that cannot be provided economically with mainline aircraft. CommuteAir LLC ("CommuteAir"), GoJet Airlines LLC ("GoJet"), Mesa Airlines, Inc. ("Mesa"), Republic Airways Inc. ("Republic") and SkyWest Airlines, Inc. ("SkyWest") are all regional carriers that operate with capacity contracted to United under capacity purchase agreements ("CPAs"). Under these CPAs, the Company pays the regional carriers contractually agreed fees (carrier costs) for operating these flights plus a variable rate adjustment based on agreed performance metrics, subject to annual adjustments. The fees are based on specific rates multiplied by specific operating statistics (e.g., block hours, departures), as well as fixed monthly amounts. Under these CPAs, the Company is also responsible for all fuel costs incurred, as well as landing fees and other costs, which are either passed through by the regional carrier to the Company without any markup or directly incurred by the Company. In some cases, the Company owns some or all of the aircraft subject to the CPA and leases such aircraft to the regional carrier. In return, the regional carriers operate the capacity of the aircraft included within the scope of such CPA exclusively for United, on schedules determined by the Company. The Company also determines pricing and revenue management, assumes the inventory and distribution risk for the available seats and permits mileage accrual and redemption for regional flights through its MileagePlus loyalty program.

Alliances. United is a member of Star Alliance, a global integrated airline network and the largest and most comprehensive airline alliance in the world. In 2024, Star Alliance carriers continued to serve more than 1,200 airports in 195 countries and territories with over 17,000 average daily departures. Star Alliance members, in addition to United, are Aegean Airlines, Air Canada, Air China, Air India, Air New Zealand, All Nippon Airways ("ANA"), Asiana Airlines, Austrian Airlines, Aerovías del Continente Americano (Avianca), Brussels Airlines, Copa Airlines, Croatia Airlines, EGYPTAIR, Ethiopian Airlines, EVA Air, LOT Polish Airlines, Lufthansa, Shenzhen Airlines, Singapore Airlines, South African Airways, SWISS, TAP Air Portugal, THAI Airways International and Turkish Airlines. In addition to its members, Star Alliance includes Shanghai-based Juneyao Airlines as a connecting partner and Germany-based Deutsche Bahn, a rail company, as an intermodal partner.

United has a variety of bilateral commercial alliance agreements and obligations with Star Alliance members, addressing, among other things, reciprocal earning and redemption of frequent flyer miles, access to airport lounges and, with certain Star Alliance members, codesharing of flight operations (whereby one carrier's selected flights can be marketed under the brand name of another carrier). In addition to the alliance agreements with Star Alliance members, United currently maintains independent alliance agreements with other air carriers, including Aer Lingus, Air Dolomiti, Airlink, Azul Linhas Aéreas Brasileiras, Cape Air, Discover Airlines, Emirates, Eurowings, flydubai, Hawaiian Airlines, JetSuiteX, Olympic Air, Silver Airways and Virgin Australia Airlines.

United also participates in four passenger joint business arrangements ("JBAs"): one with Air Canada and the Lufthansa Group (which includes Lufthansa and its affiliates Air Dolomiti, Austrian Airlines, Brussels Airlines, Discover Airlines, Edelweiss, Eurowings and SWISS) covering transatlantic routes, one with ANA covering certain transpacific routes, one with Air New Zealand covering certain routes between the United States and New Zealand, and one with Air Canada covering certain United States and Canada transborder routes. These passenger JBAs enable the participating carriers to integrate the services they provide in the respective regions, capturing revenue synergies and delivering enhanced customer benefits, such as highly competitive flight schedules, fares and services. Separate from the passenger JBAs, United is also a party to a JBA with Lufthansa for transatlantic cargo services. This cargo JBA offers expanded and more seamless access to cargo space across the carriers' respective combined networks.

Loyalty Program. United's MileagePlus loyalty program builds customer loyalty by offering awards, benefits and services to program participants. Members in this program earn miles for flights on United, United Express, Star Alliance members and certain other airlines that participate in the program. Members can also earn miles by purchasing goods and services from our network of non-airline partners, such as domestic and international credit card issuers, retail merchants, hotels and car rental companies. Members can redeem miles for free (other than taxes and government-imposed fees), discounted or upgraded travel and non-travel awards.

United has an agreement with JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. ("Chase"), pursuant to which members of United's MileagePlus loyalty program who are residents of the United States can earn miles for making purchases using a MileagePlus credit card issued by Chase (the "Co-Brand Agreement"). The Co-Brand Agreement also provides for joint marketing and other support for the MileagePlus credit card and provides Chase with other benefits such as permission to market to the Company's customer database.

In 2024, approximately 9.2 million MileagePlus flight awards were used on United and United Express. These awards represented approximately 9% of United's total revenue passenger miles. Total miles redeemed for flights on United and United Express, including class-of-service upgrades, represented approximately 93% of the total miles redeemed. In addition, excluding miles redeemed for flights on United and United Express, MileagePlus members redeemed miles for approximately 3.7 million other awards. These awards include United Club memberships, car and hotel awards, merchandise and flights on other air carriers.

Air Cargo. The Company provides freight and mail transportation services ("Air Cargo"). The majority of Air Cargo services are provided to commercial businesses, freight forwarders, logistics firms and national postal services. Through our global network, the Company's Air Cargo operations are able to connect the world's major freight gateways. The Company generates Air Cargo revenues in domestic and international markets through the use of cargo capacity on regularly scheduled passenger flights, interline and charter flights, and ground trucking arrangements.

Distribution Channels. The Company's airline seat inventory and fares are distributed through the Company's direct channels, traditional travel agencies and online travel agencies ("OTA"). The use of the Company's direct sales website, www.united.com (http://www.united.com), the Company's mobile applications and alternative distribution systems provides the Company with an opportunity to de-commoditize its services, better present its content, make more targeted offerings, better retain its customers, enhance its brand and lower its ticket distribution costs. Agency sales are primarily sold using global distribution systems ("GDS"). United has developed and expects to continue to develop capabilities to sell certain ancillary products through the GDS channel to provide an enhanced buying experience for customers who purchase in that channel.

Third-Party Business. United generates third-party business revenue that includes maintenance services, frequent flyer award non-travel redemptions, flight academy and ground handling.

Aircraft Fuel. The table below summarizes the fuel consumption and expense of UAL's aircraft (including the operations of our regional carriers operating under CPAs) during the last three years.

Our operational and financial results can be significantly impacted by changes in the price and availability of aircraft fuel. The Company routinely enters into purchase contracts based on expected fuel requirements for UAL aircraft (including regional carriers operating under CPAs) that are generally indexed to various market price benchmarks for aircraft fuel. These contracts customarily do not provide material protection against changes in market prices or guarantee the uninterrupted availability of adequate quantities of aircraft fuel. The price of aircraft fuel used by our operations has fluctuated substantially in the past several years. The Company's current strategy is to not enter into financial transactions to hedge the market price exposure of its expected fuel consumption, although the Company regularly reviews its strategy based on market conditions and other factors.

Industry Conditions

Domestic Competition. The domestic airline industry is highly competitive and dynamic. The Company's competitors consist primarily of other airlines and, to a certain extent, other forms of transportation. Currently, any U.S. carrier deemed fit by the U.S. Department of Transportation (the "DOT") is largely free to operate scheduled passenger service between any two points within the United States. Competition can be direct, in the form of another carrier flying the exact non-stop route, or indirect, where a carrier serves the same two cities non-stop from an alternative airport in that city or via an itinerary requiring a connection at another airport. Air carriers' cost structures are not uniform and are influenced by numerous factors. Carriers with lower costs may offer lower fares to passengers, which could have a potential negative impact on the Company's revenues. Domestic pricing decisions are impacted by intense competitive pressure exerted on the Company by other U.S. airlines. In order to remain competitive and maintain passenger traffic levels, we often find it necessary to match competitors' discounted fares.

International Competition. Internationally, the Company competes not only with U.S. airlines, but also with foreign carriers. International competition has increased and may continue to increase in the future as a result of airline mergers and acquisitions, JBAs, alliances, restructurings, liberalization of aviation bilateral agreements and new or increased service by competitors. Competition on international routes is subject to varying degrees of governmental regulation. The Company's ability to compete successfully with non-U.S. carriers on international routes depends in part on its ability to generate traffic to and from the entire United States via its integrated domestic route network and its ability to overcome business and operational challenges across its network worldwide. Foreign carriers currently are prohibited by U.S. law from carrying local passengers between two points in the United States and the Company generally experiences comparable restrictions in foreign countries. Separately, "fifth freedom rights" allow the Company to operate between points in two different foreign countries and foreign carriers may also have fifth freedom rights between the U.S. and another foreign country. In the absence of fifth freedom rights, or some other extra-bilateral right to conduct operations between two foreign countries, U.S. carriers are constrained from carrying passengers to points beyond designated international gateway cities. To compensate partially for these structural limitations, U.S. and foreign carriers have entered into alliances, immunized JBAs and marketing arrangements that enable these carriers to exchange traffic between each other's flights and route networks. Through these arrangements, the Company strives to provide consumers with a growing number of seamless, cost-effective and convenient travel options. See "Alliances" for additional information.

Seasonality. The air travel business is subject to seasonal fluctuations. Historically, demand for air travel is higher in the second and third quarters, driving higher revenues, than in the first and fourth quarters, which are periods of lower travel demand.

Our Approach to Corporate Citizenship and Value Creation

At United "Good Leads the Way" is more than a slogan; it fuels our mission to build the world's biggest and best airline. Our employees around the world are joined together to enable connections that matter and move society—whether it is connecting people across cultures, flying a loved one to a wedding, connecting medical professionals at a breakthrough conference or getting a business traveler to an important meeting or back home in time for a child's big game.

Today United is viewed not only as a leader among our peer airlines but as a leader among the world's largest corporations. Our leadership is driven by our desire to blaze new trails by being a force for good, responsive to the world in which we operate, responsible for our actions and committed to doing the right thing. United has devoted its brand, reputation, resources, time and effort to pursuing corporate citizenship goals aimed to generate the most impactful results that we can create. Simply, we aspire to use our influence and scale to lead in a way that inspires the world to action. Over the last few years, we have made historic investments to fight climate change and provided career opportunities to thousands of people.

We set forth below three of our corporate citizenship focus areas.

Safety Culture

At United, safety is first in everything we do and is our first service standard of Core4 (we are safe, then caring, dependable and efficient). We are focused on promoting our safety culture to help ensure that every employee across United holds each other to the highest safety standards. Our "No Small Roles in Safety" strategy as part of our Safety Management System ("SMS") is designed to imbue every employee with an understanding of his or her significant responsibility in our collective ambition to ensure the highest level of safety performance for our customers and employees. Our laser focus on safety is not only essential to our success but also foundational to our culture.

We continue to evaluate and expand our SMS to incorporate new areas of the business to manage risk as we navigate this exciting time at United with the growth in our aircraft fleet and the increasing number of destinations that we plan to serve. Our continuously evolving SMS allows us to proactively identify hazards and mitigate risks to help ensure the safety of our customers and our employees as we grow. In addition, just as we have invested in infrastructure, technology and tools, we are also investing in the training and development of our employees, especially those who are new to United, to help ensure they gain proficiency in their roles and stay safe in the workplace.

Our approach to safety is centered around three components:

1. United SMS: Continuously investing in infrastructure, technology, tools, voluntary safety reporting and training that are built among the key components of our safety policy, safety risk management, safety assurance and safety promotion.

2. Safety in Action: Improving safety through development of robust, proactive safety programs and standards.

3. Safety Data and Innovation: Identifying and mitigating safety hazards through strong data analytics and new technologies and processes.

Environmental Sustainability Strategy

The Company's commitment to operating an environmentally sustainable airline is woven into its long-term strategy. The Company believes that it is critical to continue to serve its purpose of connecting people and uniting the world and is focused on finding actionable solutions that reduce the environmental impact of its operations and manage operational costs in its energy supply while also achieving its financial goals and creating long-term value for its stockholders. At the end of 2020, the Company pledged a net zero goal to reduce its greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions by 100% by 2050 without relying on the use of voluntary, traditional carbon offsets1. The Company also established a mid-term target of reducing, compared to 2019, its carbon emissions intensity by 50% by 2035. This intensity target is intended to align to the Company's net zero goal.

The Company believes that innovative technologies can assist the Company with achieving its climate goals, enhance the customer experience and improve its operations. Our second largest operating expense, conventional jet fuel, is subject to volatile global prices. Reducing our fuel consumption while diversifying our fuel supply with sustainable aviation fuel ("SAF") can enhance our resiliency in the face of conventional jet fuel price spikes.

The Company's sustainability strategy is centered around four key pathways, each of which is described in further detail below: (i) emitting less GHGs; (ii) adopting more sustainable alternatives to conventional jet fuel; (iii) making improvements to its operations beyond its flights; and (iv) collaborating with employees, customers, airports, suppliers, cross-industry partners and policymakers to facilitate faster action and commercializing relevant technology. The Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), including through its Public Responsibility Committee, provides oversight of its environmental sustainability and climate-related strategic goals and objectives to ensure integration with its core business strategy. Management periodically updates the Board on the implementation of the Company's climate-related strategic goals and objectives. The Board, including through its Public Responsibility Committee, also oversees management's identification, evaluation and monitoring of environmental (including climate-related) trends, issues, concerns, risks and opportunities that affect or could affect the Company's reputation, business activities, strategies and performance.

• Emitting Less GHGs: As part of this plan, the Company is focused on improving fuel efficiency in its operations. Its main focus in realizing this objective is reducing its conventional jet fuel consumption, which is both the largest contributor to its environmental footprint and, as noted above, a sizable expense for the Company. To do so, the Company is prioritizing the introduction of newer, more fuel-efficient aircraft into its fleet as part of its United Next plan as well as improving the fuel efficiency of its existing fleet. In conjunction with improving the fuel efficiency of its fleet, the Company has been incorporating fuel efficiency considerations within flight and ground operations, including implementing operational and procedural initiatives designed to drive fuel conservation. The Company has worked collaboratively across its organization and with Air Traffic Control ("ATC") providers to strive to improve fuel efficiency through the implementation of best practices and by training its pilots and dispatchers and supplying them with the necessary tools to execute those strategies.

1 Traditional carbon offsets refer to carbon credits generated through the avoidance and/or reduction of CO2 emissions that would have otherwise occurred outside a company's value chain. Traditional carbon offsets do not include certificates conveying the attributes of renewable energy or sustainable aviation fuel, or credits related to the removal of CO2 from the atmosphere.

In addition, the Company, through the aerospace-focused investment vertical of its corporate venture capital arm, United Airlines Ventures, Ltd. ("UAV"), has been collaborating with, as well as investing in, early-stage technology companies that focus on lower carbon alternative propulsion technologies.

• Adopting More Sustainable Alternatives to Conventional Jet Fuel: We believe that large-scale adoption of SAF in our operations is critical to helping mitigate our exposure to volatile fuel prices and achieving our climate goals. SAF is an alternative to conventional jet fuel and its potential to scale is due to its 'drop-in' readiness, which means it can be used in current operations with existing aircraft and infrastructure with few to no additional alterations required. The Company is working with strategic partners to scale, employ and commercialize the use of SAF.

While the Company currently is an aviation leader in investing in technologies focused on decarbonizing aviation and its associated energy supply chains, SAF supply in the jet fuel market is constrained and represents, according to industry estimates, less than 1% of global commercial aviation fuel usage. Additionally, the purchase of SAF today comes with a price premium, compared to conventional jet fuel, to account for the additional costs of scaling and producing this early-stage solution. As a result, in 2024, the total volume of SAF used in the Company's operations remained less than 0.3% of its total aviation fuel usage. These challenges with present-day SAF have informed the Company's strategy of investing in technology to help scale the SAF market and unlock future supply for the Company.

The Company has an established history in the investment in, and use of, SAF. Beginning in 2015, the Company made its first investment in a company working to commercialize SAF production. In 2016, the Company became the first airline globally to start using SAF in its regular operations on an ongoing basis at various airports. The Company has progressed its SAF strategy with several notable milestones, including the following:

• In 2021 the Company launched its first-of-its-kind Eco-Skies Alliance program for corporations to help advance the SAF market by working with the Company to fund the price premium for SAF. The Company also established UAV, a corporate venture capital arm that seeks to invest in promising sustainable aviation technologies and innovation to usher in the future of air travel.
• In 2022 the Company signed a purchase agreement with Neste for up to 52.5 million gallons of SAF at domestic and international stations, becoming the first U.S. airline to execute an international purchase agreement for SAF.
• In 2023 the Company launched, through UAV, the United Airlines Ventures Sustainable Flight Fund (the "Fund") to support start-ups developing technologies focused on decarbonizing aviation and its associated energy supply chains, including through research and production, and technologies associated with SAF.
• In 2024, the Company became the first airline to purchase SAF for use at ORD, signing agreements with two suppliers.
• Improving Our Operations Beyond Our Flights: The Company is focused on initiatives intended to drive more sustainable operations while maintaining efficiencies across the business. For example, United continues to progress its strategic electrification of ground service equipment ("GSE") across its hubs and stations. As of the end of 2024, over 5,070 units of the Company's GSE around the world are electric, representing approximately 38% of its GSE fleet.
• Collaborating with Partners: The Company collaborates with employees, customers, airports, suppliers, cross-industry partners, trade associations and policymakers across its value chain to scale the supply of SAF and invest in decarbonization technology solutions. Some of the Company's highlights in this area include the following:
• The Company worked with federal policymakers to champion passage of new SAF tax incentives in 2022. These credits create an economic incentive for increased SAF production within the United States.
• The Company led a cross-sectoral effort to incentivize SAF in Illinois, lowering the overall cost of SAF consumption at the state level. The Sustainable Aviation Fuel Purchase Credit was enacted in Illinois in February 2023 and became effective in mid-2023. The Company was the first airline to use this credit for purchases in 2024.
• The Company is a founding member of the nonprofit, non-partisan SAF Coalition. Formed in 2024, the SAF Coalition is an organization looking to bring together all stakeholders of the aviation fuel value chain to advocate for federal policies that support and increase domestic SAF production.

In 2023, the Company evolved its GHG reporting to align with corporate best practices around GHG accounting protocols, including anticipated updates in accounting guidance from the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. This revised reporting methodology allows us to provide greater transparency around the aircraft's GHG emissions from burning conventional jet fuel and SAF. Biogenic GHG emissions from SAF are not reported as Scope 1-3 emissions.

