The consolidated March traffic dipped 2.2% at United Continental Holdings Inc. (NYSE: UAL ), the largest U.S. airline. Both domestic and international traffic declined 2.3% and 2.4%, respectively. The 2.1% growth in capacity (or, available seat miles) was offset by 350 bps year-over-year decline in the load factor (percentage of seats filled with passengers). United Continental expects 8% to 9% year-over-year increase in unit revenue for the month of March, measured by passenger revenue per available seat mile (PRASM), a key metric in airlines. We believe United Continental will continue to benefit from merger synergies, global network, strong competitive positioning, low costs, fleet optimization and a strong liquidity position. The Zacks Consensus projects a loss of 37 cents for the first quarter of 2011, representing an improvement from a loss of 55 cents in the year-ago quarter. However, the magnitude of the loss was increased in the last 7 days and 30 days from 30 cents and 25 cents, respectively.