DOW JONES NEWSWIRES UAL Corp.'s (UAUA) profit soared as the United Airlines parent saw a key revenue metric surge. The carrier, like much of the industry, has seen recent performance numbers improve from last year's woeful levels. It faces a regulatory maze and other challenges in its bid to merge with Continental Airlines (CAL) and create the world's largest airline. UAL posted a profit of $273 million, or $1.29 a share, up from $28 million, or 19 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding items such as hedge gains and accounting charges, the results swung to profit of $1.95 from a year-earlier loss of $2.21. Revenue jumped 28% to $5.16 billion. Revenue per available seat mile, a key industry measurement, jumped 28% at namesake operations after falling 20% a year ago. Fuel costs jumped 80%. UAL reported earlier this month traffic at namesake operations rose 1.4% while load factor -- the percentage of seats filled -- increased to 85% from 82.5% and capacity dropped 1.6%. The shares closed Monday at $21.18. -By Matt Jarzemsky, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2240, matthew.jarzemsky@dowjones.com
