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UALUnited Airlines Holdings

Industrials · Airlines · Nasdaq
Compare with peers → Embed
The 10-K against last year's

119 changes: 20 added, 11 removed, 87 reworded, 1 quiet changes

10-K Feb 12, 2026 vs Feb 27, 2025
Risk FactorsRedline ↓
15.3%
of the text changed · 13,365 words now
25.8%
of the text changed · 7,394 words now
Legal ProceedingsRedline ↓
13.3%
of the text changed · 475 words now
Accounting PoliciesRedline ↓
8.1%
of the text changed · 3,190 words now

10-K 0000100517-26-000023 (2026-02-12) vs 10-K 0000100517-25-000046 (2025-02-27)

The redline

The paragraph that changed most in each section

Marked against last year's 10-K: cut words struck through, new words highlighted and underlined.

Risk Factors 293 words changed in this paragraph; it is 52% similar to last year's version.
The airline industry is heavily dependent on business models that concentrate operations in major airports in the United States and throughout the world. An extended interruption or disruption at one of our hubs or other airports where we have a significant presence resulting from ATC delays, delays and disruptions, weather conditions, natural disasters, growth constraints, relationships with or the performance of third-party service providers, cybersecurity incidents and other failures of computer systems, disruptions to government agencies or personnel (including as a result of government shutdowns), regulatory changes, disruptions at airport facilities or other key facilities used by us to manage our operations, labor relations and market constraints, power supplies, fuel supplies, terrorist activities, international hostilities or other factors could result in the cancellation or delay of a significant portion of our flights and, as a result, could have a material adverse impact on our business, operating results and financial condition. For example, we perform significant aircraft during the U.S. federal government shutdown in late 2025, the FAA directed airlines, including the Company, to implement temporary schedule reductions across approximately 40 domestic airports, which required us to modify portions of our regional and engine maintenance operations at our SFO airport hub domestic mainline flying and any resulted in operational disruption or interruption at our SFO hub could have and additional costs. In addition, in the spring of 2025, challenges associated with ATC staffing, technology outages and runway construction led to a serious impact on our overall operations. We have minimal control over the operation, quality or maintenance of these services or whether our suppliers will improve or continue to provide services that are essential to our business. For example, because we prioritize operational excellence and continually work to optimize our route network and schedule, in light of the industry-wide operational challenges at airports in our network that have limited our system-wide capacity (two of the more prominent examples being the grounding of a concentrated number of the Company's transatlantic flights in response to the capacity cut by London Heathrow during the summer delays and cancellations out of 2022 and the flight disruptions experienced at our EWR during the summer of 2023), we have reconfigured our proposed flight schedule and capacity to help improve our operational performance and our customers' experience. These industry-wide operational challenges have had a negative impact on our business and operating results and are expected to continue. In the future, we may not be able to adjust our operations to mitigate their effect, which may have a negative impact on our business, operating results, financial condition and liquidity and may limit our ability to expand or change our route network and execute our United Next strategy. hub.