The Company believes that its absolute GHG emissions will continue to increase in the immediate future as the Company continues to grow. In addition, even though purchasing voluntary, traditional carbon offsets could present near-term emissions reductions, as outlined above, the Company aims to achieve its mid-term and long-term climate goals without relying on the use of voluntary, traditional carbon offsets. Such commitment is demonstrated by the end of the Company's customer offset program and elimination of emission reductions realized by carbon offsets as reflected in its GHG inventory. Additional quantitative emissions data for fiscal years 2023 and 2022 are as follows:

Additional information on United's commitment to environmental sustainability is available at united.com/sustainability. The information contained on or connected to the Company's website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this or any other report filed with the SEC.

Human Capital Management and Resources

Demographics: As of December 31, 2024, UAL, including its subsidiaries, had approximately 107,300 employees, of whom approximately 82% were represented by various U.S. labor organizations. See our section "The maintenance of our relationships with our labor unions" below for information on the represented employee groups.

People & Culture: We believe that our employees represent the brightest and highest-performing people in the aviation industry. Our continued ability to attract, hire, develop and retain skilled personnel with industry experience and knowledge at all levels of our organization is the foundation of our success, especially in light of our ambitious growth agenda under our United Next plan. Our human capital management strategy is designed to help us find the best talent who can drive our United Next objectives and provide the tools to prepare them for critical roles and leadership positions in the future. We are proud of our Company culture and plan to continue to execute our strategy through the following:

1. Our talent acquisition process and succession planning.

We developed talent acquisition tools and programs to help us continue to (i) attract the candidates who can deliver the highest levels of service to our customers; (ii) ensure recruiting, retention and leadership development goals are systematically executed throughout the Company; and (iii) broaden and strengthen our talent channels and pipelines so that we can cultivate the next generation of talent that will lead our company into the future. In 2024, the Company hired approximately 10,270 employees across the globe through the Company's external career site, professional association partnerships, employee referrals, universities and other external sources.

Our human resources programs are designed to facilitate internal talent mobility. We encourage employees to identify the paths that can build the skills, experience, knowledge and competencies needed for career advancement. In 2024, about 69% of our senior leader positions filled were internal placements and 606 frontline employees were promoted into management roles, the latter of which was consistent with last year and almost three times as many as in prior years.

The Company's policies strictly prohibit any form of employment discrimination. To ensure accountability over time, we have committed to sharing our U.S. workforce self-identified demographic data as well as our Consolidated EEO-1 Report (which includes only the Company's and United Ground Express, Inc.'s U.S. workforces) on an annual basis on our website. The information contained on or connected to the Company's website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this or any other report filed with the SEC.

Succession planning provides us the opportunity to evaluate our key successors. Our executives and senior leaders are engaged in succession planning by regularly evaluating, developing and mentoring our talent. The Board also engages in annual succession planning and talent development discussions with our Chief Executive Officer, President and Executive Vice President of Human Resources, focusing on our ability to identify, attract, prepare and retain talented employees for future leadership positions.

2. The development of our Company culture that is centered on safety and promotes the importance of listening and responding to colleague feedback.

As stated above, safety is first in everything we do and is our first Core4 service standard. We are focused on promoting our safety culture to help ensure that every employee across the Company holds each other to the highest safety standards and strives to protect themselves, their colleagues and our customers.

As we strive to continue to be an employer of choice, we believe it is critical that our workforce is informed, engaged and can provide feedback. Our executive team provides several avenues of engagement to inform our employee needs globally. We routinely conduct employee engagement surveys of our global workforce, which provide feedback on employee satisfaction and cover a variety of topics such as company culture, safety and values, execution of our strategy and individual development, among others.

3. Robust professional and leadership development training programs for all career stages.

Our industry and team are experiencing transformation and we have responded by becoming a learning organization, helping to guide our employees in their journey to reach their full potential. We invest heavily in our training programs, which we believe will better position us to meet our current and future business needs while also driving employee retention. We offer a broad range of leadership and professional training programs for career growth and advancement, which begins with an introduction to our culture when our employees start and progresses through new people leadership trainings as well as high potential development programs at the manager, senior manager, director and managing director levels. We provide all management-level employees with the opportunity to develop their skills through our Leadership, Airport Operations and Digital Training Institutes. With respect to our technical positions, we have developed state-of-the art technical training programs that include immersive training, virtual reality, simulations, on the job training and assessments of proficiency to ensure we operate at the highest level of aviation safety and customer service.

4. The ability for our employees to qualify for retirement, health and wellness benefits as well as, of course, travel privileges.

While our rewards package for most of our employees is determined by collective bargaining agreements, it includes competitive base pay, travel privileges and other comprehensive benefits, including health, wellness and retirement programs for all our employees, including part-time employees. We review both industry and local market data at least annually to identify trends and market gaps in order to maintain the competitiveness of our compensation and employee benefit programs. With respect to executives, a substantial proportion of their total rewards package is variable, at-risk pay that is based on Company performance and delivered in the form of equity, supporting alignment over the long term between our executives and our stockholders. We align our executives' long-term equity compensation with our stockholders' interests by linking realizable pay with stock performance. In addition, the

Company has performance-based compensation programs for other management employee leaders, including managers, supervisors and team leads.

5. The maintenance of our relationships with our labor unions.

We bargain in good faith with the unions that represent our employees and frequently engage with union leaders. Collective bargaining agreements between the Company and its represented employee groups are negotiated under the Railway Labor Act ("RLA"). Such agreements typically do not contain an expiration date and instead specify an amendable date, upon which the agreement is considered "open for amendment." The following table reflects the Company's represented employee groups, the number of employees per represented group, union representation for each employee group, and the amendable date for each employee group's collective bargaining agreement as of December 31, 2024:

Board Oversight: Our Board, assisted by several of its committees, plays a key role in the strategic oversight of management regarding the development, implementation and effectiveness of the Company's policies and strategies relating to human capital management. The Board's Executive Committee oversees and reviews significant human capital strategies, including culture and talent management matters, and the Board's Public Responsibility Committee reviews and monitors the development and implementation of the Company's people impact strategic goals and objectives. Many of our Board members have experience overseeing workforce issues as CEOs and presidents of other companies or organizations. The Compensation Committee also engages an independent compensation and benefits consulting firm to help evaluate our executive compensation and benefit programs and to provide benchmarking against a group of peer companies, including peers within the airline industry.

Additional Information: See our report at crreport.united.com, for additional information on our human capital management programs, initiatives and measures. We are committed to transparency and sharing our U.S. workforce self-identified demographic data on an annual basis on our website. The information contained on or connected to the Company's website is not incorporated by reference into this Form 10-K and should not be considered part of this or any other report filed with the SEC.

Industry Regulation

Airlines are subject to extensive domestic and international regulatory oversight. The following discussion summarizes the principal elements of the regulatory framework applicable to our business. Regulatory requirements, including but not limited to those discussed below, affect our operations and increase our operating costs, and future regulatory developments may continue to do the same. In addition, should any of our governmental authorizations or certificates be modified, suspended or revoked, our business and competitive position could be materially adversely affected. See Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors—"The airline industry is subject to extensive government regulation, which imposes significant costs and may adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition" for additional information on the material effects of compliance with government regulations.

Domestic Regulation. All carriers engaged in air transportation in the United States are subject to regulation by the DOT. Absent an exemption, no air carrier may provide air transportation of passengers or property without first being issued a DOT certificate of public convenience and necessity. The DOT also grants international route authority, approves international codeshare arrangements and regulates methods of competition. The DOT regulates consumer protection and maintains jurisdiction over advertising, denied boarding compensation, tarmac delays, baggage liability and other areas and may add additional expensive regulatory burdens in the future. The DOT has launched investigations or claimed rulemaking authority to regulate commercial agreements among carriers or between carriers and third parties in a wide variety of contexts.

Airlines are also regulated by the Federal Aviation Administration (the "FAA"), an agency within the DOT, primarily in the areas of flight safety, air carrier operations and aircraft maintenance and airworthiness. The FAA issues air carrier operating certificates and aircraft airworthiness certificates, prescribes maintenance procedures, oversees airport operations and regulates pilot and other employee training. From time to time, the FAA issues directives that require air carriers to inspect, modify or ground aircraft and other equipment, potentially causing the Company to incur substantial, unplanned expenses. The airline industry is also subject to numerous other federal laws and regulations. The U.S. Department of Homeland Security ("DHS") has jurisdiction over virtually every aspect of civil aviation security. The Antitrust Division of the U.S. Department of Justice ("DOJ") has jurisdiction over certain airline competition matters. The U.S. Postal Service has authority over certain aspects of the transportation of mail by airlines. Labor relations in the airline industry are generally governed by the RLA, a federal statute. The Company is also subject to investigation inquiries by the DOT, FAA, DOJ, DHS, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and other U.S. regulatory bodies.

Airport Access. Access to landing and take-off rights, or "slots," at several major U.S. airports served by the Company are subject to government regulation. Federally-mandated domestic slot restrictions that limit operations and regulate capacity currently apply at three airports: Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C., and John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport in the New York City metropolitan region. Additional restrictions on takeoff and landing slots at these and other airports may be implemented in the future and could affect the Company's rights of ownership and transfer as well as its operations.

Legislation. The airline industry is subject to legislative actions (or inactions) that may have an impact on operations and costs. In May 2024, the U.S. Congress approved the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2024, expiring September 30, 2028. Among other things, the FAA reauthorization increased the authorized funding level for the FAA and required the hiring of additional air traffic controllers, an effort to address staffing and resource shortages and improve the operation of the ATC system in the U.S.

International Regulation. International air transportation is subject to extensive government regulation. In connection with the Company's international services, the Company is regulated by both the U.S. government and the governments of the foreign countries or regions the Company serves. In addition, the availability of international routes to U.S. carriers is regulated by aviation agreements between the U.S. and foreign governments and in some cases, fares and schedules require the approval of the DOT and/or the relevant foreign governments.

Legislation. Foreign countries are increasingly enacting passenger protection laws, rules and regulations that meet or exceed U.S. requirements. In cases where this activity exceeds U.S. requirements, additional burden and liability may be placed on the Company. Certain countries have regulations requiring passenger compensation from the Company and/or enforcement penalties in addition to changes in operating procedures due to overbooked, canceled or delayed flights.

Airport Access. Historically, access to foreign routes has been tightly controlled through bilateral agreements between the U.S. and each foreign jurisdiction involved. These agreements regulate the routes served, the number of carriers allowed to serve each route and the frequency of carriers' flights. Since the early 1990s, the U.S. has pursued a policy of "Open Skies" (meaning all U.S. and foreign carriers have access to the destination) under which the U.S. government has negotiated a number of bilateral agreements allowing unrestricted access between U.S. and foreign points. Currently, there are more than 100 Open Skies agreements in effect. However, even with Open Skies, many of the airports that the Company serves in Asia, Africa, the Middle East, the Pacific, Europe, and Latin America maintain slot controls. A large number of these slot controls exist due to congestion, environmental and noise protection and reduced capacity due to runway and ATC construction work, among other reasons.

The Company's ability to serve some foreign routes and expand into certain others is limited by the absence of aviation agreements between the U.S. government and the relevant foreign governments. Shifts in U.S. or foreign government aviation policies may lead to the alteration or termination of air service agreements. Depending on the nature of any such change, the value of the Company's international route authorities and slot rights may be materially enhanced or diminished. Similarly, foreign governments control their airspace and can restrict our ability to overfly their territory, which may enhance or diminish the value of the Company's existing international route authorizations and slot rights.

Epidemics or pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, may cause governments to restrict entry of passengers and/or to impose health management rules which can include vaccinations, boosters, testing, quarantine upon arrival, health declarations and temperature screens, among others. Such requirements may result in reduced demand for travel in certain circumstances and may cause the Company to suspend certain international services. Although certain governments may grant waivers for limited periods that allow the Company to maintain existing slot rights and route authorizations while not operating at a particular foreign point, waivers are not guaranteed.

Environmental Regulation. The airline industry is subject to stringent federal, state, local and international environmental regulations, including those regulating emissions to air, water discharges, safe drinking water and the use and management of hazardous substances and wastes. The Company endeavors to comply with all applicable environmental regulations.

Climate Change and Sustainability. As outlined above, the Company's commitment to becoming a more environmentally sustainable company extends beyond seeking to comply with regulatory requirements. At the same time, efforts to reduce carbon emissions through environmental sustainability legislation and regulation, or non-binding standards or accords, is an increased focus of global, national, and regional regulators. The International Civil Aviation Organization's ("ICAO") Carbon Offsetting and Reduction Scheme for International Aviation ("CORSIA"), adopted in October 2016, is intended to be a single global market-based measure to achieve carbon-neutral growth for international aviation, by requiring airlines to purchase eligible carbon offsets, or lower their carbon offsetting obligations through the use of eligible sustainable fuels. In October 2022, the ICAO Assembly passed a resolution establishing the baseline for the subsequent phases of CORSIA at 85% of 2019 emissions. This decision is expected to substantially increase United's anticipated CORSIA compliance costs for the first phase, 2024-2026, as compared to the prior 2019-only baseline. The exact mechanism by which CORSIA will be implemented domestically is currently unknown as the federal government has not enacted legislation or regulations to implement the first phase of CORSIA.

Other jurisdictions are proposing or enacting regulations to limit GHG emissions from aviation. A policy to regulate GHG emissions from aviation known as the European Union ("EU") Emission Trading System ("ETS") was adopted in 2009, but applicability to flights arriving at or departing from airports outside the EU has been postponed several times, most recently until 2027. The extension of the EU ETS to extra-EU flights could still occur in future years, depending on the EU government's assessment of the effectiveness of CORSIA. Domestically, in December 2020, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ("EPA") adopted its own aircraft and aircraft engine GHG emissions standards, which are aligned with the 2017 ICAO airplane CO2 emission standards. In February 2024, the same standards were finalized by the FAA, mandating improved fuel-efficient technologies for airplanes manufactured after January 1, 2028.

The Company believes that policies that incentivize the production of SAF, such as the passage of tax credit incentives for the production of SAF, will enable the Company to decarbonize its operations more cost efficiently than a patchwork of regulatory requirements on aviation, particularly those that require airlines to reduce flights or impose the cost of transitioning to low-carbon alternatives disproportionately on airlines. The Company lauded the adoption of incentives for SAF that were implemented at both the federal level and in several states and will continue to work with policymakers to adopt policies that incentivize the production of SAF to allow the industry to transition to a lower carbon future. In addition, while the Company continues to plan on meeting its mid-term and long-term climate goals without relying on voluntary, traditional carbon offsets, the Company may be subject to future regulatory requirements that require the purchase of non-voluntary, traditional carbon offsets, which may expose the Company to additional costs associated with the procurement of offsets or limited supply in the carbon offsets market. The Company believes that policies that promote in-sector emissions reductions, rather than carbon offset purchases, will better support the industry's transition to a lower carbon future.

At the state level, the regulatory approach taken so far has largely been focused on incentivizing the production and use of SAF. Various states, including California, Washington, and Oregon, have developed low carbon fuel standards that incentivize the use of SAF, while Illinois, Minnesota and Washington have adopted SAF-specific tax credits.

Several countries are considering or finalizing climate-related legislation that impacts aviation. A number of SAF mandates have recently been finalized in foreign jurisdictions that we expect will increase the Company's operating costs by causing aviation fuel suppliers to increase their prices. In some limited cases, the mandates will require the Company to comply with reporting obligations. In 2023, the EU finalized its ReFuelEU regulation which requires fuel suppliers in EU states to supply certain minimum percentages of SAF in the aviation fuel they provide to aircraft operators at covered EU airports, beginning with 2% in 2025 and eventually rising to 70% by 2050. As of January 1, 2025, United is required to submit verified reports to the European Union Aviation Safety Agency on its purchases of SAF, its actual aviation fuel uplift at the EU covered airports, and tankering practices (if any). Aviation fuel prices in Europe are anticipated to significantly increase as a result of ReFuelEU.

In November 2024, the UK government adopted a SAF mandate through its Renewable Transport Fuel Obligations (Sustainable Aviation Fuel) Order 2024. The UK SAF mandate requires aviation fuel companies to supply at least 2% SAF within the aviation fuel supplied to the UK in 2025, increasing to a minimum of 22% SAF in 2040. Aviation fuel suppliers must apply for tradeable SAF certificates to meet their obligation or pay a buy-out price. Although this legislation does not impose any compliance obligations on airlines, the Company believes the UK SAF mandate will similarly lead to higher aviation fuel prices within the UK (as with the EU SAF mandate). SAF blending mandates have also been introduced or proposed in France, Norway, India, and Japan.

Other regulations are also emerging globally that would require companies such as United to increasingly measure, disclose, and mitigate environmental sustainability risks both within their operations and their supply chains, such as the EU's Corporate Sustainability Due Diligence Directive and Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive.

Other Regulations. Our operations are subject to a variety of other environmental laws and regulations both in the United States and internationally. These include noise-related restrictions on aircraft types and operating times and state and local air quality initiatives which have resulted in, or could in the future result in, curtailments in services, increased operating costs, limits on expansion, or further emission reduction requirements. Certain airports and/or governments, both domestically and internationally, either have established or are seeking to establish environmental fees and other requirements applicable to carbon emissions, local air quality pollutants and/or noise and the use of products and material such as single-use plastics. The implementation of these requirements is expected to result in increased operational costs to develop compliance programs and strategies.

Governmental authorities in the U.S. and abroad have passed legislation restricting the use of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances ("PFAS") which have been used in manufacturing, industrial, and consumer applications, including those related to aviation. Certain state governments and local municipalities have adopted legislation prohibiting the use of Class B fire-fighting foam agents that contain intentionally added PFAS. As a result, the Company continues to incur costs to convert existing fixed foam fire suppression systems to accommodate PFAS-free firefighting foam agents. In addition, the EPA has developed the PFAS Strategic Roadmap, which includes regulatory actions across a wide spectrum of its statutory authorities, including the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act ("CERCLA"), the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Clean Water Act, the Toxic Substances Control Act, and the Safe Drinking Water Act. In April 2024, the EPA designated two PFAS substances, perfluorooctanoic acid ("PFOA") and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid ("PFOS") as hazardous substances under CERCLA. The rule authorizes the EPA to order cleanup actions and hold responsible parties liable under CERCLA's joint and several liability scheme. Additionally, the rule requires the Company to immediately report releases that meet or exceed the reportable quantity of PFOA or PFOS to the EPA and any other applicable state and local agencies. The Company expects these broad regulatory policies will increase the risk of incurring remediation costs and/or liabilities at current and former locations at which the Company currently or historically used fire-fighting foam agents containing PFOA, PFOS or other PFAS substances. To mitigate these risks, the Company is working to remove PFAS-containing fire-fighting foam from its hangars and other assets through a phased retrofit/replacement strategy and is committed to transitioning to PFAS-free materials for fire suppression. Finally, environmental cleanup laws and lease obligations could require the Company to undertake (or subject the Company to liability for costs associated with) investigation and remediation actions at certain owned or leased locations or third-party disposal locations. Because PFOA, PFOS and other PFAS substances are regulated under CERCLA and other environmental cleanup laws, the Company may become subject to potential liability for its historic usage of materials containing PFAS, in addition to potential liabilities for other hazardous substances generated by the Company's operations. Future costs to comply with such regulations will remain uncertain but are likely to increase our operating costs over time.

