Cargo Flights Are Helping United Airlines Weather COVID Crisis

NEWARK, NJ — Like several of its corporate peers, United Airlines has been struggling with a massive drop in revenue because of the coronavirus. But recently, the company has been battling back from the financial plunge by turning to another source of income: cargo.

Earlier this week, United Airlines reported the "most difficult financial quarter in its 94-year history" amid a plunge in ridership over the past few months. It’s been a tough pill to swallow for the airline, which recently announced it may have to lay off tens of thousands of workers.

As passenger volume has dropped, United has been looking at several ways to cope. One of them has been through its subsidiary, United Cargo, which has continued to deliver millions of pounds of critical supplies around the world during the pandemic.

One recent delivery included a shipment of 50,000 N95 face masks, which were flown into Newark Airport, where United has a hub.

• See related article: United Airlines Flies Huge Payload Of N95 Masks To Newark Airport

During the second quarter of 2020, United increased its cargo revenue by 36.3 percent, partly by “optimizing aircraft capacity with low passenger demand” and running international, cargo-only flights.

Altogether, second quarter cargo revenue came to roughly $402 million, the company stated Tuesday.

Since the coronavirus crisis began, United has operated more than 3,800 cargo-only flights and delivered 204 million pounds of supplies to in-need communities, spokespeople said.

The company has also flown more than 78.6 million pounds of medical equipment and personal protective equipment and two million pounds of supplies to support military troops.

As global supply chains buckle under the strain of the pandemic, United’s cargo teams have been showing “resilience and flexibility,” United Cargo President Jan Krems wrote in a company bulletin earlier this month.

“The unprecedented environment brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic has required us to adapt our businesses as we addressed many challenges, but it has also reinforced how important relationships are during a time of uncertainty,” Krems stated.

“Our cargo-only flight program has grown to now operate 270 flights per week to over 20 airports worldwide,” Krems wrote. “Together, we have transported over 47 million kilos of cargo, providing the products and materials the world needs to manage through this crisis.”

Krems said that as the world begins to recover from the COVID-19 crisis and factories start up again, the company expects to start making less virus-related shipments and switch to more “traditional” commodities.

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