This is an event that’s never happened before. And I get that most of you on the sell side disagree. And I accept that you disagree and — but I think the world has changed and the industry has changed. And by the way, we do have a lot of flexibility. And what I would say, you didn’t ask this as a question what I would say is if we’re not — if there’s some reason that we — doesn’t look like we’re going to hit our targets, if we’re structurally missing our targets, if we’re underperforming the industry and missing our targets, we won’t do all this growth. I mean, we have a ton of flexibility to move aircraft around. And we won’t do it. So, it isn’t just like damn the torpedoes. This is as long as it’s working, we’re going to keep moving. But I will tell you, every single data point increases my confidence at least it’s working.
So look, we had with the highest pretax margins and fourth quarter of the big network carriers at least, we — amazing enough, if you look at — actually, we had the highest free cash flow in 2022 with the lowest net debt if you use traditional GAAP accounting with operating leases and include pensions. We had the lowest leverage ratio, like — I mean, it’s working. If you look at our operating results, what’s happening in Denver today, like it’s working. So, we’re not going to change course on something that’s working. But if it stops working, then we absolutely have the flexibility to adjust.
Operator: We will now switch to the media portion of the call. First up is Leslie Josephs from CNBC.
Leslie Josephs: Just curious if you’re benefiting at all from book away from Southwest after the holiday meltdown, and also if you’re benefiting from pilot attrition coming from Southwest. And second question, do you see any impact from many travelers that are cashing in on their miles this year that they might have built up during the pandemic, and does that help or hurt you? Thanks.
Andrew Nocella: I’ll give it a try, Leslie. It’s Andrew. I think we’re benefiting from running a world-class great global airline. When we look at the data and particularly not over like one week, right, over one quarter, when we look at the data over the last year plus, our team has been just hitting a home run and the data shows it. So, I think we’re really proud of where we’re at. We intend to keep that online. We have the appropriate buffers to make sure we can continue to deliver for our customers going forward, and we shall. In terms of frequent flyer growth, what I was going to say is the program is incredibly healthy. The redemption rates are quite normal given where we are with inventory availability and our customers are using their miles to fly all over the world in the largest global network of any U.S. carrier.
Scott Kirby: And on the pilot front, what I’d say is, it’s an amazing change. I tried to get out to the pilot training center and see new hire classes, and we’re hiring 200 a month, and I’ve started asking where they come from and show of hands. It used to be like from any of the large airlines, ULCCs, LCCs, big airlines, hardly any because you had to give up seniority to come. We now have a high percentage of people in those classes that are coming from all airlines. And I think the reason is because United has — if you’re a pilot — well, if you’re any one and you aspire to a career in aviation, United is a place to go. We’re well on our way in to be the biggest, but also the best Andrew talked about the brand, the reputation that matters a lot to people.