While the Company is required to comply with numerous applicable environmental regulations, the Company believes that these regulations and programs, including the first phase of CORSIA, EPA regulations regarding PFAS and GHG emissions, and other environmental regulations, are not reasonably likely to have a material effect on the Company's results or competitive position. However, the precise nature of future requirements and their applicability to the Company are difficult to predict, and the financial impact to the Company and the aviation industry could be significant.

Information about Our Executive Officers

Below is a list of the Company's executive officers as of the date hereof, including their name, office(s) held and age.

Set forth below is a description of the background of each of the Company's executive officers. Executive officers are elected by UAL's Board for an initial term that continues until the first Board meeting following the next Annual Meeting of Stockholders and thereafter, are elected for a one-year term or until their successors have been chosen, or until their earlier death, resignation or removal. Executive officers serve at the discretion of the Board. Unless otherwise stated, employment is by UAL and United. There are no family relationships between any executive officer or director of UAL.

Torbjorn (Toby) J. Enqvist. Mr. Enqvist has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Operations Officer of UAL and United since July 2022. From June 2021 to July 2022, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of UAL and United. From August 2018 to May 2021, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Customer Officer of UAL and United. From December 2017 to August 2018, he served as Senior Vice President of Network Operations and Customer Solutions of UAL and United. From July 2017 to December 2017, he served as Senior Vice President of Customer Solutions and Recovery of UAL and United. From December 2015 to June 2017, he served as Vice President Hubs Domestic & International Line Stations. From January 2014 to November 2015, he served as Vice President Project Quality. From November 2011 to December 2013, he served as Vice President Newark Hub. From January 2010 to October 2011, he served as Vice President Security & Environment Affairs. Mr. Enqvist joined Continental Airlines, Inc. ("Continental") in 1996.

Kate Gebo. Ms. Gebo has served as Executive Vice President Human Resources and Labor Relations of UAL and United since December 2017. From November 2016 to November 2017, Ms. Gebo served as Senior Vice President, Global Customer Service Delivery and Chief Customer Officer of United. From October 2015 to November 2016, Ms. Gebo served as Vice President of the Office of the Chief Executive Officer of United. From November 2009 to October 2015, Ms. Gebo served as Vice President of Corporate Real Estate of United.

Brett J. Hart. Mr. Hart has served as President of UAL and United since May 2020. From March 2019 to May 2020, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of UAL and United. From May 2017 to March 2019, he served as Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel of UAL and United. From February 2012 to May 2017, he served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel of UAL and United. Mr. Hart served as acting Chief Executive Officer and principal executive officer of the Company, on an interim basis, from October 2015 to March 2016. From December 2010 to February 2012, he served as Senior Vice President, General Counsel and Secretary of UAL, United and Continental. From June 2009 to December 2010, Mr. Hart served as Executive Vice President, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Sara Lee Corporation, a consumer food and beverage company. From March 2005 to May 2009, Mr. Hart served as Deputy General Counsel and Chief Global Compliance Officer of Sara Lee Corporation.

J. Scott Kirby. Mr. Kirby has served as Chief Executive Officer of UAL and United since May 2020. Mr. Kirby served as President of UAL and United from August 2016 to May 2020. Prior to joining the Company, from December 2013 to August 2016, Mr. Kirby served as President of American Airlines Group and American Airlines, Inc. Mr. Kirby also previously served as President of US Airways from October 2006 to December 2013. Mr. Kirby held other significant leadership roles at US Airways and at America West prior to the 2005 merger of those carriers, including Executive Vice President—Sales and Marketing (2001 to 2006); Senior Vice President, e-business (2000 to 2001); Vice President, Revenue Management (1998 to 2000); Vice President, Planning (1997 to 1998); and Senior Director, Scheduling and Planning (1995 to 1998). Prior to joining America West, Mr. Kirby worked for American Airlines Decision Technologies and at the Pentagon.

Michael Leskinen. Mr. Leskinen has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of UAL and United since September 2023. Mr. Leskinen served as Vice President of Corporate Development and Investor Relations of United from April 2019 to September 2023. In 2021, he added the title of President of UAV, an industry-first corporate venture capital fund that identifies and invests in opportunities to decarbonize air travel and enhance the customer travel experience. From January 2018 to April 2019, Mr. Leskinen served as Managing Director of Investor Relations of UAL and United. Prior to joining United, Mr. Leskinen was an executive director at J.P. Morgan Asset Management from 2013 to 2017, where he led the firm's investment efforts in aerospace, defense, and airlines. From 2009 to 2013, he worked at Oppenheimer Funds focused on the aerospace sector.

Andrew Nocella. Mr. Nocella has served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer of UAL and United since September 2017. From February 2017 to September 2017, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Revenue Officer of UAL and United. Prior to joining the Company, from August 2016 to February 2017, Mr. Nocella served as Senior Vice President, Alliances and Sales of American Airlines, Inc. From December 2013 to August 2016, he served as Senior Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of American Airlines, Inc. From August 2007 to December 2013, he served as Senior Vice President, Marketing and Planning of US Airways.

Any of the risks and uncertainties described below could significantly and negatively affect our business operations, financial condition, operating results (including components of our financial results), cash flows, prospects, reputation or credit ratings, which could cause the trading price of our common stock to decline significantly. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not presently known to us, or risks that we currently consider immaterial, could also impair our business operations, financial condition, operating results, cash flows, prospects, reputation or credit ratings.

Strategic and Business Development Risks

We may not be successful in executing elements of our strategic operating plan, which may have a material adverse impact on our business, financial results and market capitalization.

United Next, the Company's strategic operating plan, includes firm orders of over 660 narrow- and widebody aircraft, retrofitting plans and plans to continue to increase mainline daily departures and available seats across the Company's North American network. In developing our United Next plan, we made certain assumptions including, but not limited to, customer demand (in light of changing economic conditions), fuel costs, delivery of aircraft, aircraft certification approval timelines, labor market constraints and related costs, supply chain constraints, inflationary pressures, voluntary or mandatory groundings of aircraft, our regional network, competition, market consolidation and other macroeconomic and geopolitical factors. We also subsequently adjusted certain of our assumptions as a result of the increase in costs due to infrastructure improvements, new labor contracts and aircraft maintenance that were needed to support our United Next plan as well as delays in aircraft deliveries and the temporary grounding of the Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft. Actual conditions may be different from our assumptions at any time and could cause the Company to further adjust its strategic operating plan. In addition, we cannot provide any assurance that we will be able to successfully execute our strategic plan, that the growth that we anticipate will occur through execution of our strategic plan will not exacerbate any other risk described in this Form 10-K (especially relating to fuel costs, the impact of economic pressures or geopolitical events, our supply chain or our ability to attract, train and retain talent), that our strategic plan will not result in additional unanticipated costs, that our suppliers will timely provide adequate products or support for our products (including but not limited to certification and delivery of aircraft) or that our strategic plan will result in improvements in future financial performance. If we do not successfully execute our United Next or other strategic plans, if actual results vary significantly from our expectations or if we otherwise fail to successfully structure our business to meet market conditions, our business, operating results, financial condition and market capitalization could be materially and adversely impacted.

Changes in the Company's network strategy over time or other factors outside of the Company's control may make aircraft on order less economic for the Company, result in costs related to modification or termination of aircraft orders or cause the Company to enter into orders for new aircraft on less favorable terms, and any inability to accept or integrate new aircraft into the Company's fleet as planned could increase costs or affect the Company's flight schedules.

The Company's orders for new aircraft are typically made years in advance of actual delivery of such aircraft and the financial commitment required for purchases of new aircraft is substantial. As a result of our network strategy changing or our demand expectations not being realized, our preference for the aircraft that we previously ordered may decrease; however, we may be responsible for material liabilities to our counterparties if we were to attempt to modify or terminate any of our existing aircraft order commitments and our financial condition could be adversely impacted. These risks are heightened as a result of the Company's sizeable United Next aircraft orders. Additionally, the Company may have a need for additional aircraft that are not available under its existing firm orders or options and may seek to acquire aircraft from other sources, such as through lease arrangements, which may result in higher costs or less favorable terms, or through the purchase or lease of used aircraft. The Company may not be able to acquire such aircraft when needed on favorable terms or at all.

Furthermore, if, for any reason, the Company is unable or does not want to accept deliveries of new aircraft or integrate such new aircraft into its fleet as planned, the Company may face higher financing and operating costs than planned or litigation risks, and may be required to seek extensions of the terms for certain leased aircraft or otherwise delay the exit of other aircraft from its fleet. Unanticipated extensions or delays may require the Company to operate existing aircraft beyond the point at which it is economically optimal to retire them, resulting in increased maintenance costs, or potentially requiring the Company to reduce its schedule, thereby reducing revenues.

The imposition of new tariffs, or any increase in existing tariffs, on the importation of commercial aircraft or commercial aircraft parts that the Company orders may also result in higher costs. In addition, to the extent our key aircraft suppliers are affected by tariffs and seek to pass those costs onto us, our costs of acquiring new aircraft or aircraft parts could increase.

The failure to effectively manage acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and other portfolio actions could adversely impact our operating results. In addition, any businesses or assets that we acquire in the future increase our exposure to unknown liabilities or other issues and also may underperform as compared to expectations.

An important part of the Company's strategy to expand its global network and operate an environmentally sustainable and responsible airline has included making significant investments, both domestically and in other parts of the world, including in other airlines and other aviation industry participants, producers of SAF, manufacturers of electric and other new generation aircraft, and other start-ups developing technologies focused on decarbonizing aviation and its associated energy supply chains. The Company plans to continue to make additional investments, including through its corporate venture capital arm, UAV, and through the Fund. However, since there are a limited number of potential arrangements, and other airlines and industry participants seek to enter into similar relationships, this may make it difficult for the Company to complete strategic investments on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

These investments are inherently risky and may not be successful. Future revenues, profits and cash flows of these and future investments and repayment of invested or loaned funds may not materialize due to safety concerns, regulatory issues, supply chain constraints or other factors beyond our control. Where we acquire debt or equity securities as all or part of the consideration for business development activities, such as in connection with a joint venture, the value of those securities will fluctuate and may depreciate in value. We may not control the companies in which we make investments and, as a result, we will have limited ability to determine their management, operational decisions, internal controls and compliance and other policies, which can result in additional financial and reputational risks. Further, acquisitions and investments create exposure to assumed litigation and unknown liabilities, as well as undetected internal control, regulatory compliance or other issues, or additional costs not anticipated at the time the transaction was completed, and our due diligence efforts may not identify such liabilities or issues, or they may not be fully disclosed to us.

From time to time, we also divest assets. We may not be successful in separating any such assets, and losses on the divestiture of, or lost operating income from, such assets may adversely affect our earnings. Any divestitures also may result in continued financial exposure to the divested businesses following the transaction, such as through guarantees or other financial arrangements or potential litigation.

In addition, we have incurred, and may again in the future incur, asset impairment charges related to acquisitions, divestitures, investments or joint ventures that have the effect of reducing our earnings. Moreover, new or revised accounting standards, rules and interpretations could result in changes to the recognition of income and expense that may materially and adversely affect our financial results.

If the execution or implementation of acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and other portfolio actions is not successful, it could adversely impact our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In addition, due to the Company's substantial amount of debt, there are certain limitations on the Company's business development capacity. Further, pursuing these opportunities may require us to obtain additional equity or debt financing and could result in increased leverage and/or a downgrade of our credit ratings.

Business, Operational and Industry Risks

The Company could experience adverse publicity, increased regulatory scrutiny, harm to its brand, reduced travel demand, potential tort liability and operational restrictions as a result of an accident, catastrophe or incident involving its aircraft or its operations or the aircraft or operations of another airline, which may result in a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results or financial condition.

An accident, catastrophe or incident involving an aircraft that the Company operates, or an aircraft or aircraft type that is operated by another airline, or an incident involving the Company's operations, or the operations of another airline, could have a material adverse effect on the Company if such accident, catastrophe or incident created a public perception that the Company's operations, or the operations of its codeshare partners or regional carriers, are not safe or reliable, or are less safe or reliable than other airlines. Further, any such accident, catastrophe or incident involving the Company, its regional carriers or its codeshare partners could expose the Company to increased regulatory scrutiny and significant liability. For example, in 2024 the FAA conducted a review of the Company's safety and compliance oversight of its operations, though the FAA found no significant safety or compliance issues. Although the Company currently maintains liability insurance in amounts and of the type the Company believes to be consistent with industry practice to cover damages arising from any such accident, catastrophe or incident, and the Company's codeshare partners and regional carriers carry similar insurance and generally indemnify the Company for their operations, if the Company's liability exceeds the applicable policy limits or the ability of another carrier to indemnify it, the Company could incur substantial losses from an accident, catastrophe or incident, which may result in a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results or financial condition. In addition, any such accident, catastrophe or incident involving the Company, its regional carriers or its codeshare partners could result in operational restrictions on the Company, including voluntary or mandatory groundings of aircraft. Voluntary or involuntary groundings have also impacted, and could in the future impact, the Company's financial results and operations in numerous ways, including reduced revenue, redistributions of other aircraft and deferrals of capital expenditure and other spending. For example, in January 2024, the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive suspending service of all Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft operated by U.S. airlines, resulting in the temporary grounding of all 79 of the Company's Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft, which negatively impacted the Company's financial performance in the first quarter of 2024. Previously, in February 2021, the FAA issued an Emergency Airworthiness Directive regarding certain Boeing 777 Pratt & Whitney powered aircraft, which required the Company to keep more than 50 aircraft out of service until required repairs were made to improve the safety of the engines. A prolonged period of time operating a reduced fleet in circumstances such as these could result in a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results or financial condition.

The global airline industry is highly competitive and susceptible to price discounting and changes in capacity, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

The airline industry is highly competitive, marked by significant competition with respect to routes, fares, schedules (both timing and frequency), services, products, customer service and frequent flyer programs. Consolidation in the airline industry, the rise of well-funded government sponsored international carriers, changes in international alliances, swaps of landing and slots and the creation of immunized JBAs have altered and are expected to continue to alter the competitive landscape in the industry, resulting in the formation of airlines and alliances with increased financial resources, more extensive global networks and services and competitive cost structures. Open Skies agreements, including the agreements between the United States and each of the EU, Canada, Japan, Korea, New Zealand, Australia, Colombia, Panama, Mexico, Brazil and the UK, may also give rise to better integration opportunities among international carriers. Movement of airlines between current global airline alliances could reduce joint network coverage for members of such alliances while also creating opportunities for JBAs and bilateral alliances that did not exist before such realignment. Further airline and airline alliance consolidations or reorganizations could occur in the future, and other airlines participating in such activities may significantly improve their cost structures or revenue generation capabilities, thereby potentially making them stronger competitors of the Company and impairing the Company's ability to realize expected benefits from its own strategic relationships.

Airlines also compete by increasing or decreasing their capacity, including route systems and the number of destinations served. Several of the Company's domestic and international competitors have increased their international capacity by including service to some destinations that the Company currently serves, causing overlap in destinations served and, therefore, increasing competition for those destinations. This increased competition in both domestic and international markets may have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and financial condition.

The Company's U.S. operations are subject to competition from traditional network carriers, national point-to-point carriers and discount carriers, including low-cost carriers and ultra-low-cost carriers, that may have lower costs and provide service at lower fares to destinations also served by the Company. The significant presence of low-cost carriers and ultra-low-cost carriers, which engage in substantial price discounting, may diminish our ability to achieve sustained profitability on domestic and international routes and has also caused us to reduce fares for certain routes, resulting in lower yields on many domestic markets. Our ability to compete effectively, particularly in the domestic market, depends, in part, on our ability to maintain a competitive cost structure. If we cannot maintain our costs at a competitive level, then our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected. In addition, our competitors have established new routes and destinations, including some at our hub airports, which may compete with our existing routes and destinations and expansion plans.

Our international operations are subject to competition from both foreign and domestic carriers. For instance, competition is significant from government-subsidized competitors from certain Middle East countries. These carriers have large numbers of international widebody aircraft on order and are increasing service to the U.S. from their hubs in the Middle East. The government support provided to these carriers has allowed them to grow quickly, reinvest in their product, invest in other airlines and expand their global presence. We also face competition from foreign carriers operating under "fifth freedom" rights permitted under international treaties that allow certain carriers to provide service to and from stopover points between their home countries and ultimate destinations, including points in the United States, in competition with service provided by us.

Through alliance and other marketing and codesharing agreements with foreign carriers, U.S. carriers have increased their ability to sell international transportation, such as services to and beyond traditional global gateway cities. Similarly, foreign carriers have obtained increased access to interior U.S. passenger traffic beyond traditional U.S. gateway cities through these relationships. In addition, several JBAs among U.S. and foreign carriers have received grants of antitrust immunity allowing the participating carriers to coordinate schedules, pricing, sales and inventory. If we are not able to continue participating in these types of alliance and other marketing and codesharing agreements in the future, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

Our MileagePlus frequent flyer program benefits from the attractiveness and competitiveness of United Airlines as a material purchaser of award miles and the majority recipient for mileage redemption. If we are not able to maintain a competitive and attractive airline business, our ability to acquire, engage and retain customers in the loyalty program may be adversely affected, which could adversely affect the loyalty programs and our operating results and financial condition.

Further, our MileagePlus frequent flyer program also faces significant and increasing direct competition from the frequent flyer programs offered by other airlines, as well as from similar loyalty programs offered by banks and other financial services companies. Competition among loyalty programs is intense regarding customer acquisition incentives, the value and utility of program currency, rewards range and value, fees, required usage, and other terms and conditions of these programs. If we are not able to maintain a competitive frequent flyer program, our ability to attract and retain customers to MileagePlus and United alike may be adversely affected, which could adversely affect our operating results and financial condition.

Substantially all of the Company's aircraft, engines and certain parts are sourced from a limited number of suppliers; therefore, the Company would be materially and adversely affected if it were unable to obtain timely deliveries, additional equipment or support from any of these suppliers.

