United Airlines hits a revenue milestone, but costs constrain its quarterly profit.

United Airways on Wednesday reported income of $12.1 billion within the three months that resulted in June, its largest quarterly haul in a minimum of a decade and probably the most it has ever earned within the second quarter of a 12 months.

Excessive prices put a damper on the excellent news, nonetheless, holding revenue to $329 million, after a lack of practically $1.4 billion within the first quarter.

The airline mentioned it anticipated the economic system to sluggish “within the close to to medium time period.” And its chief government, Scott Kirby, mentioned in a press release that the potential for a recession, excessive gasoline costs and the business’s struggles to maintain operations working easily posed threats to the business over the following six to 18 months. However United mentioned it was optimistic however, given the power of the journey restoration.

“These basic challenges have already led to greater prices, greater gasoline costs,” Mr. Kirby mentioned — however “additionally greater income.”

United mentioned it anticipated working income within the third quarter, which ends in September, to be up about 11 p.c from the identical quarter in 2019.

The earnings report, delivered after the shut of standard buying and selling, despatched United shares down greater than 6 p.c.

After greater than two lackluster years, airways are having fun with a journey growth. However staffing shortfalls, excessive prices and different challenges have held the business again, forcing many carriers to rein of their ambitions to restrict operational meltdowns.

“Whereas the demand and income panorama is the most effective we’ve seen, the operational atmosphere for the complete business stays uniquely challenged,” Ed Bastian, Delta’s chief government, mentioned when the airline reported its quarterly monetary outcomes final week.

Delta reported a revenue of $735 million within the second quarter. However that was paired with excessive prices, partly due to investments it made to enhance operations.

Airways have been in a position to recoup a few of these prices by means of greater fares. After falling considerably from a Might peak, the common value for a home flight was $310 final week, up about 16 p.c from the identical time in 2019, in line with Hopper, a journey reserving and price-tracking app. The typical fare for a global flight was $827, up 26 p.c from 2019.

Like different carriers, United has been racing to extend workers to benefit from recovering demand. Final month, it introduced the enlargement of a pilot coaching middle in Denver, a part of a plan to rent 1000’s of pilots by 2030.

The airline is scheduled to carry a name with traders, analysts and reporters on Thursday to debate its quarterly outcomes and its outlook for the third quarter. American Airways and Alaska Airways are scheduled to report second-quarter outcomes on Thursday.