DALLAS — United Airlines, which lost the distinction of being the world's biggest carrier after shrinking for several years, plans to regain lost ground by adding more flights from key airports this summer.
The airline wants to upgrade facilities at key airports and trim the use of smaller planes on important business routes.
United's revenue numbers fell nearly 2 percent in the last five years, while revenue at industry leader Delta Air Lines Inc. rose 8 percent.
United has slipped in other ways, too. Only once in the last five years did United Continental Holdings Inc. top Delta's operating income. And it consistently ranks worse in on-time flights and cancellations.
Delta and American Airlines Group Inc. have been adding flights, often on bigger planes, between major cities. Not United.
"We've been shrinking, and our competitors have been growing at our expense," says Scott Kirby, who jumped from president of American Airlines to the same job at United in August. "We're going back on offense."
Read Tuesday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.