The Company currently sources substantially all of its aircraft and many related aircraft parts from The Boeing Company ("Boeing") or Airbus S.A.S. ("Airbus"). In addition, our aircraft suppliers are dependent on other suppliers for certain other aircraft parts. Therefore, if the Company is unable to acquire additional aircraft at acceptable prices from Boeing or Airbus, or if Boeing or Airbus fails to make timely deliveries of aircraft (whether as a result of increased FAA oversight of the production process, any failure or delay in obtaining regulatory approval or certification for new model aircraft, such as the 737 MAX 10 aircraft, which has not received a type certificate from the FAA, manufacturing delays or otherwise) or to provide adequate support for its products, including with respect to the aircraft subject to firm orders under our United Next plan, the Company's operations could be materially and adversely affected. For example, due to the continuing supply chain issues and continuing production delays, the Company currently expects a reduction in deliveries from Boeing during the next couple of years, which has caused the Company to rework its fleet plan and may impact our financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

The Company is also dependent on a limited number of suppliers for engines and certain other aircraft parts and could, therefore, also be materially and adversely affected in the event of the unavailability or increased cost of these engines and other aircraft parts.

Many of our suppliers are experiencing inflationary pressures, as well as disruptions due to the lingering impacts of global supply chain disruption and labor market constraints and related costs. If one or more of our suppliers, our contractors or their subcontractors continue to experience financial difficulties, delivery delays or other performance problems, they may be unable to meet their commitments to us and our financial position, results of operations and cash flows may continue to be adversely impacted.

Disruptions to our regional network and United Express flights provided by third-party regional carriers could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

While the Company has contractual relationships that are material to its business with various regional carriers to provide regional aircraft service branded as United Express that include contractually agreed performance metrics, each regional carrier is a separately certificated commercial air carrier, and the Company does not control the operations of these carriers. A number of factors may impact the Company's regional network, including weather-related effects, seasonality, equipment, software, or other system failures or disruptions and cybersecurity attacks and any significant declines in demand for air travel services.

In addition, the decrease in qualified pilots driven primarily by changes to federal regulations has adversely impacted and could continue to adversely impact the Company's regional flying. For example, the FAA's expansion of minimum pilot qualification standards, including a requirement that a pilot have at least 1,500 total flight hours, as well as the FAA's revised pilot flight and duty time requirements under Part 117 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, have contributed to a smaller supply of pilots available to regional carriers. The decrease in qualified pilots resulting from the regulations as well as other factors, including a decreased student pilot population and a shrinking U.S. military from which to hire qualified pilots, has led to increased competition from large, mainline carriers attempting to meet their hiring needs and has adversely impacted our regional carriers. In the recent past, United Express regional carriers have been unable to hire adequate numbers of pilots to meet their needs, resulting in a reduction in the number of flights offered, disruptions in scheduled flights, increased costs of operations, financial difficulties and other adverse effects and these circumstances may arise again and may become more severe in the future, which could cause a material adverse effect on our business. In response, the Company has been and may in the future be required to provide additional financial compensation and other support to its regional carriers or reduce its regional carrier flying, which could require the Company to fly routes at a greater cost, reduce the number of destinations the Company is able to serve or lead to negative public perceptions of the Company.

Disruptions to our regional networks, the pilot shortage or other factors could adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition.

Unfavorable economic and political conditions, in the United States and globally, may have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results and financial condition.

The Company's business and operating results are significantly impacted by U.S. and global economic and political conditions. The airline industry is highly cyclical and the level of demand for air travel is correlated to the strength of the U.S. and global economies, including unemployment levels, consumer confidence levels and the availability of consumer and business credit. Air transportation is often a discretionary purchase that leisure travelers may limit or eliminate during difficult economic times. Short-haul travelers, in particular, have the option to replace air travel with surface travel. In addition, during periods of unfavorable economic conditions, business travelers historically have reduced the volume of their travel, either due to cost-saving initiatives, the replacement of travel with alternatives such as videoconferencing or as a result of decreased business activity requiring travel. Furthermore, an increase in price levels generally or in price levels in a particular sector (such as current inflationary pressures related to domestic and global supply chain constraints, which have led to both overall price increases and pronounced price increases in certain sectors) could result in a shift in consumer demand away from both leisure and business travel. Reduced or flat consumer spending may drive us and our competitors to reduce or offer promotional prices, which would negatively impact our gross margin. Any of the foregoing would adversely affect the Company's business and operating results. Significant declines in industry passenger demand, particularly with respect to the Company's business and premium cabin travelers and a reduction in fare levels could lead to a material reduction in revenue, changes to the Company's operations and deferrals of capital expenditure and other spending. Additionally, any deterioration in global trade relations, such as increased tariffs or other trade barriers, could result in a decrease in the demand for international air travel.

The Company's business relies extensively on third-party service providers, including certain technology providers. Failure of these parties to perform as expected, or interruptions in the Company's relationships with these providers or their provision of services to the Company, could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business, operating results and financial condition.

The Company has engaged third-party service providers to perform a large number of functions that are integral to its business, including regional operations, operation of customer service call centers, distribution and sale of airline seat inventory, provision of information technology infrastructure and services, transmitting or uploading of data, provision of aircraft maintenance and repairs, provision of various utilities and performance of airport ground services, aircraft fueling operations, catering services and air cargo handling services, among other vital functions and services. Although generally the Company enters into agreements that define expected service performance and compliance requirements, there can be no assurance that our third-party service providers will adhere to these requirements. Accordingly, any of these third-party service providers may materially fail to meet their service performance commitments to the Company or may suffer disruptions to their systems, labor groups or supply chains that could impact their services. For example, failures in certain third-party technology or communications systems have caused, and may in the future cause, flight delays or cancellations. In addition, the failure of any of the Company's third-party service providers to perform their service obligations adequately, or other interruptions of services, may reduce the Company's revenues and increase its expenses, prevent the Company from operating its flights and providing other services to its customers or result in adverse publicity or harm to our brand. We may also be subject to consequences from any illegal conduct of our third-party service providers, including for their failure to comply with anti-corruption laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. In addition, the Company's business and financial performance could be materially harmed if its customers believe that its services are unreliable or unsatisfactory.

The Company may also have disagreements with such third-party providers and related contracts may be terminated or may not be extended or renewed. For example, the number of flight reservations booked through third-party GDSs or OTAs may be adversely affected by disruptions in the business relationships between the Company and these suppliers. Such disruptions, including a failure to agree upon acceptable contract terms when contracts expire or otherwise become subject to renegotiation, may cause the Company's flight information to be limited or unavailable for display by the affected GDS or OTA operator, significantly increase fees for both the Company and GDS/OTA users and impair the Company's relationships with its customers and travel agencies. Any such disruptions or contract terminations may adversely impact our operations and financial results.

If we are not able to negotiate or renew agreements with third-party service providers, or if we renew existing agreements on less favorable terms, our operations and financial results may be adversely affected.

Extended interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports where we operate could have a material adverse impact on our operations, including our ability to operate our existing flight schedule and to expand or change our route network in the future, and space, facility and infrastructure constraints at our hubs or other airports may prevent the Company from maintaining existing service and/or implementing new service in a commercially viable manner.

The airline industry is heavily dependent on business models that concentrate operations in major airports in the United States and throughout the world. An extended interruption or disruption at one of our hubs or other airports where we have a significant presence resulting from ATC delays, weather conditions, natural disasters, growth constraints, relationships with or the performance of third-party service providers, cybersecurity incidents and other failures of computer systems, disruptions to government agencies or personnel (including as a result of government shutdowns), regulatory changes, disruptions at airport facilities or other key facilities used by us to manage our operations, labor relations and market constraints, power supplies, fuel supplies, terrorist activities, international hostilities or other factors could result in the cancellation or delay of a significant portion of our flights and, as a result, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. For example, we perform significant aircraft and engine maintenance operations at our SFO airport hub and any disruption or interruption at our SFO hub could have a serious impact on our overall operations. We have minimal control over the operation, quality or maintenance of these services or whether our suppliers will improve or continue to provide services that are essential to our business. For example, because we prioritize operational excellence and continually work to optimize our route network and schedule, in light of the industry-wide operational challenges at airports in our network that have limited our system-wide capacity (two of the more prominent examples being the grounding of a number of the Company's transatlantic flights in response to the capacity cut by London Heathrow during the summer of 2022 and the flight disruptions experienced at EWR during the summer of 2023), we have reconfigured our proposed flight schedule and capacity to help improve our operational performance and our customers' experience. These industry-wide operational challenges have had a negative impact on our business and operating results and are expected to continue. In the future, we may not be able to adjust our operations to mitigate their effect, which may have a negative impact on our business, operating results, financial condition and liquidity and may limit our ability to expand or change our route network and execute our United Next strategy.

In addition, as airports around the world become more congested, space, facility and infrastructure constraints at our hubs or other airports where we operate now or may operate in the future may prevent the Company from maintaining existing service and/or implementing new service in a commercially viable manner because of a number of factors, including capital improvements at such airports being imposed by the relevant airport authorities without the Company's approval. Capital spending projects of airport authorities currently underway and additional projects that we expect to commence over the next several years are expected to result in increased costs to airlines and the traveling public that use those facilities as the airports seek to recover their investments through increased rental rates, landing fees and other facility costs. These actions have caused and may continue to cause the Company to experience increased space rental rates at various airports in its network, including a number of our hubs and gateways, as well as increased operating costs. Furthermore, the Company is not able to control decisions by other airlines to reduce their capacity, causing certain fixed airport costs to be allocated among fewer total flights and resulting in increased landing fees and other costs for the Company. We currently have sufficient slots or analogous authorizations to operate our existing flights and we have generally, but not always, been able to obtain the rights to expand our operations and to change our schedules, but there can be no assurance that we can maintain existing service or implement new service in a cost-effective manner in the future.

Geopolitical conflict, terrorist attacks or security events may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

As a global business with operations outside of the United States from which we derive significant operating revenues, volatile conditions in certain international regions may have a negative impact on our operating results and our ability to achieve our business objectives. The Company's international operations are a vital part of its worldwide airline network. Political disruptions and instability in certain regions have negatively impacted the demand and network availability for air travel, as well as fuel prices, and may continue to have a negative impact on these and other items. For example, the suspension of the Company's overflying in Russian airspace as a result of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and interruptions of our flying as a result of the military conflict in the Middle East have significantly impacted our financial condition, cash flows and results of operations. In addition, terrorist attacks or international hostilities, even if not made on or targeted directly at the airline industry, or the fear of or the precautions taken in anticipation of such attacks (including elevated national threat warnings, travel restrictions, selective cancellation or redirection of flights and new security regulations) could materially and adversely affect the Company and the airline industry. The Company's financial resources and insurance coverage may not be sufficient to absorb the adverse effects of any future terrorist attacks, international hostilities or other security events, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company's financial condition, liquidity and operating results. In addition, due to threats against the aviation industry, the Company has incurred, and may continue to incur, significant expenditures to comply with security-related requirements to mitigate threats and protect the safety of our employees and customers.

Managing our reputation and brand image is critical to our business success and if our reputation or brand image is damaged, it could adversely affect our business or financial results.

We operate in a public-facing industry and maintaining a good reputation and brand image is critical to our business. The Company's reputation or brand image could be adversely impacted by any failure to maintain satisfactory practices for all of our operations and activities; any failure or perceived failure to achieve and/or make progress toward any publicly-announced safety, community impact, environmental sustainability, human capital management, people impact, responsible sourcing, cybersecurity or governance ("Corporate Citizenship") goals, which are aspirational, subject to risks and uncertainties that are outside of our control and are not guarantees that we will be able to achieve them, within the anticipated timelines disclosed or at all; our stakeholders, including proxy advisory services, not being satisfied with our Corporate Citizenship goals or strategy, our efforts to meet such goals or our actual or perceived position or lack of position on political, public policy or other sensitive issues; public pressure, which can be varied and conflicting, from investors or policy groups to change our Corporate Citizenship policies and strategies or our position on political, public policy or other sensitive issues; customer perceptions of our advertising campaigns, sponsorship arrangements or marketing programs, including greenwashing concerns regarding our advertising campaigns and marketing programs related to our sustainability initiatives; deficiencies in the quantitative data that we disclose in relation to our Corporate Citizenship goals; customer perceptions of statements made by us, our employees, executives or agents or others; or negative or inaccurate publicity, such as posts, articles or comments on social media, on the internet or in the press. Damage to our reputation or brand image or loss of customer confidence in our services could adversely affect our business and financial results, as well as require additional resources to rebuild our reputation.

Regulators, customers, investors, employees and other stakeholders are focusing more on Corporate Citizenship impacts of operations, diligence processes and related disclosures, which are subject to legislation, regulations, standards and accords for identifying, collecting, measuring and reporting that are developing and sometimes ambiguous, inconsistent or conflicting, could change over time and could result in significant revisions of our goals. This scrutiny and the associated legislation, regulations, standards and accords also involve internal controls and processes that continue to evolve and are not uniform; depend in part on third-party performance or data that is outside the Company's control; expose us to litigation and regulatory enforcement risks; and have resulted in, and are likely to continue to result in, increased general and administrative expenses and increased management time and attention spent complying with or meeting such expectations, legislation, regulations, standards and accords.

Our reputation and brand image may be impacted by our ability to comply with applicable Corporate Citizenship-related federal, state and international binding or non-binding legislation, regulation, standards and accords as well as by the accuracy, adequacy or completeness of our disclosures relating to our Corporate Citizenship goals and initiatives and progress towards those goals.

Information Technology, Cybersecurity and Data Privacy Risks

The Company relies heavily on technology and automated systems to operate its business and any significant failure or disruption of, or failure to effectively integrate and implement, these technologies or systems could materially harm its business or business strategy.

The Company depends on technology and automated systems, including artificial intelligence ("AI"), to operate its business, including, but not limited to, computerized airline reservation systems, electronic tickets, electronic airport kiosks, demand prediction software, flight operations systems, in-flight wireless internet, cloud-based technologies, technical and business operations systems and commercial websites and applications, including www.united.com (http://www.united.com) and the United Airlines mobile app. These systems could suffer substantial or repeated disruptions due to various events, some of which are beyond the Company's control (including natural disasters (which may occur more frequently or intensely as a result of the impacts of climate change), power failures, terrorist attacks, dependencies on third-party technology services, equipment or software failures, cybersecurity attacks, insider threats or other security breaches and the deployment by certain wireless carriers of "5G" service networks), which could reduce the attractiveness of the Company's services versus those of our competitors, materially impair our ability to market our services and operate our flights, result in the unauthorized release of confidential or sensitive information, or information that should be protected from inadvertent disclosures, negatively impact our reputation among our customers and the public, subject us to liability to third parties, regulatory action or contract termination and result in other increased costs, lost revenue and the loss of, or compromise to the integrity, availability or confidentiality of, important data. These systems have in the past and may in the future be subject to failure, disruption or cyber incidents as a result of these or other factors. Substantial or repeated systems failures or disruptions may adversely affect the Company's business, operating results, financial condition and business strategy. We have cybersecurity frameworks, resiliency initiatives and disaster recovery plans in place designed to prevent and mitigate disruptions, and we continue to invest in improvements to these initiatives and plans. We also maintain property and business interruption insurance. However, these measures may not be adequate to prevent or mitigate disruptions or provide coverage for the Company's associated costs, some of which may be unforeseeable.

Automated systems and technologies, including AI, may become increasingly important in our operations over time. The Company may face challenges in implementing, integrating and modifying the automated systems and technologies required to operate its business or new systems and technologies designed to enhance its business, each of which may require significant expenditures, human resources, the development of effective internal controls and the transformation of business and financial processes. Our competitors or other third parties may incorporate AI into their products more quickly or more successfully than us, which could impair our ability to compete effectively and adversely affect our results of operations. Additionally, if AI is improperly utilized, including if the content, analyses, or recommendations that AI applications assist in producing are or are alleged to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased, we would be exposed to new or expanded risks and liabilities related to inaccuracies or errors in the output of such AI applications and our business, reputation, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected. AI also presents emerging ethical issues, and if our use of AI becomes controversial, we may experience brand or reputational harm, competitive harm, or legal liability. The rapid evolution of AI, including current and proposed government regulation of AI, may require significant resources to develop, test and maintain our AI platform and services to help us implement AI in a compliant and ethical manner in order to minimize any adverse impact to our business. If the Company is generally unable to timely or effectively implement, integrate or modify its systems and technology, the Company's operations could be adversely affected.

Increasing privacy, data security and cybersecurity obligations or a significant data breach may adversely affect the Company's business.

In our regular business operations, we collect, process, store and transmit to commercial partners sensitive data, including personal information of our customers and employees such as payment processing information and information of our business partners, to provide our services and operate our business.

The Company must manage increasing legislative, regulatory and consumer focus on privacy issues, data security and cybersecurity risk management in a variety of jurisdictions domestically and across the globe. For example, the EU's General Data Protection Regulation imposes significant privacy and data security requirements, as well as potential for substantial penalties for non-compliance that have resulted in substantial adverse financial consequences to non-compliant companies. Similarly, Executive Order 14117 (Preventing Access to Americans' Bulk Sensitive Personal Data and US Government Related Data By Countries of Concern), and its implementing regulations, may limit our ability to share information with China and other "Countries of Concern" and certain service providers. Depending on the regulatory interpretation and enforcement of emerging data protection regulations and industry standards, the Company's business operations could be impacted, up to and including being unable to operate, within certain jurisdictions. Also, some of the Company's commercial partners, such as credit card companies, have imposed data security standards that the Company must meet. The Company will continue its efforts to meet its privacy, data security and cybersecurity risk management obligations; however, it is possible that certain new obligations or customer expectations may be difficult to meet and could require changes in the Company's operating processes and increase the Company's costs. Any significant liabilities associated with violations of any related laws or regulations could also have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and liquidity, reputation and consumer relationships.

Additionally, the Company must manage the increasing threat of continually evolving cybersecurity risks. Our network, systems and storage applications, and those systems and applications maintained by our third-party commercial partners (such as aircraft and engine suppliers, cloud computing companies, credit card companies, regional airline carriers and international airline partners) have been and likely will continue to be subject to attempts to gain unauthorized access, breaches, malfeasance or other system disruptions, including those involving criminal hackers, denial of service attacks, hacktivists, state-sponsored actors, corporate espionage, employee malfeasance and human or technological error. In some cases, it is difficult to anticipate or to detect immediately such incidents and the damage caused thereby, and we may not be able to realize the benefits of our proactive defense measures and may experience operational difficulty in implementing them. Our use of AI applications has resulted in certain immaterial cybersecurity incidents and may in the future result in additional cybersecurity incidents, including incidents that implicate the personal data of our customers, employees or users of such applications, any of which could have an adverse effect on our business, operating results, financial condition and liquidity, reputation and consumer relationships. In addition, as attacks by cybercriminals and nation state actors become more sophisticated, frequent and intense, the costs of proactive defense measures have increased and will likely continue to increase. Furthermore, the Company's remote work arrangements may make it more vulnerable to targeted activity from cybercriminals and significantly increase the risk of cyberattacks or other security breaches. While we endeavor to safeguard our network, systems and applications, including through risk assessments, system monitoring, cybersecurity and data protection policies, processes and technologies and employee awareness and training, and seek to require that third parties adhere to security standards, there is no assurance that such actions will be sufficient to prevent actual or perceived cybersecurity incidents or data breaches or the damages and impacts to our business that result therefrom.

