United Airlines Traffic Down 11.5% Year Over Year

CHICAGO -- Traffic on United Airlines fell 11.5% in December from a year earlier, with the worst weakness on flights in the Pacific region, according to preliminary figures released Monday.

However, flights were slightly more full than a year earlier because United slashed capacity on scheduled flights by 12.7% in response to high fuel prices early in the year.

Traffic fell across all regions, with United boarding 4.66 million passengers in December compared with 5.13 million a year earlier.

United, a unit of Chicago-based UAL (UAUA Quote), said domestic traffic measured in miles flown by paying customers fell 18.8% in the Pacific, 9.5% in North America and Latin America and 7.6% across the Atlantic.

Capacity shrank the most on Pacific routes, down 16.2%, followed by 13.8% in North America and smaller declines to Latin America and Europe.

The average flight had 79.9% of seats sold, an increase of 1.1 percentage points from December 2007 because the capacity cuts left fewer available seats. The percentage of unsold seats grew faster on Pacific and Atlantic flights.

For the full year, traffic fell 6.5%, including 8.6% in North America and 9.8% in the Pacific. Capacity was trimmed 4.5%.

United said it carried 63.1 million passengers in 2008, down from 68.4 million in 2007.

Shares of UAL fell 42 cents, or 3.5%, to $11.45.