It's easy to be "cash flow positive" when your measure of cash flow is really "Earnings before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation/Amortization and Rent.
UA only paid about half of its bills in January - and paid nothing toward aircraft. If you paint the target large enough, anyone can hit it.[img src='http://www.usaviation.com/idealbb/images/smilies/9.gif']
Summary of UA Jan Results:
Total operating revenues
1,179,899
Total operating expenses
1,511,366
Receipts from operations (net of Intercompany receipts)
$ 1,278,809,257
Operating Disbursements (net of Intercompany disbursements)
$ 790,861,821
.... which makes for $700m in operating expenses not actually paid in cash [including those airplane rents].
Cash should take a big hit in Feb due to resumption of many lease payments, including arrears.