Any such cybersecurity incident or data breach could result in significant costs, including monetary damages, operational impacts, including service interruptions and delays, and reputational harm. Furthermore, the loss, disclosure, misappropriation of or access to sensitive Company information, customers', employees' or business partners' information or the Company's failure to meet its privacy or data protection obligations could result in legal claims or proceedings, penalties and remediation costs. A significant data breach or the Company's failure to meet its data privacy or data protection obligations may adversely affect the Company's operations, reputation, relationships with our business partners, business, operating results, financial condition and business strategy.

Increased use of social media platforms present risks and challenges.

We are increasing our use of social media to communicate Company news and events. The inappropriate and/or unauthorized use of certain media vehicles could cause brand damage or information leakage or could lead to legal implications, including from the improper collection and/or dissemination of personally identifiable information from employees, customers or other stakeholders. In addition, negative or inaccurate posts or comments about us on any social networking website could damage our reputation, brand image and goodwill. Further, the disclosure of non-public Company-sensitive information by our workforce or others, whether intentional or unintentional, through external media channels could lead to information loss and reputational or competitive harm.

Human Capital Management Risks

Union disputes, employee strikes or slowdowns and other labor-related disruptions as well as increased labor and regulatory compliance costs could adversely affect the Company's business, operations and results of operations.

United is a highly unionized company. As of December 31, 2024, the Company and its subsidiaries had approximately 107,300 employees, of whom approximately 82% were represented by various U.S. labor organizations. See Part I, Item 1. Business—Human Capital Management and Resources of this report for additional information on our represented employee groups and collective bargaining agreements. There is a risk that unions or individual employees might pursue judicial or arbitral claims arising out of changes implemented as a result of the Company entering into collective bargaining agreements with its represented employee groups. There is also a possibility that employees or unions could engage in job actions such as slowdowns, work-to-rule campaigns, sick-outs or other actions designed to disrupt the Company's normal operations in an attempt to pressure the Company in collective bargaining negotiations. Although the Railway Labor Act makes such actions unlawful until the parties have been lawfully released to self-help after the failure of direct negotiation, mediation and arbitration process to reach a resolution, and the Company can seek injunctive relief against premature self-help, such actions can cause significant harm to the Company's operations even if ultimately enjoined. Similarly, if the operations of our third-party regional carriers, ground handlers or other vendors are impacted by labor-related disruptions, our operations could be adversely affected. In addition, collective bargaining agreements with the Company's represented employee groups have materially increased the Company's labor costs due to wage inflation. We remain in negotiations regarding certain of these collective bargaining agreements and anticipate that any new contracts involving the relevant labor groups may include material increases in salaries and other benefits, which would significantly increase our labor expense. Furthermore, there is rising litigation in the airline industry over the application of state and local employment and labor laws that purport to govern benefits and duties of certain employee groups but are increasingly in conflict with our negotiated collective bargaining agreements. Adverse decisions in these cases could negatively impact our operational flexibility and ability to apply our collective bargaining agreements as negotiated.

If we are unable to attract, train or retain skilled personnel, including our senior management team or other key employees, our business could be adversely affected.

Much of our future success is largely dependent on our continued ability to attract, train and retain talented, highly-qualified personnel with industry experience and knowledge, including our senior management team and other key employees. Competition for qualified talent in the aviation industry is intense and labor market constraints may arise in the future. If there is a shortage of skilled labor, we may be unable to successfully transition key roles, the cost of hiring and retaining quality talent could materially increase and our operations may be impacted, which could impair our ability to adjust capacity or otherwise execute our strategic operating plan. In addition, if we are unable to effectively provide for the succession of senior management or other key employees, our business, ability to execute our strategic operating plan or company culture may be adversely affected.

Regulatory, Tax, Litigation and Legal Compliance Risks

The airline industry is subject to extensive government regulation, which imposes significant costs and may adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

Airlines are subject to extensive regulatory and legal oversight. Compliance with U.S. and international regulations imposes significant costs and may have adverse effects on the Company.

United provides air transportation under certificates of public convenience and necessity issued by the DOT. If the DOT modified, suspended or revoked these certificates, it could have a material adverse effect on the Company's business. The DOT also regulates consumer protection and, through its investigations or rulemaking authority could impose restrictions that materially impact the Company's business. United also operates pursuant to an air carrier operating certificate issued by the FAA, and FAA orders and directives have previously resulted in the temporary grounding of an entire aircraft type when the FAA identifies design, manufacturing, maintenance or other issues requiring immediate corrective action (including the FAA Emergency Airworthiness Directives suspending service of the Company's Boeing 737 MAX 9 aircraft in January 2024 and grounding our Boeing 777 Pratt & Whitney powered aircraft in February 2021), which has had and could in the future have a material effect on the Company's business, operating results and financial condition.

In May 2024, the U.S. Congress approved a reauthorization for the FAA running through fiscal year 2028. Among other things, the FAA reauthorization increased the authorized funding level for the FAA and required the hiring of additional air traffic controllers, an effort to address staffing and resource shortages and improve the operation of the ATC system in the U.S. Any new or enhanced requirements resulting from the FAA reauthorization may materially impact our operations and costs. Additionally, the U.S. Congress may consider legislation related to environmental issues relevant to the airline industry, such as the implementation of CORSIA, which could negatively impact the Company and the airline industry.

The Company's operations may also be adversely impacted due to the existing antiquated ATC system utilized by the U.S. government and regulated by the FAA, which may not be able to effectively handle projected future air traffic growth. The outdated ATC system has led to short-term capacity constraints imposed by government agencies and has resulted in delays and disruptions of air traffic during peak travel periods in certain markets due to its inability to handle demand and reduced resiliency in the event of a failure causing flight cancellations and delays. Failure to update the ATC system in a timely manner and the substantial funding requirements of a modernized ATC system that may be imposed on air carriers may have an adverse impact on the Company's financial condition or operating results.

Access to slots at several major U.S. airports and many foreign airports served by the Company is subject to government regulation on airspace management and competition that might limit the number of slots or change the rules on the use and transfer of slots. If slots are eliminated at one of our hubs or other airports, or if the number of hours of operation governed by slots is reduced at an airport, the lack of controls on take-offs and landings could result in greater congestion both at the affected airport and in the regional airspace and could significantly impact the Company's operations. Similarly, a government or regulatory agency, including the DOT, could choose to impose slot restrictions at one of our hubs or other airports or grant increased access to another carrier and limit or reduce our operations at an airport, whether or not slot-controlled, which could have a significant impact on our operations. The DOT (including the FAA) may limit the Company's airport access by limiting the number of departure and arrival slots at congested airports, which could affect the Company's ownership and transfer rights, and local airport authorities may have the ability to control access to certain facilities or the cost to access their facilities, which could have an adverse effect on the Company's business. If the DOT were to take actions that adversely affect the Company's slot holdings, the Company could incur substantial costs to preserve its slots or may lose slots.

The Company currently operates a number of flights on international routes under government arrangements, regulations or policies that designate the number of carriers permitted to operate on such routes, the capacity of the carriers providing services on such routes, the airports at which carriers may operate international flights or the number of carriers allowed access to particular airports. Applicable arrangements between the United States and foreign governments (such as Open Skies) may be amended from time to time, government policies with respect to airport operations may be revised and the availability of appropriate slots or facilities may change, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company's financial condition and operating results and could result in the impairment of material amounts of related tangible and intangible assets.

In addition, disruptions to the Company's business could result from the deployment of new cellular networks (e.g., "5G") by wireless carriers, which, due to potential interference with aircraft systems, could cause flights to be cancelled or diverted, which in turn could affect consumer perceptions of the safety of air travel. For example, over the past years regulators have addressed potential "5G" interference on a temporary and piecemeal basis tailored to specific aircraft and airports, which could occur again. Systematic regulation of the overlap between aviation systems and cellular networks may not occur in the near term or may not involve terms that are favorable to the Company.

Moreover, any legislation that would result in a reshaping of the benefits that the Company is able to provide to its consumers through the co-branded credit cards issued by our partner could also materially negatively affect the Company's profitability and competitive position.

In addition, competition from revenue-sharing JBAs and other alliance arrangements by and among other airlines could impair the value of the Company's business and assets on the Open Skies routes. The Company's plans to enter into or expand U.S. antitrust immunized alliances and JBAs on various international routes are subject to receipt of approvals from applicable U.S.

federal authorities and other applicable foreign government clearances or satisfaction of other applicable regulatory requirements. There can be no assurance that such approvals and clearances will be granted or will continue in effect upon further regulatory review or that changes in regulatory requirements or standards can be satisfied.

See Part I, Item 1. Business—Industry Regulation, of this report for additional information on government regulation impacting the Company.

Current or future litigation and regulatory actions, or failure to comply with the terms of any settlement, order or agreement relating to these actions, could have a material adverse impact on the Company.

From time to time, we are subject to litigation and other legal and regulatory proceedings relating to our business or investigations or other actions by governmental agencies, including as described in Part I, Item 3. Legal Proceedings, of this report. In addition, the Company was subject to an increased risk of litigation and other proceedings as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and responsive measures. For example, the Company is involved in a certified class action lawsuit relating to its vaccination requirements for employees. No assurances can be given that the results of these or any potential new matters will be favorable to us. An adverse resolution of lawsuits, arbitrations, investigations or other proceedings or actions could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and operating results, including as a result of non-monetary remedies, and could also result in adverse publicity. Defending ourselves in these matters may be time-consuming, expensive and disruptive to normal business operations and may result in significant expense and a diversion of management's time and attention from the operation of our business, which could impede our ability to achieve our business objectives. Additionally, any amount that we may be required to pay to satisfy a judgment, settlement, fine or penalty may not be covered by insurance. If we fail to comply with the terms contained in any settlement, order or agreement with a governmental authority relating to these matters, we could be subject to criminal or civil penalties, which could have a material adverse impact on the Company. Under our charter and certain indemnification agreements that we have entered into (and may in the future enter into) with our officers, directors and certain third parties, we could be required to indemnify and advance expenses to them in connection with their involvement in certain actions, suits, investigations and other proceedings. Any of these payments may be material.

We are subject to many forms of environmental regulation and liability as well as risks associated with climate change and may incur substantial costs as a result.

Many aspects of the Company's operations are subject to federal, state, local and international laws regarding the environment, including those relating to water discharges, safe drinking water and the use and management of hazardous materials and wastes. Compliance with existing and future environmental laws and regulations has required and may in the future require significant expenditures and operational changes. Violations have led and may in the future lead to significant fines, penalties, lawsuits and reputational harm. In addition, we have in the past been identified and may in the future be identified as a responsible party for environmental investigation and remediation costs under applicable environmental laws due to the disposal or release of hazardous substances generated by our operations, including PFAS, which were designated by U.S. EPA in 2024 as hazardous substances under the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation & Liability Act. We could also be subject to environmental liability claims from various parties, including airport authorities and other third parties, related to our operations at our owned or leased premises, including our use of PFAS-containing fire suppression systems as required by fire codes and insurers, or the off-site disposal of waste generated at our facilities.

As discussed in Part I, Item 1. Business—Our Approach to Corporate Citizenship and Value Creation—Environmental Sustainability Strategy, the Company has made commitments to reduce its GHG emissions by 100% by 2050 and its carbon emission intensity by 50% by 2035 compared to 2019. The Company has incurred, and expects to continue to incur, costs to achieve its goal of net zero carbon emissions, which will involve a transition to lower-carbon technologies (such as SAF), and to comply with environmental sustainability legislation and regulation and non-binding standards and accords. Such activity may require the Company to modify its supply chain practices, make capital investments to modify certain aspects of its operations or increase its operating costs (including fuel costs). The potential transition cost to a lower-carbon economy could be prohibitively expensive without appropriate government policies and incentives in place. The precise nature of future binding or non-binding legislation, regulation, standards and accords in this area of increased focus by global, national and regional regulators is difficult to predict and the financial impact to the Company could be significant if future legal standards and regulatory policies do not align with or support the Company's plans to achieve its climate goals. For instance, CORSIA-related costs cannot be fully predicted at this time, but the program, which requires the purchasing of carbon offsets, is expected to increase operating costs for airlines that operate internationally. There is also a risk that a patchwork of inconsistent or conflicting regional environmental requirements could unduly shift excessive cost burden to airlines and inhibit the development of carbon reduction technologies that the Company needs to reach its climate goals. The Company believes that climate change presents, along with challenges, strategic opportunities and that the sustainability-related solutions the Company is pursuing to advance its climate goals will help mitigate several of these potential risks posed by the transition to a lower-carbon economy. While the Company has not yet purchased carbon offsets for CORSIA compliance, the Company anticipates being required to do so by January 2028 if a regulatory framework to implement CORSIA within the United States is established. There is a risk that insufficient CORSIA-eligible carbon offsets will be available for purchase for CORSIA compliance.

There can be no assurance of the extent to which any of our climate goals will be achieved or that any current or future investments that we make in furtherance of achieving our climate goals will produce the expected results or meet stakeholders' evolving expectations. Moreover, future events could lead the Company to prioritize other nearer-term interests over progressing toward our current climate goals based on business strategy, economic, regulatory and social factors or pressure from investors or other stakeholders. If we fail—or are perceived to fail—to meet or properly report on our progress toward achieving our climate change goals and commitments, we could face adverse reactions from investors or other stakeholders, which could result in adverse effects to the Company. In addition, the Company believes it is possible that, in the future, segments of the public may choose to fly less frequently as a result of negative perception of the environmental impact of air travel or fly on an airline based on carriers' GHG emissions or which carrier they perceive as operating in a manner that is more sustainable to the climate, which presents both a challenge and an opportunity for the Company and is why the Company is resolute in attaining its mid-term and long-term climate goals; if this trend materializes, the Company's results of operations could be adversely impacted and those impacts could be exacerbated if the Company fails to meet or properly report on its climate change goals and commitments. More broadly, we could also be subject to climate litigation, as groups, individuals and governmental authorities affected by climate change seek to recover climate-related damages from entities they perceive as being partially responsible for human-induced climate change because of the emission of GHGs from their operations.

The Company's key pathways to achieving its climate goals include investing in and using more SAF, reducing its conventional jet fuel consumption and working with strategic partners to advance the future of more sustainable flight. The achievement of our goals is therefore largely dependent on the significant development of and maturation in the SAF market. Currently, there is a premium for SAF above the cost of conventional jet fuel and this premium may increase in certain markets in the near future due to SAF blending mandates in Europe, the UK and other parts of the world. The Company has been able to increase its purchases of SAF in recent years due to its corporate customers' funding of the price premium for SAF through the Company's Eco-Skies Alliance, but the willingness of corporate customers to assist the Company in covering the price premium for SAF in the future could decrease for a number of reasons, including based on economic factors or concerns regarding the validity of a book and claim approach for claiming the emissions reductions from SAF, constraints on supplies of SAF that meet customer requirements or emerging SAF certification schemes developed by non-governmental organizations or practices whereby corporate customers purchase the environmental attributes from SAF directly from fuel producers, bypassing the airlines. In addition, the demand for cost-competitive SAF within the aviation industry significantly exceeds the current available supply. While we have been able to increase our current supply of SAF year over year through definitive offtake agreements, we have also entered into certain conditional agreements with start-up companies for future SAF supply. These conditional SAF purchase agreements for future SAF supply may pertain to production from facilities that are planned but not yet operational and which may utilize technology that has not been proven at commercial scale. There is no assurance that these facilities will produce SAF at commercial scale or that they will meet expected production timelines and volumes.

As we seek to mitigate our business risks associated with climate change by establishing robust environmental programs, the Company has incurred costs and substantial operational disruptions as a result of both its physical risks (such as extreme weather conditions or rising sea levels) and transition risks (such as regulatory or technological changes) associated with climate change. Climate change is expected to increase the frequency, severity, unpredictability and duration of severe weather events and other natural cycles and could affect travel demand as well as result in increases in delays and cancellations, turbulence-related injuries and fuel consumption to avoid such weather, any of which could result in a significant loss of revenue and higher costs. In addition, certain of our and our vendors' and airport authorities' operations and facilities around the world are in locations that may be impacted by the physical impacts of climate change and we could incur significant costs to improve the climate resiliency of our infrastructure and supply chain and otherwise prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the effects of climate change. We are not able to reasonably predict the future materiality of any potential losses or costs associated with the effects of climate change.

See Part I, Item 1. Business—Industry Regulation—Environmental Regulation, of this report for additional information on environmental regulation impacting the Company.

Market, Liquidity, Accounting and Financial Risks

High and/or volatile fuel prices or significant disruptions in the supply of aircraft fuel could have a material adverse impact on the Company's strategic plans, operating results, financial condition and liquidity.

Aircraft fuel is critical to the Company's operations and is one of our largest operating expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company's fuel expense was approximately $11.8 billion. The timely and adequate supply of fuel to meet operational demand depends on the continued availability of reliable fuel supply sources as well as related service and delivery infrastructure. Although the Company has some ability to cover short-term fuel supply and infrastructure disruptions at some major demand locations, it depends significantly on the continued performance of its vendors and service providers to maintain supply integrity. Consequently, the Company can neither predict nor guarantee the continued timely availability of aircraft fuel throughout the Company's system.

Aircraft fuel has historically been the Company's most volatile operating expense due to the highly unpredictable nature of market prices for fuel. The Company generally sources fuel at prevailing market prices, which have historically fluctuated substantially in short periods of time and continue to be highly volatile due to a multitude of unpredictable factors beyond the Company's control, including changes in global crude oil prices, the balance between aircraft fuel supply and demand, natural disasters, prevailing inventory levels and fuel production and transportation infrastructure. Prices of fuel are also impacted by indirect factors, such as geopolitical events, economic growth indicators, fiscal/monetary policies, fuel tax policies, changes in regulations, environmental concerns and financial investments in energy markets. Both actual changes in these factors, as well as changes in related market expectations, can potentially drive rapid changes in fuel prices in short periods of time. Rising fuel prices can also lead to constraints on the Company's regional partners, reduced capital available for other spending or other outcomes that could adversely impact the Company.

Given the highly competitive nature of the airline industry, the Company historically has had limited ability to, and may not be able to in the future, increase its fares and fees sufficiently to offset the full impact of increases in fuel prices, especially if these increases are significant, rapid and sustained. Further, any such fare or fee increase may not be sustainable, may reduce the general demand for air travel and may also eventually impact the Company's operations, strategic growth and investment plans for the future. In addition, decreases in fuel prices for an extended period of time may result in increased industry capacity, increased competitive actions for market share and lower fares or surcharges. If fuel prices were to then subsequently rise quickly, there may be a lag between the rise in fuel prices and any improvement of the revenue environment.

