United Airlines is betting that technology is going to help it navigate the COVID-19[1] pandemic and ultimately rebound in 2022.
The company said that it is aiming to hit $2 billion in annual cost savings. These savings will be critical since United lost $7.1 billion for 2020 and $1.9 billion in the fourth quarter[2]. United's fourth quarter revenue was $3.4 billion, down 69% from a year ago. United burned through $19 million a day on its core operations in the fourth quarter, a $5 billion improvement compared to the third quarter.
"If you look at the changes we've made early and throughout the crisis to our customer-facing app or the new technology we're testing in airports or the COVID-19 testing capabilities that we're making available for customers, there's simply no question that United has leapfrogged the rest of the aviation industry," said CEO Scott Kirby, who noted that United's innovation will set it up for the future.
Also: Not so quiet takeoff: A big month for electric aviation[3] | Delta just offered a brave lesson in listening to customers, not tech[4] | All air passengers entering United States must test negative to COVID-19[5] | Delta just made an announcement passengers may love (unless they're flying American)[6]
Here's a look at United's key technology projects.
Vaccine, COVID-19 passports
United said that it is focused on technology as a way to manage COVID-19 testing requirements, vaccine status. Linda Jojo, executive vice president and chief digital officer at United, said:
We are definitely focused on making it as easy for our customers as we can to manage through all the different rules, whether it's around testing requirements, vaccine requirements, and certainly, technology is going to have a big piece