Source: Item 1A, 10-K 0000100517-26-000023 vs Item 1A, 10-K 0000100517-25-000046

MD&A 199 words changed in this paragraph; it is 86% similar to last year's version.
Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: execution risks associated with our strategic operating plan; changes in our fleet and network strategy or other factors outside our control resulting in less economic aircraft orders, costs related to modification or termination of aircraft orders or entry into aircraft orders on less favorable terms, as well as any inability to accept or integrate new aircraft into our fleet as planned, including as a result of any mandatory groundings of aircraft; any failure to effectively manage, and receive anticipated benefits and returns from, acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and other portfolio actions, or related exposures to unknown liabilities or other issues or underperformance as compared to our expectations; adverse publicity, increased regulatory scrutiny, harm to our brand, reduced travel demand, potential tort liability and operational restrictions as a result of an accident, catastrophe or incident involving us, our regional carriers, our codeshare partners or another airline; the highly competitive nature of the global airline industry and susceptibility of the industry to price discounting and changes in capacity, including as a result of alliances, joint business arrangements or other consolidations; unfavorable developments affecting our MileagePlus loyalty program; our reliance on a limited number of suppliers to source a majority of our aircraft, engines and certain parts, and the impact of any failure to obtain timely deliveries, additional equipment or support from any of these suppliers; disruptions to our regional network and United Express flights provided by third-party regional carriers; unfavorable economic and political conditions in the United States and globally; reliance on third-party service providers and the impact of any significant failure of these parties to perform as expected, or interruptions in our relationships with these providers or their provision of services; extended interruptions or disruptions in service at major airports where we operate and space, facility and infrastructure constraints at our hubs or other airports; airports (including as a result of government shutdowns); geopolitical conflict, terrorist attacks or security events (including the suspension of our overflying in Russian airspace as a result of the Russia-Ukraine military conflict and interruptions of our flying as a result of military conflicts across the military conflict in the Middle East, globe, as well as any escalation of the broader economic consequences of these any conflicts beyond their current scope); scope or a delay in any planned resumption of service to an area impacted by conflict); any damage to our reputation or brand image; our reliance on technology and automated systems to operate our business and the impact of any significant failure or disruption of, or failure to effectively integrate and implement, these technologies or systems; increasing privacy, data security and cybersecurity obligations or a significant data breach; increased use of social media platforms by us, our employees and others; the impacts of union disputes, employee strikes or slowdowns, and other labor-related disruptions costs related to employee and retiree health, pension, labor or regulatory compliance costs on our operations or financial performance; any failure to attract, recruit, hire, develop or train or retain skilled personnel, including our senior management team or other key employees; the monetary and operational costs of compliance with extensive government regulation of the airline industry; current or future litigation and regulatory actions, or failure to comply with the terms of any settlement, order or agreement relating to these actions; costs, liabilities and risks associated with environmental regulation and climate change; high and/or volatile fuel prices or significant disruptions in the supply of aircraft fuel; the impacts of our significant amount of financial leverage from fixed obligations and the impacts of insufficient liquidity on our financial condition and business; failure to comply with financial and other covenants governing our debt, including our MileagePlus® senior secured notes; debt; limitations on our ability to use our net operating loss carryforwards and certain other tax attributes to offset future taxable income for U.S. federal income tax purposes; our failure to realize the full value of our intangible assets or our long-lived assets, causing us to record impairments; fluctuations in the price of our common stock; the impacts of seasonality and other factors associated with the airline industry; increases in insurance costs or inadequate insurance coverage; risks relating to our repurchase program for UAL common stock and Warrants; warrants; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Part I, Item 1A. Risk Factors, and under "Economic and Market Factors" and "Governmental Actions" in Part II, Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, of this report, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the SEC.

Source: Item 7, 10-K 0000100517-26-000023 vs Item 7, 10-K 0000100517-25-000046

Legal Proceedings 50 words changed in this paragraph; it is 83% similar to last year's version.
The Company is involved, both as a plaintiff and a defendant, in various legal proceedings, including, without limitation, litigation, arbitration and other claims, and investigations, inspections, subpoenas, audits, inquiries and similar actions involving its passengers, customers, suppliers, employees and stockholders, as well as government agencies, among others, arising in the ordinary course of business and that have not been fully resolved. Legal proceedings, in general, and securities, class action and multi-district litigation, in particular, can be expensive and disruptive. Some of these suits may purport or may be determined to be class actions and/or involve parties seeking large and/or indeterminate amounts, including punitive or exemplary damages, and may remain unresolved for several years. Additionally, from time to time, the Company becomes aware of potential non-compliance with applicable environmental regulations, which have either been identified by the Company (through internal compliance programs such as its environmental compliance audits) or through notice from a governmental entity. In some instances, these matters could potentially become the subject of an administrative or judicial proceeding and could potentially involve monetary sanctions.

Source: Item 3, 10-K 0000100517-26-000023 vs Item 3, 10-K 0000100517-25-000046

Accounting Policies 46 words changed in this paragraph; it is 69% similar to last year's version.
Income Taxes. In December 2023, the Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") issued Accounting Standards Update ("ASU") No. 2023-09, "Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Tax Disclosures." This ASU enhances disclosures related to income taxes, including the rate reconciliation and information on income taxes paid. This ASU becomes effective The Company adopted the standard beginning with our annual reporting for us on January 1, fiscal year 2025. We are assessing the impact The adoption resulted in incremental disclosures. See Note 7 of this ASU and upon adoption may be required to include certain additional report for these disclosures.

Source: Item 8, Note 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES, 10-K 0000100517-26-000023 vs Item 8, Note 1 – BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES, 10-K 0000100517-25-000046

Every change, by type

Sentences and paragraphs added, removed or reworded

Sentences and paragraphs of UAL's Risk Factors and MD&A, 10-K 2026-02-12 against 10-K 2025-02-27. Each links to the text at sec.gov.