The Company does not currently hedge its future fuel requirements. However, to the extent the Company decides to start a hedging program to hedge a portion of its future fuel requirements, such hedging program may not be successful in mitigating higher fuel costs and any price protection provided may be limited due to the choice of hedging instruments and market conditions, including the breakdown of correlation between any such hedging instrument and the market price of aircraft fuel and failure of hedge counterparties. To the extent that the Company decides to use hedge contracts that have the potential to create an obligation to pay upon settlement if fuel prices decline significantly, such hedge contracts may limit the Company's ability to benefit fully from lower fuel prices in the future. If fuel prices decline significantly from the levels existing at the time the Company enters into a hedge contract, the Company may be required to post collateral (margin) beyond certain thresholds. There can be no assurance that any such hedging arrangements would provide any particular level of protection against rises in fuel prices or that the counterparties to any such hedging arrangements would be able to perform. Additionally, deterioration in the Company's financial condition could negatively affect its ability to enter into hedge contracts in the future.

The Company has a significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations and insufficient liquidity may have a material adverse effect on the Company's financial condition and business.

The Company has a significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations, including aircraft lease and debt financings, leases of airport property, secured bonds, secured loan facilities and other facilities, and other material cash obligations. In addition, the Company has substantial noncancelable commitments for capital expenditures, including for the acquisition of new aircraft and related spare engines. If the Company's liquidity is materially diminished, the Company's substantial level of indebtedness, the Company's non-investment grade credit ratings and the lack of availability of Company assets as collateral for loans or other indebtedness may make it difficult for the Company to raise additional capital if needed to meet its liquidity needs on acceptable terms, or at all, and the Company may not be able to timely pay its leases and debts or comply with material provisions of its contractual obligations, including covenants under its financing and credit card processing agreements.

In addition to the foregoing, the degree to which we are leveraged could have important consequences to holders of our securities, including the following: (1) we must dedicate a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to the payment of principal and interest on applicable indebtedness, which, in turn, reduces funds available for operations and capital expenditures; (2) our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in the markets in which we compete may be limited; (3) we may be at a competitive disadvantage relative to our competitors with less indebtedness; (4) we are rendered more vulnerable to general adverse economic and industry conditions; (5) we are exposed to increased interest rate risk given that a portion of our indebtedness obligations are at variable interest rates; and (6) our credit ratings may be reduced and our debt and equity securities may significantly decrease in value.

See Part II, Item 7., Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, of this report for additional information regarding the Company's liquidity.

Agreements governing our debt include financial and other covenants. Failure to comply with these covenants could result in events of default.

Our financing agreements include various financial and other covenants. Certain of these covenants require UAL or United, as applicable, to maintain minimum liquidity and/or minimum collateral coverage ratios. UAL's or United's ability to comply with these covenants may be affected by events beyond its control, including the overall industry revenue environment, the level of fuel costs and the appraised value of the collateral. In addition, our financing agreements contain other negative covenants customary for such financings. If we fail to comply with these covenants and are unable to remedy or obtain a waiver or amendment, an event of default would result.

If an event of default were to occur, the lenders could, among other things, declare outstanding amounts immediately due and payable. In addition, an event of default or declaration of acceleration under one financing agreement could also result in an event of default under other of our financing agreements due to cross-default and cross-acceleration provisions. The acceleration of significant amounts of debt could require us to renegotiate, repay or refinance the obligations under our financing arrangements, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to do so on commercially reasonable terms or at all.

The senior secured notes (the "MileagePlus Senior Secured Notes") secured by substantially all of the assets of Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC in particular contain stringent covenants, limit our flexibility to manage our capital structure and limit our ability to make financial and operational changes to the MileagePlus program. If we were to default under the agreements governing the MileagePlus Senior Secured Notes, the noteholders' exercise of remedies could result in our loss of the MileagePlus program, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. As a result we may take actions to ensure that the MileagePlus Senior Secured Notes are repaid or that the noteholders' remedies under such agreements are not exercised, potentially to the detriment of our other creditors.

The Company's ability to use its net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes may be significantly limited due to various circumstances, including certain possible future transactions involving the sale or issuance of UAL common stock, or if taxable income does not reach sufficient levels.

As of December 31, 2024, UAL reported consolidated U.S. federal net operating loss ("NOL") carryforwards of approximately $9.7 billion. The Company's ability to use its NOL carryforwards and certain other tax attributes will depend on the amount of taxable income it generates in future periods and, as a result, certain of the Company's NOL carryforwards and other tax attributes may expire before it can generate sufficient taxable income to use them in full. In addition, the Company's ability to use its NOL carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income may be limited if it experiences an "ownership change" as defined in Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended. Potential future transactions involving the sale or issuance of UAL common stock may increase the possibility that the Company will experience a future "ownership change" under Section 382. Such transactions may include the exercise of warrants ("Warrants") issued in connection with the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act programs, the issuance of UAL common stock for cash, the conversion of any future convertible debt, the repurchase of any debt with the Company's common stock, the acquisition or disposition of any stock by a stockholder owning 5% or more of the outstanding shares of UAL common stock, or a combination of the foregoing.

The Company has established a tax benefits preservation plan (the "Plan") in order to preserve the Company's ability to use its NOLs and certain other tax attributes to reduce potential future income tax obligations. On December 4, 2023, the Company entered into an amendment to extend the Plan until December 4, 2026, which was approved by the Company's stockholders at the Company's 2024 annual meeting of stockholders. The Plan is designed to reduce the likelihood that the Company experiences an "ownership change" by deterring certain acquisitions of Company securities. There is no assurance, however, that the deterrent mechanism in the Plan will be effective, and such acquisitions may still occur. In addition, the Plan may adversely affect the marketability of UAL common stock by discouraging existing or potential investors from acquiring UAL common stock or additional shares of UAL common stock because any non-exempt third party that acquires 4.9% or more of the then-outstanding shares of UAL common stock would suffer substantial dilution of its ownership interest in the Company.

The Company may never realize the full value of its intangible assets or its long-lived assets causing it to record impairments that may negatively affect its financial condition and operating results.

In accordance with applicable accounting standards, the Company is required to test its indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment on an annual basis, or more frequently where there is an indication of impairment, and certain of its other assets for impairment where there is any indication that an asset may be impaired. The Company may be required to recognize losses in the future due to, among other factors, extreme fuel price volatility, tight credit markets, government regulatory changes, decline in the fair values of certain tangible or intangible assets, such as our aircraft, route authorities, airport slots and frequent flyer database, unfavorable trends in historical or forecasted results of operations and cash flows and an uncertain economic environment, as well as other uncertainties. The Company can provide no assurance that a material impairment loss of tangible or intangible assets will not occur in a future period.

The price of our common stock may fluctuate significantly.

The closing price for our common stock has varied between a high of $102.44 and a low of $37.88 in the year ended December 31, 2024. Volatility in the market price of our common stock may prevent holders from selling shares at or above the prices paid for them. The market price of our common stock could fluctuate significantly for various reasons which include: changes in the prices or availability of oil or jet fuel; our quarterly or annual earnings or those of other companies in our industry; changes in our earnings or recommendations by research analysts who track our common stock or the stock of other airlines; the public's reaction to our press releases, our other public announcements and our filings with the SEC; changes in the competitive landscape for the airline industry, including any changes resulting from industry consolidation whether or not involving the Company; an accident, catastrophe or incident involving an aircraft that the Company operates; mandatory grounding of an aircraft that the Company operates; changes in general conditions in the United States and global economies, financial markets or airline industries, including those resulting from changes in fuel prices or fuel shortages, war, incidents of terrorism, pandemics, geopolitical conflicts or responses to such events; our liquidity position; the sale of substantial amounts of our common stock; and the other risks described in these "Risk Factors."

The Company's operating results fluctuate due to seasonality and other factors associated with the airline industry, many of which are beyond the Company's control.

Due to greater demand for air travel during the spring and summer months, revenues in the airline industry in the second and third quarters of the year are generally stronger than revenues in the first and fourth quarters of the year, which are periods of lower travel demand. The Company's operating results generally reflect this seasonality but have also been impacted by numerous other factors that are not necessarily seasonal, including, among others, extreme or severe weather, outbreaks of disease, public health issues (such as the COVID-19 pandemic) and associated government restrictions and regulations, ATC congestion, geological events, political instability, terrorism, natural disasters, changes in the competitive environment due to industry consolidation, tax obligations, general economic conditions and other factors, as well as related consumer perceptions. Such factors have adversely affected, and could in the future continue to adversely affect, the Company. As a result, the Company's quarterly operating results are not necessarily indicative of operating results for an entire year and historical operating results in a quarterly or annual period are not necessarily indicative of future operating results.

Increases in insurance costs or inadequate insurance coverage may materially and adversely impact our business, operating results and financial condition.

The Company maintains insurance policies, including, but not limited to, terrorism, aviation hull and liability, workers' compensation and property and business interruption insurance, but we are not fully insured against all potential hazards and risks incident to our business. If the Company is unable to obtain sufficient insurance with acceptable terms, the costs of such insurance increase materially, or if the coverage obtained is unable to pay or is insufficient relative to actual liability or losses that the Company experiences, whether due to insurance market conditions, policy limitations and exclusions or otherwise, our business, operating results and financial condition could be materially and adversely affected.

We cannot guarantee that our share repurchase program will enhance long-term stockholder value.

As part of our capital deployment program, in the fourth quarter of 2024, the Board authorized a share repurchase program. The Company believes the price of its stock should reflect expectations that the share repurchase program will be fully consummated. However, the program does not obligate us to purchase any specific dollar amount or to acquire any specific number of shares of UAL common stock or Warrants. The specific timing and amount of any share or Warrant purchases will depend on the capital needs of the business, the market price of UAL common stock, general market conditions, securities law limitations and other factors. Our future repurchases of UAL common stock and Warrants, if any, may be limited, suspended or discontinued at any time at our discretion and without prior notice, which could adversely affect our stock price. We, therefore, cannot guarantee that the share repurchase program will enhance long-term stockholder value.

Board and Management Oversight of Cybersecurity Risks

The Company considers management of cybersecurity and digital risk as essential for enabling success. The Audit Committee (the "Audit Committee") of the Board provides oversight of the Company's risk assessment and risk management policies and strategies with respect to significant business risks, including cybersecurity and digital risk. On a regular basis, the Audit Committee reviews reports from the Company's Chief Information Security Officer ("CISO") or her representative(s) regarding the identification and management of cybersecurity risks, including when applicable, notable cybersecurity threats or incidents impacting the aviation sector and the Company; results of independent third-party assessments of the Company's cybersecurity program; key metrics, capabilities, resourcing and strategy regarding the Company's cybersecurity program; and updates related to cybersecurity regulatory developments.

The CISO leads the Company's Cybersecurity and Digital Risk ("CDR") organization, which oversees the Company's approach to identifying and managing cybersecurity and digital risk. The Company's current CISO has extensive technology and risk management experience in critical infrastructure sectors and is qualified as a boardroom certified technology expert by the Digital Directors Network. She has served on the U.S. President's National Infrastructure Advisory Council, examining and providing recommendations related to cross-sector critical infrastructure security and resilience. She serves on the board of directors of the Internet Security Alliance, is currently a member of the Cybersecurity Council at Airlines for America (and has served as Chair) and is currently a member of the board of directors of the Aviation Information Sharing and Analysis Center (A-ISAC). The CDR organization includes teams focusing on cyber defense, identity & digital trust, secure product solutions & aircraft cybersecurity operations. The teams include individuals with a variety of cybersecurity expertise, including expertise in penetration testing; application cybersecurity; product cybersecurity; cloud cybersecurity; infrastructure cybersecurity; cybersecurity engineering and architecture; identity and access management; vulnerability and asset management; cybersecurity threat intelligence; cybersecurity regulatory compliance; digital fraud; digital trust; incident response; insider threat assessment; and aircraft cybersecurity.

The Company's senior leadership, including across the functions of the Company's safety, legal, government affairs, operations, aviation security, finance, communications and digital technology as well as others when appropriate, support CDR and contribute to the management of cybersecurity and digital risk by attending regular cybersecurity risk reviews and participating in cybersecurity exercises.

Cybersecurity Risk Management and Strategy

The Company established a risk-based strategy informed by guiding principles from industry standard cybersecurity and risk management frameworks, such as those published by the National Institute of Standards and Technology. The Company's cybersecurity risk management framework is integrated with the Company's Enterprise Risk Management ("ERM") process that is subject to oversight by the Board. Cybersecurity risks are one of the key risks regularly evaluated, assessed and monitored as part of the Company's overall ERM process.

As part of its risk-based strategy, the Company maintains appropriate technical and organizational measures and regularly reviews the appropriateness of those controls based on changes to the technical or regulatory environment. The Company also regularly incorporates cybersecurity awareness training into employee communications, engagement and training activities. The Company participates in various information-sharing organizations to timely share and receive threat information, thereby improving the collective defense of the aviation, retail and hospitality and other critical infrastructure sectors. The Company regularly seeks opportunities to improve its capabilities, including through cybersecurity trainings and skill development programs for its CDR members.

The Company utilizes a variety of third parties in connection with its cybersecurity risk management. The Company also employs third-party cybersecurity companies to add capacity or expertise when necessary. Additionally, assessments of the Company's cybersecurity program are periodically conducted by independent third-party assessors.

The Company is subject to cybersecurity risks related to its business partners and third-party service providers, as further detailed under the heading "Increasing privacy, data security and cybersecurity obligations or a significant data breach may adversely affect the Company's business" included as part of the risk factor disclosures in Part I, Item 1A. of this report. To manage these risks, the Company considers the impact of third-party incidents as part of its cybersecurity incident response processes. The Company also conducts evaluations of key suppliers based on risk and seeks to incorporate appropriate security standards to manage the risk. The Company also regularly monitors the external cybersecurity posture of select third parties through various service providers.

Crucially, the Company and its suppliers strive to design and implement technical and organizational controls comprehensively, consistently and effectively as intended to protect the confidentiality, integrity or availability of systems and data. However, because the Company utilizes a risk-based strategy, based on professional judgment and analysis of the risks, it is possible that the Company may underappreciate or not recognize a specific risk. Moreover, even the best designed and implemented security controls may not eliminate the occurrence of cybersecurity incidents.

Cybersecurity Incident Management

The CDR organization uses a variety of prevention and detection tools and other resources to identify potential cybersecurity incidents. When a cybersecurity incident is identified, CDR's incident response team engages with the appropriate subject matter experts, the relevant management of impacted organization(s) and others to analyze, contain, eradicate, mitigate and recover from the incident as applicable. When appropriate, during the incident response process, the CISO, CDR leadership and the Company's Chief Legal Officer may be informed and consulted and if deemed necessary, incidents may be escalated for review by the Senior Leader Crisis Team, which consists of cross-functional leaders of the Company. The Company maintains a process in which a subgroup of the Company's Disclosure Council would make a recommendation regarding the materiality of a cybersecurity incident to the full Disclosure Council and subsequently to the Audit Committee. Additionally, the CDR organization has frequent operating rhythms to, among other things, review cybersecurity incidents and track the progress of cybersecurity initiatives.

The Company faces risks from cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any cybersecurity incidents, that could have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect its business strategy, results of operations, and financial condition, cash flows or reputation. Although to our knowledge such risks have not materially affected us in the last three fiscal years, from time to time the Company has experienced and will continue to experience cybersecurity incidents, whether directly or through our supply chain or other channels, in the normal course of its business. For more information about the cybersecurity-related risks that the Company faces, see the risks detailed under the headings "The Company relies heavily on technology and automated systems to operate its business and any significant failure or disruption of, or failure to effectively integrate and implement, these technologies or systems could materially harm its business or business strategy" and "Increasing privacy, data security and cybersecurity obligations or a significant data breach may adversely affect the Company's business" included as part of our risk factor disclosures in Part I, Item 1A. of this Form 10-K.

Fleet. As of December 31, 2024, United's mainline and regional fleets consisted of the following:

33

In addition to the aircraft presented in the table above, United owned or leased the following regional aircraft as of December 31, 2024:

• 6 CRJ550s, 5 E175s and 38 ERJ145XRs that are temporarily grounded; and
• 8 CRJ700s awaiting conversion to CRJ550s.

Firm Order and Option Aircraft. As of December 31, 2024, United had firm commitments to purchase aircraft from Boeing and Airbus presented in the table below:

The aircraft listed in the table above are scheduled for delivery through 2033. The amount and timing of the Company's future capital commitments could change to the extent that: (i) the Company and the aircraft manufacturers, with whom the Company has existing orders for new aircraft, agree to modify (or further modify) the contracts governing those orders; (ii) rights are exercised pursuant to the relevant agreements to cancel deliveries or modify the timing of deliveries; or (iii) the aircraft manufacturers are unable to deliver in accordance with the terms of those orders.

See Note 12 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Facilities. United leases gates, hangar sites, terminal buildings and other airport facilities in the municipalities it serves. United has major terminal facility leases at SFO, IAD, ORD, LAX, DEN, EWR, IAH and GUM with expiration dates ranging from 2025 through 2056. Substantially all of these facilities are leased on a net-rental basis, resulting in the Company having financial responsibility for maintenance, insurance and other facility-related expenses and services.

United also maintains administrative, catering, cargo, training, maintenance and other facilities to support its operations in the cities it serves. In addition, United has multiple leases, which expire from 2029 through 2033, for its principal executive office and operations center in downtown Chicago and administrative offices in downtown Houston.

The Company is involved, both as a plaintiff and a defendant, in various legal proceedings, including, without limitation, litigation, arbitration and other claims, and investigations, inspections, subpoenas, audits, inquiries and similar actions involving its passengers, customers, suppliers, employees and stockholders, as well as government agencies, among others, arising in the ordinary course of business and that have not been fully resolved. Legal proceedings, in general, and securities, class action and multi-district litigation, in particular, can be expensive and disruptive. Some of these suits may purport or may be determined to be class actions and/or involve parties seeking large and/or indeterminate amounts, including punitive or exemplary damages, and may remain unresolved for several years. Additionally, from time to time, the Company becomes aware of potential non-compliance with applicable environmental regulations, which have either been identified by the Company (through internal compliance programs such as its environmental compliance audits) or through notice from a governmental entity. In some instances, these matters could potentially become the subject of an administrative or judicial proceeding and could potentially involve monetary sanctions.

