United Airlines Holdings Inc. raised guidance for the second quarter on Tuesday, after it said it has seen an acceleration in ticketed yields for the quarter to levels similar to 2019, the year before the coronavirus pandemic crimped travel. In a regulatory filing, the airline said domestic leisure yields are now ahead of where they were in the same period in 2019. It now expects total revenue per available seat mile to be down around 12% for the quarter, compared with previous guidance of down about 20%. However, because of reduced flying to India and Israel, United expects second-quarter capacity to be down at least 46%, compared with earlier guidance of down 45%. The company is still expecting domestic leisure yields for summer travel to exceed 2019 levels. “Business demand continues to be significantly depressed, though bookings for business travel are starting to recover,” said the filing. “As a result of these trends the company now expects third-quarter 2021 adjusted EBITDA to be positive.” Shares rose 0.9% premarket and have gained about 30% in the year to date, while the U.S. Global JETS ETF has gained 17.6% and the S&P 500 has gained 11.7%.
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