RemovedRisk Factors
The Company is also dependent on a limited number of suppliers for engines and certain other aircraft parts and could, therefore, also be materially and adversely affected in the event of the unavailability or increased cost of these engines and other aircraft parts.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedRisk Factors
In addition, the decrease in qualified pilots driven primarily by changes to federal regulations has adversely impacted and could continue to adversely impact the Company's regional flying. For example, the FAA's expansion of minimum pilot qualification standards, including a requirement that a pilot have at least 1,500 total flight hours, as well as the FAA's revised pilot flight and duty time requirements under Part 117 of the Federal Aviation Regulations, have contributed to a smaller supply of pilots available to regional carriers. The decrease in qualified pilots resulting from the regulations as well as other factors, including a decreased student pilot population and a shrinking U.S. military from which to hire qualified pilots, has led to increased competition from large, mainline carriers attempting to meet their hiring needs and has adversely impacted our regional carriers. In the recent past, United Express regional carriers have been unable to hire adequate numbers of pilots to meet their needs, resulting in a reduction in the number of flights offered, disruptions in scheduled flights, increased costs of operations, financial difficulties and other adverse effects and these circumstances may arise again and may become more severe in the future, which could cause a material adverse effect on our business. In response, the Company has been and may in the future be required to provide additional financial compensation and other support to its regional carriers or reduce its regional carrier flying, which could require the Company to fly routes at a greater cost, reduce the number of destinations the Company is able to serve or lead to negative public perceptions of the Company.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedRisk Factors
Automated systems and technologies, including AI, may become increasingly important in our operations over time. The Company may face challenges in implementing, integrating and modifying the automated systems and technologies required to

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedRisk Factors
being required to do so by January 2028 if a regulatory framework to implement CORSIA within the United States is established. There is a risk that insufficient CORSIA-eligible carbon offsets will be available for purchase for CORSIA compliance.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedRisk Factors
Aircraft fuel is critical to the Company's operations and is one of our largest operating expenses. During the year ended December 31, 2024, the Company's fuel expense was approximately $11.8 billion. The timely and adequate supply of fuel to

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedRisk Factors
The senior secured notes (the "MileagePlus Senior Secured Notes") secured by substantially all of the assets of Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC in particular contain stringent covenants, limit our flexibility to manage our capital structure and limit our ability to make financial and operational changes to the MileagePlus program. If we were to default under the agreements governing the MileagePlus Senior Secured Notes, the noteholders' exercise of remedies could result in our loss of the MileagePlus program, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. As a result we may take actions to ensure that the MileagePlus Senior Secured Notes are repaid or that the noteholders' remedies under such agreements are not exercised, potentially to the detriment of our other creditors.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedMD&A
Distribution expenses increased $254 million, or 12.8%, in 2024 as compared to 2023, primarily due to higher credit card fees, travel agency commissions and global distribution fees driven by the overall increase in passenger revenue. Also, starting in the fourth quarter of 2023, the Company reclassified certain commissions from contra-revenue to distribution expense as an immaterial reclassification correction, which increased distribution expense by $187 million compared to the prior year.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedMD&A
2024 2023 (Gains) losses on sale of assets and other special charges $112 $135 Labor contract ratification bonuses — 814 Total special charges $112 $949

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

Show the other 3
RemovedMD&A
Passenger Revenue Recognition. As discussed in Note 2 to the financial statements, passenger revenue is recognized when transportation is provided. Passenger tickets and related ancillary services sold by the Company for flights are purchased primarily via credit card transactions, with payments collected by the Company in advance of the performance of related services. The Company initially records ticket sales in its Advance ticket sales liability, deferring revenue recognition until the travel occurs. All tickets sold at any given point in time have travel dates through the next 12 months. The Company estimates the value of Advance ticket sales that will expire unused ("ticket breakage") and recognizes revenue and any changes in estimates in proportion to the usage of the related tickets. To determine ticket breakage, the Company uses its historical experience with expired tickets and certificates and other facts, such as recent aging trends, program changes and modifications that could affect the ultimate expiration patterns.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedMD&A
Frequent Flyer Accounting. United's MileagePlus loyalty program builds customer loyalty by offering awards, benefits and services to program participants. Members in this program earn miles for travel on United, United Express, Star Alliance members and certain other airlines that participate in the program. Members can also earn miles by purchasing goods and services from our network of non-airline partners. We have contracts to sell miles to these partners with the terms extending from approximately one to five years. These partners include domestic and international credit card issuers, retail merchants, hotels, car rental companies and our participating airline partners. Miles can be redeemed for free (other than taxes and government-imposed fees), discounted or upgraded air travel and non-travel awards.

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

RemovedMD&A
Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: execution risks associated with our strategic operating plan; changes in our fleet and network strategy or other factors outside our control resulting in less economic aircraft orders, costs related to modification or termination of aircraft orders or entry into aircraft orders on less favorable terms, as well as any inability to accept or integrate new aircraft into our fleet as planned, including as a result of any mandatory groundings of aircraft; any failure to effectively manage, and receive anticipated benefits and returns from, acquisitions, divestitures, investments, joint ventures and other portfolio actions, or related exposures to unknown liabilities or other issues or underperformance as compared to our expectations; adverse

Read it in 10-K 2025-02-27 at sec.gov ↗

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