Management believes, after considering a number of factors, including (but not limited to) the information currently available, the views of legal counsel, the nature of contingencies to which the Company is subject and prior experience, that its defenses and assertions in pending legal proceedings have merit and, except as otherwise specifically noted below, the ultimate disposition of any pending matter will not materially affect the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows. However, the ultimate resolutions of the Company's legal proceedings and other contingencies are inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties. There can be no assurance that there will not be an increase in the scope of one or more of these pending matters or any other or future lawsuits, claims, government investigations or other legal proceedings will not be material to the Company's financial position, results of operations or cash flows for a particular period. As such, the Company's financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected in any particular period by the unfavorable resolution of one or more of these matters.

Antitrust Litigation

On June 30, 2015, UAL received a Civil Investigative Demand ("CID") from the Antitrust Division of the DOJ seeking documents and information from the Company in connection with a DOJ investigation related to statements and decisions about airline capacity. The Company has completed its response to the CID. The Company is not able to predict what action, if any, might be taken in the future by the DOJ or other governmental authorities as a result of the investigation. Beginning on July 1, 2015, subsequent to the announcement of the CID, UAL and United were named as defendants in multiple class action lawsuits that asserted claims under the Sherman Antitrust Act, which have been consolidated in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia. The complaints generally allege collusion among U.S. airlines on capacity impacting airfares and seek treble damages. The Company is vigorously defending against the class action lawsuits.

Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations is provided as a supplement to and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this Form 10-K and the description of our business and reportable segments in Part I, Item 1. Business of this Form 10-K to enhance the understanding of our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows.

This section generally discusses 2024 and 2023 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2024 and 2023. Discussions of 2022 items and year-to-year comparisons between 2023 and 2022 are not included in this Form 10-K and can be found in "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" in Part II, Item 7 of the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2023 filed with the SEC on February 29, 2024 (the "2023 Annual Report").

Executive Summary

Overview

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "UAL" or the "Company") is a holding company and its wholly-owned subsidiary is United Airlines, Inc. (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, "United").

As UAL consolidates United for financial statement purposes, disclosures that relate to activities of United also apply to UAL, unless otherwise noted. United's operating revenues and operating expenses comprise nearly 100% of UAL's revenues and operating expenses. In addition, United comprises approximately the entire balance of UAL's assets, liabilities and operating cash flows. When appropriate, UAL and United are named specifically for their individual contractual obligations and related disclosures and any significant differences between the operations and results of UAL and United are separately disclosed and explained. We sometimes use the words "we," "our," "us," and the "Company" in this report for disclosures that relate to all of UAL and United.

Our current expectations described below are forward-looking statements and our actual results and timing may vary materially based on various factors that include, but are not limited to, those discussed below under "Strategy," "Economic and Market Factors," "Governmental Actions," "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors, of this Form 10-K. The results presented in this report are not necessarily indicative of future operating results.

Strategy

Our shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." We have the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C.

We are the largest airline measured by available seat miles in the world, helping to connect around 174 million passengers to more than 360 destinations across six continents. The Company remains focused on delivering on four strategic pillars, which it believes has helped, and will continue, to differentiate United from the rest of the industry:

• United Next: In 2024 we continued to make progress with our United Next plan to align our network and product with the potential of our hubs while remaining focused on protecting the safety of our employees and customers and providing a superior customer experience. United Next aims to increase customer choice and win brand-loyal customers by offering a diversity of products ranging from Basic Economy to Polaris and growing our leading global network, which the Company expects will lead to diverse revenue streams for the Company. As part of our United Next growth plan, we expect to take delivery of over 660 new narrow- and widebody aircraft by the end of 2033. The new aircraft that the Company has taken delivery of to date have increased our gauge, scale, and connectivity, as well as improved the Company's fuel efficiency. Other key highlights of our United Next plan include:
• increasing our employee headcount by more than 30,000 employees since 2020;
• surpassing 300 new and retrofit aircraft featuring our signature interior with bigger bins, seatback screens at every seat and Bluetooth connectivity;
• expanding our leading global network to destinations like Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia; Nuuk, Greenland; Kaohsiung, Taiwan; Palermo, Italy; Bilbao, Spain; Faro, Portugal; Madeira Island, Portugal; Puerto Escondido, Mexico; and Dakar, Senegal;
• launching Kinective MediaSM (the first media network that uses insights from travel behaviors to connect customers to personalized advertising, experiences and offers from leading brands);
• announcing an industry-leading agreement with SpaceX to bring Starlink's Wi-Fi service (the world's fastest, most reliable Wi-Fi in the sky) to the Company's aircraft; and
• making significant technology changes that empower our employees and improve the customer experience.
• Operational excellence: The most important factor for customer satisfaction is on-time flights. We face some unique challenges in this respect because we operate hubs in the most congested and constrained airports in the country. That backdrop means that United needs to be a leader at using technology to overcome these challenges. We have been working strategically to overcome operational challenges and continue to innovate in order to make advancements in this area.
• Pre-tax margin: We believe that best-in-class margin performance will provide the cash flow needed to support our planned investments in growth.
• Customer service: We believe that excellent customer service is part of de-commoditizing air travel. Our people are our greatest asset and they are by far the most important part of our product. Ultimately our people provide customers with the service they expect.

Economic and Market Factors

The airline industry is highly competitive, marked by significant competition with respect to routes, fares, airline capacity, schedules (both timing and frequency), services, products, customer service and frequent flyer programs. We, like other companies in our industry, have been subject to these and other industry-specific competitive dynamics. In addition, our operations, supply chain, partners and suppliers have been subject to various global macroeconomic factors. We expect to continue to remain vulnerable to a number of industry-specific and global macroeconomic factors that may cause our actual results of operations to differ from our historical results of operations or current expectations. The economic and market factors and trends that we currently believe are or will be most impactful to our results of operations and financial condition include the following: the execution and effect of our business strategies, including our United Next plan, especially relating to our focus on expanding market and product opportunities and the growth in the scale of our operations; the impact on the Company of significant operational challenges by third parties on which we rely; aircraft delivery delays; rising inflationary pressures; labor market and supply chain constraints and related costs affecting us and our partners; volatile fuel prices; increasing maintenance expenses; changes in interest rates; and changes in general economic conditions in the markets in which the Company operates, including an economic downturn leading to a decrease in demand for air travel or fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates that may impact international travel demand. We continue to monitor the potential favorable or unfavorable impacts of these and other factors on our business, operations, financial condition, future results of operations, liquidity and financial flexibility, which are dependent on future developments, including as a result of those factors discussed in Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors. Our future results of operations may be subject to volatility and our growth plans may be delayed, particularly in the short term, due to the impact of the above factors and trends.

Governmental Actions

We operate in complex, highly regulated environments in the U.S., the European Union, the United Kingdom and other regions around the world. Compliance with laws, regulations, administrative practices and other restrictions or legal requirements in the countries in which we do business is onerous and expensive. In addition, changes to existing legal requirements or the implementation of new legal requirements and any failure to comply with such legal requirements could negatively impact our business, operations, financial condition, future results of operations, liquidity and financial flexibility by increasing the Company's costs, limiting the Company's ability to offer a product, service or feature to customers, impacting customer demand for the Company's products and services and requiring changes to the Company's supply chain and its business. Legal requirements that we currently believe are or will be most impactful to our results of operations and financial condition include the following: the closure of our flying airspace and termination of other operations due to regional conflicts, including the suspension of our overflying in Russian airspace as a result of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and interruptions of our flying as a result of the military conflict in the Middle East, as well as any escalation of the broader economic consequences of these conflicts beyond their current scope; delays in aircraft certification (especially relating to the 737 MAX 10 aircraft); increased FAA oversight of the aircraft production process; any legal requirement that would result in a reshaping of the benefits that we provide to our consumers through our loyalty program or the co-branded credit cards issued by our partner; the effect of any potential changes in trade tariffs that we are unable to mitigate; and certain rules and regulations proposed by the DOT that would impose additional costs and operational restrictions on airlines. Changes in existing applicable legal requirements or new applicable legal requirements as well as the related interpretations and enforcement practices regarding them, create uncertainty about how such laws and regulations will be understood and applied. As a result, the impact of changing and new legal requirements generally cannot be reasonably predicted and those requirements may ultimately require extensive system and operational changes, be difficult to implement, increase our operating costs and require significant capital expenditures.

Results of Operations

Select financial data and operating statistics are provided in the tables below:

(in millions)

Operating Revenue. The table below illustrates the year-over-year percentage change in the Company's operating revenues for the years ended December 31 (in millions, except percentage changes):

39

The table below presents passenger revenue and select operating data of the Company, broken out by geographic region, expressed as year-over-year changes:

Passenger revenue increased $2.8 billion, or 5.7%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to a 6.8% increase in capacity as well as a 5.3% increase in passengers.

Cargo revenue increased $248 million, or 16.6%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to higher tonnage, partially offset by lower yields.

Other operating revenue increased $315 million, or 9.9%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to an increase in mileage revenue from non-airline partners, including credit card spending with our co-branded credit card partner, JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A., as well as increases in the purchases of United Club memberships, visitor volume and purchases of one-time United Club passes primarily due to a 5.3% increase in passengers.

Operating Expense. The table below includes data related to the Company's operating expense for the years ended December 31 (in millions, except percentage changes):

Salaries and related costs increased $1.9 billion, or 12.8%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to annual wage rate increases across certain employee groups and a nearly 4% increase in headcount largely due to increased flight activity.

Aircraft fuel expense decreased $895 million, or 7.1%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to a lower average price per gallon of fuel, partially offset by increased consumption from higher flight activity.

Landing fees and other rent increased $361 million, or 11.7%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to rate increases at various airports, terminal expansions and other increases in the number of airport gates as well as higher landed weight volume due to increased flight activity.

Aircraft maintenance materials and outside repairs increased $327 million, or 12.0%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to increased volumes of engine overhauls, airframe maintenance, materials use and component repair costs mainly as a result of increased flight activity and fleet growth.

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $257 million, or 9.6%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to the induction of new aircraft and related spare parts, as well as certain aircraft improvements.

Regional capacity purchase costs increased $116 million, or 4.8%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to an 8% increase in regional capacity as well as increases in contractual rates.

Distribution expenses increased $254 million, or 12.8%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to higher credit card fees, travel agency commissions and global distribution fees driven by the overall increase in passenger revenue. Also, starting in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company reclassified certain commissions from contra-revenue to distribution expense as an immaterial reclassification correction, which increased distribution expense by $187 million compared to the prior year.

The table below presents special charges recorded by the Company during the years ended December 31 (in millions):

See Note 13 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Other operating expenses increased $1.0 billion, or 12.3%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to increased flight activity and onboard passengers, as well as the impacts of inflationary pressures. Other operating expenses include expenditures related to information technology projects and services, food and beverage offerings, passenger services, personnel-related costs and ground handling.

Nonoperating Income (Expense). The following table illustrates the year-over-year dollar and percentage changes in the Company's nonoperating income (expense) for the years ended December 31 (in millions, except percentage changes):

Interest expense decreased $327 million, or 16.7%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to lower debt balances as a result of various debt prepayments and scheduled amortization combined with lower interest rates on refinanced debt.

Interest income decreased $101 million, or 12.2%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to lower balances in our short-term investment portfolio, which were partially offset by higher interest rates. See Note 9 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Interest capitalized increased $45 million in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to an increase in accumulated spend on capital projects.

Unrealized losses on investments, net was $199 million in 2024 as compared to $27 million in unrealized gains, net in 2023, primarily due to the change in the market value of the Company's investments in equity securities. See Notes 9 and 13 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Miscellaneous, net changed by $149 million in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to debt extinguishment and modification fees related to debt prepayments and refinancing, higher foreign exchange losses and a decrease in the benefit from the Company's net periodic benefit cost of its pension and postretirement benefit plans. See Notes 10 and 13 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on the debt prepayments and refinancing.

Income Taxes. See Note 7 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for information related to income taxes.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

We deploy a disciplined and balanced approach to capital allocation, including returns to stockholders through potential share repurchases. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had $14.5 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments as compared to approximately $14.4 billion as of December 31, 2023. We believe that our existing cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, together with cash generated from operations, will be sufficient to satisfy our anticipated liquidity needs for the next 12 months, and we expect to meet our long-term liquidity needs with our anticipated access to the capital markets and projected cash from operations. We regularly assess our anticipated working capital needs, debt and leverage levels, debt maturities, capital expenditure requirements (including in connection with our capital commitments for our firm order aircraft and any changes to such commitments), planned UAL common stock or Warrant purchases under our share repurchase program and future investments or acquisitions in order to maximize stockholder return, efficiently finance our ongoing operations and maintain flexibility for future strategic transactions. We also regularly evaluate our liquidity and capital structure to efficiently manage financial risks, liquidity access and cost of capital.

On February 15, 2024, the Company entered into an Amended and Restated Revolving Credit and Guaranty Agreement (the "Revolving Credit Facility"), increasing its borrowing capacity by $1.115 billion, bringing the total amount available under the Revolving Credit Facility to $2.865 billion. On April 16, 2024, the Company further increased its revolving loan commitments by $100 million for a total amount of $2.965 billion as of December 31, 2024. Of this total, $2.95 billion expires February 15, 2029 and $15 million expires April 21, 2025, after the extension of the maturity of $150 million from April 21, 2025 to February 15, 2029. The Revolving Credit Facility is secured by certain route authorities and airport slots and gates. No borrowings were outstanding under the Revolving Credit Facility at December 31, 2024. See Note 10 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on these financing transactions.

We have a significant amount of fixed obligations, including debt, leases of aircraft, airport and other facilities, and pension funding obligations. As of December 31, 2024, the Company had approximately $33.6 billion of debt, finance lease, operating lease and other financial liabilities, including $3.9 billion that will become due in the next 12 months. In addition, we have substantial noncancelable commitments for capital expenditures, including the acquisition of certain new aircraft and related spare engines. Our debt agreements contain customary terms and conditions as well as various affirmative, negative and financial covenants that, among other things, limit our ability under certain circumstances to create liens on collateral, make certain dividends, stock repurchases, restricted investments and other restricted payments, and consolidate, merge, sell, or otherwise dispose of all or substantially all of our assets. Our debt agreements also contain events of default customary for similar financings including, in certain cases, cross-payment default and cross-acceleration to other material indebtedness. Certain of our debt agreements contain financial covenants that require the Company to maintain at least $2.0 billion of unrestricted liquidity at all times, which includes unrestricted cash, certain liquid and short-term investments and any undrawn amounts under any revolving credit facility, and to maintain a minimum ratio of appraised value of collateral to the outstanding debt secured by such collateral on a senior basis of 1.6 to 1.0, tested semi-annually. As of December 31, 2024, UAL and United were in compliance with their respective debt covenants under these agreements. As of December 31, 2024, a substantial portion of the Company's assets, principally aircraft and certain related assets, its loyalty program, certain route authorities and airport slots and gates, was pledged under various loan and other agreements. See Note 10 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on aircraft financing and other debt instruments.

For 2025, the Company expects less than $7.0 billion of adjusted capital expenditures, in light of certain aircraft delivery delays. Adjusted capital expenditures is a financial measure not calculated in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP"). It is calculated as capital expenditures, net of flight equipment purchase deposit returns, plus property and equipment acquired through the issuance of debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities. We are not providing a target for or a reconciliation to capital expenditures, net of flight equipment purchase deposit returns, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, because we are not able to predict non-cash capital expenditures without unreasonable efforts, and therefore we also are not able to determine the probable significance of such items. We believe that adjusting capital expenditures for assets acquired through the issuance of debt, finance leases and other financial liabilities is useful to investors in order to appropriately reflect the total amounts spent on capital expenditures. The Company's estimate for aircraft expenditures reflects its current assumptions regarding delayed aircraft deliveries. See Note 12 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on commitments, including aircraft expenditures reflecting contractual delivery dates without adjustment for expected delays. The Company has backstop financing commitments available from certain of its aircraft manufacturers for a limited number of its future aircraft deliveries, subject to certain customary conditions.

Sources and Uses of Cash

The following table summarizes our cash flow for the years ended December 31 (in millions):

See the Statements of Consolidated Cash Flows included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Operating Activities. Cash flows provided by operating activities for 2024 were $2.5 billion higher than 2023 primarily due to an approximately $0.9 billion increase in operating income and an approximately $0.9 billion increase in advance ticket sales due to capacity growth as demand trends for air travel continued to accelerate.

Investing Activities. Cash flows used in investing activities decreased $3.5 billion in 2024 as compared to the year-ago period mainly related to approximately $1.8 billion lower net activity in purchases and sales of short-term and other investments, as well as a $1.6 billion decrease in capital expenditures. Capital expenditures primarily consisted of the purchase of aircraft, aircraft improvements and advance deposits for future aircraft purchases.

Financing Activities. Significant financing events in 2024 were as follows:

Debt, Finance Lease and Other Financial Liability Principal Payments. During 2024, the Company made payments for debt, finance leases, and other financial liabilities of $10.1 billion, including the $3.9 billion prepayment of its 2021 term loan, $1.8 billion prepayment of the outstanding principal balance of its MileagePlus term loan, and a $0.4 billion prepayment of its 2024 term loan.

Debt Issuances. In 2024, the Company raised:

• $2.5 billion under the new term loan facility;
• $1.4 billion through the issuance of equipment notes (the "2024 Equipment Notes") secured by 48 Boeing aircraft delivered new from the manufacturer from October 2010 to December 2023; and
• $2.2 billion through the issuance of debt, not including the 2024 Equipment Notes, and other financial liabilities on aircraft.

See Note 10 and Note 11 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on aircraft financing.

Share Repurchases. As part of our capital deployment program, the Company announced on October 15, 2024 that its Board authorized a new share repurchase program, allowing for purchases of up to $1.5 billion in the aggregate of outstanding UAL common stock and Warrants, subject to a limit of $500 million in the aggregate through 2024. During the quarter ended December 31, 2024, the Company repurchased 997,076 shares of UAL common stock at an average price of $81.26 for a total investment of approximately $81 million as part of the share repurchase program. As of February 24, 2025, the dollar value of shares that may yet be purchased under the program is approximately $1.3 billion. See Note 3 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on the share repurchase program.

Significant financing events in 2023 were as follows:

Debt, Finance Lease and Other Financial Liability Principal Payments. During 2023, the Company made $4.2 billion of principal payments on debt, finance leases, and other financial liabilities. The payments in 2023 included a prepayment of $1.0 billion of the outstanding principal amount under a 2021 term loan facility.

Debt Issuances. In 2023, the Company issued equipment notes (the "2023 Equipment Notes") in the aggregate principal amount of $1.3 billion to finance 39 Boeing aircraft delivered new to the Company from August 2022 to May 2023.

Also, during 2023, United borrowed $1.1 billion for aircraft financings.

