The United Next plan continues to be a central focus, with United exercising options and purchase rights for additional Boeing 787-9 and Airbus A321neo aircraft. This expansion aims to increase gauge, total seats per departure, and lower carbon emissions per seat, enhancing both customer experience and earnings potential.

A key component of the United Next plan involves replacing older, less fuel-efficient aircraft with newer models, projecting a 17-25% reduction in carbon emissions per seat. This strategic shift underscores United's commitment to environmental sustainability and cost efficiency.

United continues to leverage its membership in Star Alliance and maintains various bilateral commercial agreements to extend its network reach and enhance customer benefits. These alliances facilitate seamless connectivity and revenue synergies, supporting United's competitive position in the global market.

Management emphasizes the importance of on-time flights and is actively addressing operational challenges, particularly at congested airports. Strategic efforts to improve operational performance are expected to enhance customer satisfaction and mitigate potential disruptions.

Recognizing the importance of skilled personnel, United is investing in training programs to prepare employees for critical roles and leadership positions. This includes talent acquisition tools and programs to attract and retain high-performing individuals across all levels of the organization.

United is committed to promoting a diverse and inclusive workplace, with the Board actively seeking women and minority candidates for director positions. The company regularly reports workforce diversity metrics to the executive team and the Board, demonstrating a commitment to transparency and accountability.

The 10-K highlights risks associated with executing the United Next strategic plan, including reliance on assumptions about customer demand, fuel costs, aircraft deliveries, and labor market conditions. Failure to successfully execute the plan could materially impact business, financial results, and market capitalization.

The company acknowledges the increasing threat of cybersecurity incidents and data breaches, which could disrupt operations, compromise sensitive information, and result in legal claims and reputational harm. The 10-K details measures taken to mitigate these risks, but there is no assurance that such actions will be sufficient.

The company's international operations are subject to risks associated with volatile conditions in certain regions, including political disruptions, terrorist attacks, and security events. These events could negatively impact demand, network availability, and fuel prices, potentially leading to a material adverse effect on business and financial results.

The 10-K emphasizes the highly competitive nature of the airline industry, marked by significant competition with respect to routes, fares, schedules, and services. Consolidation, alliances, and immunized JBAs have altered the competitive landscape, potentially impacting the company's ability to realize expected benefits from its strategic relationships.

The company's U.S. operations are subject to competition from low-cost and ultra-low-cost carriers, which engage in substantial price discounting. This may diminish the company's ability to achieve sustained profitability on domestic and international routes.

The MileagePlus frequent flyer program faces significant and increasing direct competition from other airlines and financial services companies. If the company is unable to maintain a competitive program, its ability to attract and retain customers may be adversely affected.

The company's operational and financial results are significantly impacted by changes in the price and availability of aircraft fuel. The company is focused on improving fuel efficiency and reducing GHG emissions in its operations.

The company sources substantially all of its aircraft and many related aircraft parts from a limited number of suppliers. The company would be materially and adversely affected if it were unable to obtain timely deliveries, additional equipment or support from any of these suppliers.

Disruptions to the company's regional network and United Express flights provided by third-party regional carriers could adversely affect the company's business, operating results and financial condition.

The company depends on technology and automated systems to operate its business, including computerized airline reservation systems, electronic tickets, electronic airport kiosks, demand prediction software, flight operations systems, in-flight wireless internet, cloud-based technologies, technical and business operations systems and commercial websites and applications.

The company may also face challenges in implementing, integrating and modifying the automated systems and technologies required to operate its business or new systems and technologies designed to enhance its business, each of which may require significant expenditures, human resources, the development of effective internal controls and the transformation of business and financial processes.

The company must manage increasing legislative, regulatory and consumer focus on privacy issues, data security and cybersecurity risk management in a variety of jurisdictions domestically and across the globe.

The company's orders for new aircraft are typically made years in advance of actual delivery of such aircraft and the financial commitment required for purchases of new aircraft is substantial.

Capital spending projects of airport authorities currently underway and additional projects that we expect to commence over the next several years are expected to result in increased costs to airlines and the traveling public that use those facilities as the airports seek to recover their investments through increased rental rates, landing fees and other facility costs.

The company has a significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations, including aircraft lease and debt financings, leases of airport property, secured bonds, secured loan facilities and other facilities, and other material cash obligations.

The Company's commitment to operating an environmentally sustainable and responsible airline is woven into its long-term strategy and values. The Company believes that it is critical, now more than ever, to continue to serve its purpose of connecting people and uniting the world and is committed to finding solutions, both individually as a company and together with partners in both the private and public sectors, to do so sustainably and responsibly while also achieving its financial goals.

At the end of 2020, the Company pledged a net zero goal to reduce its greenhouse gas ("GHG") emissions by 100% by 2050 without relying on the use of voluntary carbon offsets.

The Company's Board of Directors (the "Board"), including through its Public Responsibility Committee, provides oversight of its environmental sustainability and climate-related strategic goals and objectives to ensure integration with its core business strategy.

Airlines are subject to extensive domestic and international regulatory oversight. The following discussion summarizes the principal elements of the regulatory framework applicable to our business.

Foreign countries are increasingly enacting passenger protection laws, rules and regulations that meet or exceed U.S. requirements. In cases where this activity exceeds U.S. requirements, additional burden and liability may be placed on the Company.

The Company believes that policies that incentivize the production of SAF, such as the passage of tax credit incentives for the production of SAF in the IRA, or economy-wide carbon prices or taxes, will enable the Company to decarbonize its operations more cost efficiently than a patchwork of regulatory requirements on aviation, particularly those that require airlines to reduce flights or impose the cost of transitioning to low-carbon alternatives disproportionately on airlines.