For additional information regarding these Liquidity and Capital Resource matters, see Notes 10, 11 and 12 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report. For information regarding non-cash investing and financing activities, see the Company's statements of consolidated cash flows. For a discussion of the Company's sources and uses of cash in 2023 as compared to 2022, see "Liquidity and Capital Resources" in Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations in the 2023 Annual Report.

Credit Ratings. As of the filing date of this report, UAL and United had the following corporate credit ratings:

The Company has been able to secure financing with investment grade credit ratings for certain enhanced equipment trust certificates ("EETCs"), term loans and secured bond financings. Downgrades from these rating levels, among other things, could restrict the availability, or increase the cost, of future financing for the Company as well as affect the fair market value of existing debt. A rating reflects only the view of a rating agency and is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold securities. Ratings can be revised upward or downward at any time by a rating agency if such rating agency decides that circumstances warrant such a change. Currently Moody's and Fitch have assigned the Company a positive outlook, while S&P maintains a stable outlook.

Other Liquidity Matters

Below is a summary of additional liquidity matters. See the indicated notes to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional details related to these and other matters affecting our liquidity and commitments.

The Company's business is capital intensive, requiring significant amounts of capital to fund the acquisition of assets, particularly aircraft. In the past, the Company has funded the acquisition of aircraft with cash, by using EETC financing, by entering into finance or operating leases, or through other financings. The Company also often enters into long-term lease commitments with airports to ensure access to terminal, cargo, maintenance and other required facilities.

The table below provides a summary of the Company's current and long-term material cash requirements as of December 31, 2024 (in billions):

(a) Long-term debt presented in the Company's financial statements is net of $184 million of debt discount, premiums and debt issuance costs which are being amortized over the debt terms. Cash requirements do not include the debt discount, premiums and debt issuance costs. Future interest payments on variable rate debt were computed using the rates as of December 31, 2024.

(b) Represents future payments under fixed rate operating lease obligations. See Note 11 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for information on variable rate and short-term operating leases.

(c) Represents future payments under leases that have not yet commenced and are not included in the consolidated balance sheet. See Note 11 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for information on these leases.

(d) Represents our estimates of future minimum noncancelable commitments under our CPAs and does not include the portion of the underlying obligations for aircraft and facility rent that is disclosed as part of operating lease obligations. Amounts also exclude a portion of United's finance lease obligations recorded for certain of its CPAs. See Note 12 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for the significant assumptions used to estimate the payments.

(e) Amounts represent postretirement benefit payments and an estimate of the minimum funding requirements as determined by government regulations for United's U.S. pension plans through 2034. Amounts are subject to change based on numerous assumptions, including the performance of assets in the plans and bond rates. Postretirement benefit payments approximate plan contributions as plans are substantially unfunded. See Note 8 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information on these benefit plans.

(f) Represents contractual commitments for firm order aircraft, spare engines and other purchase commitments. See Note 12 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for a discussion of our purchase commitments.

The Company has significant financial obligations and guarantees that could impact its future cash flow. As of December 31, 2024, the Company has $490 million in letters of credit and surety bonds with expiration dates through 2035, some of which are cash collateralized. Additionally, United is involved in fuel consortia at major airports, which help reduce fuel distribution and storage costs. The consortia (and in limited cases, the participating carriers) have entered into long-term agreements to lease certain airport fuel storage and distribution facilities that are typically financed through various debt obligations. The Company has indirect guarantees for approximately $2.7 billion in loans secured by fuel facility leases in which United participates, with a contingent exposure of about $504 million. These indirect guarantees are set to expire between 2027 and 2056. The Company's contingent exposure could increase in the future if the participation of other air carriers in such fuel consortia decreases. See Note 12 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for more information related to these guarantees and increased cost provisions.

Critical Accounting Policies

Critical accounting policies are defined as those that are affected by significant judgments and uncertainties which potentially could result in materially different accounting under different assumptions and conditions. The Company has prepared the financial statements in conformity with GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements. Actual results could differ from those estimates. See Note 1 and Note 2 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional discussion of these estimates and our other significant accounting policies. The Company has identified the following critical accounting policies that impact the preparation of the financial statements.

Passenger Revenue Recognition. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, passenger revenue is recognized when transportation is provided. Passenger tickets and related ancillary services sold by the Company for flights are purchased primarily via credit card transactions, with payments collected by the Company in advance of the performance of related services. The Company initially records ticket sales in its Advance ticket sales liability, deferring revenue recognition until the travel occurs. All tickets sold at any given point in time have travel dates through the next 12 months. The Company estimates the value of Advance ticket sales that will expire unused ("ticket breakage") and recognizes revenue and any changes in estimates in proportion to the usage of the related tickets. To determine ticket breakage, the Company uses its historical experience with expired tickets and certificates and other facts, such as recent aging trends, program changes and modifications that could affect the ultimate expiration patterns.

Frequent Flyer Accounting. United's MileagePlus loyalty program builds customer loyalty by offering awards, benefits and services to program participants. Members in this program earn miles for travel on United, United Express, Star Alliance members and certain other airlines that participate in the program. Members can also earn miles by purchasing goods and services from our network of non-airline partners. We have contracts to sell miles to these partners with the terms extending from approximately one to five years. These partners include domestic and international credit card issuers, retail merchants, hotels, car rental companies and our participating airline partners. Miles can be redeemed for free (other than taxes and government-imposed fees), discounted or upgraded air travel and non-travel awards.

Co-Brand Agreement. United has a contract (the "Co-Brand Agreement") to sell MileagePlus miles to its co-branded credit card partner Chase. Chase awards miles to MileagePlus members based on their credit card activity. United identified the following significant separately identifiable performance obligations in the Co-Brand Agreement:

• MileagePlus miles awarded – United has a performance obligation to provide MileagePlus cardholders with miles to be used for air travel and non-travel award redemptions. The Company records Passenger revenue related to the travel awards when the transportation is provided and records Other operating revenue related to the non-travel awards when the goods or services are delivered. The Company records the cost associated with non-travel awards in Other operating revenue, as an agent.
• Marketing – United has a performance obligation to provide Chase access to United's customer list and the use of United's brand. Marketing revenue is recorded to Other operating revenue as miles are delivered to Chase.
• Advertising – United has a performance obligation to provide advertising in support of the MileagePlus card in various customer contact points such as United's website, email promotions, direct mail campaigns, airport advertising and in-flight advertising. Advertising revenue is recorded to Other operating revenue as miles are delivered to Chase.
• Other travel-related benefits – United's performance obligations are comprised of various items such as waived bag fees, seat upgrades and lounge passes. Lounge passes are recorded to Other operating revenue as customers use the lounge passes. Bag fees and seat upgrades are recorded to Passenger revenue at the time of the associated travel.

We account for all the payments received under the Co-Brand Agreement by allocating them to the separately identifiable performance obligations. The fair value of the separately identifiable performance obligations is determined using management's estimated selling price of each component. The objective of using the estimated selling price based methodology is to determine the price at which we would transact a sale if the product or service were sold on a stand-alone basis. Accordingly, we determine our best estimate of selling price by considering multiple inputs and methods including, but not limited to, discounted cash flows, brand value, volume discounts, published selling prices, number of miles awarded and number of miles redeemed. The Company estimated the selling prices and volumes over the term of the Co-Brand Agreement, at the inception of the contract, in order to determine the allocation of proceeds to each of the components to be delivered.

Indefinite-lived intangible assets. As discussed in Note 1 to the financial statements, goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets are assessed for impairment on an annual basis as of October 1, or more frequently if events or circumstances indicate that the asset may be impaired. For the Company's China route authority, the Company performed a quantitative assessment which involved determining the fair value of the asset and comparing that amount to the asset's carrying value. To determine the fair value of the China route authority, the Company used a discounted cash flow method. Key assumptions used in the valuation model included forecasted revenues, margin and an overall discount rate. These assumptions are inherently uncertain as they relate to future events and circumstances.

See Notes 1 and 13 to the financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this report for additional information.

Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This report contains certain "forward-looking statements," within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, including in Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and elsewhere, relating to, among other things, goals, plans and projections regarding the Company's financial position, results of operations, market position, airline capacity, fleet plan strategy, fares, announced routes (which may be subject to government approval), booking trends, product development, Corporate Citizenship-related strategy initiatives and business strategy. Such forward-looking statements are based on historical performance and current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the Company's future financial results, goals, plans, commitments, strategies and objectives and involve inherent risks, assumptions and uncertainties, known or unknown, including internal or external factors that could delay, divert or change any of them, that are difficult to predict, may be beyond the Company's control and could cause the Company's future financial results, goals, plans, commitments, strategies and objectives to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, the statements. Words such as "should," "could," "would," "will," "may," "expects," "plans," "intends," "anticipates," "indicates," "remains," "believes," "estimates," "projects," "forecast," "guidance," "outlook," "goals," "targets," "pledge," "confident," "optimistic," "dedicated," "positioned," "on track" and other words and terms of similar meaning and expression are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain such terms. All statements, other than those that relate solely to historical facts, are forward-looking statements.

Additionally, forward-looking statements include conditional statements and statements that identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of known trends or uncertainties, or that indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements in this report are based upon information available to us on the date of this report. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable law or regulation.

Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: execution risks associated with our strategic operating plan; changes in our fleet and network strategy or other factors outside our control resulting in less economic aircraft orders, costs related to modification or termination of aircraft orders or entry into aircraft orders on less favorable terms, as well as any inability to accept or integrate new aircraft into our fleet as planned, including as a result of any mandatory groundings of aircraft; any failure to effectively manage, and receive anticipated benefits and returns from, acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and other portfolio actions, or related exposures to unknown liabilities or other issues or underperformance as compared to our expectations; adverse publicity, increased regulatory scrutiny, harm to our brand, reduced travel demand, potential tort liability and operational restrictions as a result of an accident, catastrophe or incident involving us, our regional carriers, our codeshare partners or another airline; the highly competitive nature of the global airline industry and susceptibility of the industry to price discounting and changes in capacity, including as a result of alliances, joint business arrangements or other consolidations; our reliance on a limited number of suppliers to source a majority of our aircraft, engines and certain parts, and the impact of any failure to obtain timely deliveries, additional equipment or support from any of these suppliers; disruptions to our regional network and United Express flights provided by third-party regional carriers; unfavorable economic and political conditions in the United States and globally; reliance on third-party service providers and the impact of any significant failure of these parties to perform as expected, or interruptions in our relationships with these providers or their provision of services; extended interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports where we operate and space, facility and infrastructure constraints at our hubs or other airports; geopolitical conflict, terrorist attacks or security events (including the suspension of our overflying in Russian airspace as a result of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and interruptions of our flying as a result of the military conflict in the Middle East, as well as any escalation of the broader economic consequences of these conflicts beyond their current scope); any damage to our reputation or brand image; our reliance on technology and automated systems to operate our business and the impact of any significant failure or disruption of, or failure to effectively integrate and implement, these technologies or systems; increasing privacy, data security and cybersecurity obligations or a significant data breach; increased use of social media platforms by us, our employees and others; the impacts of union disputes, employee strikes or slowdowns, and other labor-related disruptions or regulatory compliance costs on our operations or financial performance; any failure to attract, train or retain skilled personnel, including our senior management team or other key employees; the monetary and operational costs of compliance with extensive government regulation of the airline industry; current or future litigation and regulatory actions, or failure to comply with the terms of any settlement, order or agreement relating to these actions; costs, liabilities and risks associated with environmental regulation and climate change; high and/or volatile fuel prices or significant disruptions in the supply of aircraft fuel; the impacts of our significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations and the impacts of insufficient liquidity on our financial condition and business; failure to comply with financial and other covenants governing our debt, including our MileagePlus® senior secured notes; limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes; our failure to realize the full value of our intangible assets or our long-lived assets, causing us to record impairments; fluctuations in the price of our common stock; the impacts of seasonality and other factors associated with the airline industry; increases in insurance costs or inadequate insurance coverage; risks relating to our repurchase program for UAL common stock and Warrants; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors, and under "Economic and Market Factors" and "Governmental Actions" in Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, of this report, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the SEC.

The foregoing list sets forth many, but not all, of the factors that could impact our ability to achieve results described in any forward-looking statements. Investors should understand that it is not possible to predict or identify all such factors and should not consider this list to be a complete statement of all potential risks and uncertainties. It is routine for our internal projections and expectations to change as the year or each quarter in the year progresses, and therefore it should be clearly understood that the internal projections, beliefs and assumptions upon which we base our expectations may change. For instance, we regularly monitor future demand and booking trends and adjust capacity, as needed. As such, our actual flown capacity may differ materially from currently published flight schedules or current estimations.

We are exposed to market risk resulting from changes in currency exchange rates and interest rates. These risks, along with other business risks, impact our cost of capital. It is our policy to manage our debt structure and foreign exchange exposure in order to manage capital costs, control financial risks and maintain financial flexibility over the long term. In managing market risks, we may employ derivatives according to documented policies and procedures, including interest rate swaps, interest rate locks, foreign currency exchange contracts and combined interest rate foreign currency contracts (cross-currency swaps). We do not use derivatives for trading or speculative purposes. We do not foresee significant changes in the strategies we use to manage market risk in the near future. All of our financial instruments are subject to counterparty credit risk considered as part of the overall fair value measurement.

Interest Rates. Our net income is affected by fluctuations in interest rates (e.g. interest expense on variable rate debt and interest income earned on short-term investments). The Company's policy is to manage interest rate risk through a combination of fixed and variable rate debt. The following table summarizes information related to the Company's interest rate market risk at December 31, 2024 (in millions):

The Company has $8.5 billion in variable rate debt which includes increased cost provisions due to any reduced returns with respect to the loans due to any change in capital requirements or increased costs that the lenders incur in carrying these loans as a result of any change in law and $5.3 billion of these loans, from non-U.S. entities, could be affected by changes in tax laws.

A change in market interest rates would also impact interest income earned on our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. Assuming our cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments remain at their average 2024 levels, a 100 basis point increase in interest rates would result in a corresponding increase in the Company's interest income of approximately $144 million during 2025.

Commodity Price Risk (Aircraft Fuel). The price of aircraft fuel can significantly affect the Company's operations, results of operations, financial position and liquidity.

Our operational and financial results can be significantly impacted by changes in the price and availability of aircraft fuel. To provide adequate supplies of fuel, the Company routinely enters into purchase contracts that are customarily indexed to market prices for aircraft fuel, and the Company generally has some ability to cover short-term fuel supply and infrastructure disruptions at some major demand locations. The Company's current strategy is to not enter into transactions to hedge fuel price volatility, although the Company regularly reviews its policy based on market conditions and other factors. A one-dollar change in the price of a barrel of aircraft fuel would change the Company's 2025 projected fuel expense by approximately $112 million.

Foreign Currency. The Company generates revenues and incurs expenses in numerous foreign currencies. Changes in foreign currency exchange rates impact the Company's results of operations through changes in the dollar value of foreign currency-denominated operating revenues and expenses. Some of the Company's more significant foreign currency exposures include the Canadian dollar, European euro, Japanese yen, Chinese renminbi, Brazilian real and Mexican peso. The Company's current strategy is to not enter into transactions to hedge its foreign currency exposure, although the Company regularly reviews its policy based on market conditions and other factors.

The result of a uniform 1% strengthening in the value of the U.S. dollar from December 31, 2024 levels relative to each of the currencies in which the Company has foreign currency exposure would result in a decrease in pre-tax income of approximately $14 million for the year ending December 31, 2025. This sensitivity analysis was prepared based upon projected 2025 foreign currency-denominated revenues and expenses as of December 31, 2024.

Evaluation of Disclosure Control and Procedures

UAL and United each maintain controls and procedures that are designed to ensure that information required to be disclosed in the reports filed or submitted by UAL and United to the SEC is recorded, processed, summarized and reported, within the time periods specified by the SEC's rules and forms, and is accumulated and communicated to management including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate, to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure. The management of UAL and United, including the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, performed an evaluation to conclude with reasonable assurance that UAL's and United's disclosure controls and procedures as defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act were designed and operating effectively to report the information each company is required to disclose in the reports they file with the SEC on a timely basis. Based on that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and the Chief Financial Officer of UAL and United have concluded that as of December 31, 2024, disclosure controls and procedures were effective.

Management's Reports on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

UAL and United Management's Reports on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting are included herein.

Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, has audited the Company's financial statements included in this Form 10-K and issued its report on the effectiveness of the Company's internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, which is included herein.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting during the Quarter Ended December 31, 2024

During the three months ended December 31, 2024, there was no change in UAL's or United's internal control over financial reporting that materially affected, or is reasonably likely to materially affect, their internal control over financial reporting.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

To the Stockholders and the Board of Directors of United Airlines Holdings, Inc.

Opinion on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

We have audited United Airlines Holdings, Inc.'s (the "Company") internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (2013 framework) (the "COSO criteria"). In our opinion, the Company maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024, based on the COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States) ("PCAOB"), the 2024 consolidated financial statements and our report dated February 27, 2025 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

Basis for Opinion

The Company's management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting included in the accompanying Management's Reports on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company's internal control over financial reporting based on our audit. We are a public accounting firm registered with the PCAOB and are required to be independent with respect to the Company in accordance with the U.S. federal securities laws and the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission and the PCAOB.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the PCAOB. Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects.

Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

Definition and Limitations of Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

A company's internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company's internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company's assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Chicago, Illinois

February 27, 2025

United Airlines Holdings, Inc. Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

February 27, 2025

To the Stockholders of United Airlines Holdings, Inc.

Chicago, Illinois

The management of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. ("UAL") is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). Our internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Because of its inherent limitations, our internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, we conducted an evaluation of the design and operating effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. In making this assessment, management used the framework set forth in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013 Framework) issued by the Committee of the Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2024.

Our independent registered public accounting firm, Ernst & Young LLP, who audited UAL's consolidated financial statements included in this Form 10-K, has issued a report on UAL's internal control over financial reporting, which is included herein.

United Airlines, Inc. Management Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

February 27, 2025

To the Stockholder of United Airlines, Inc.

Chicago, Illinois

The management of United Airlines, Inc. ("United") is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting, as such term is defined in Exchange Act Rule 13a-15(f). United's internal control over financial reporting is designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Because of its inherent limitations, United's internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

Under the supervision and with the participation of management, including United's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, United conducted an evaluation of the design and operating effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting as of December 31, 2024. In making this assessment, management used the framework set forth in Internal Control—Integrated Framework (2013 Framework) issued by the Committee of the Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission. Based on this evaluation, United's Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that its internal control over financial reporting was effective as of December 31, 2024.

This annual report does not include an attestation report of United's registered public accounting firm regarding internal control over financial reporting. Management's report was not subject to attestation by United's registered public accounting firm pursuant to the rules of the Securities and Exchange Commission that permit United to provide only management's report in this annual report.