Andrew Nocella
Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at United Airlines
Thanks, Brett. TRASM for the third quarter finished up 25.5% versus the same period in 2019 on about 10% less capacity. September was our third best TRASM month in our history, excluding the low flying pandemic months, we saw a number of record revenue days that were more typical of the peak summer period than off peak. In many ways, September, where we operated with an 86% passenger load factor, five points better than September of '19 was indicative of what we believe to be the new normal, where hybrid work gives customers the flexibility to turn any weekend into a short trip. And we believe because of that, the off peak periods are now stronger.
All parts of the network performed well in the quarter. First, across the Atlantic, United increased capacity by 22% versus the third quarter 2019 adding 10 new cities of 18 new routes. We also push into new regions to becoming a relevant competitor to Africa for the first time. New nonstop service between Washington and Cape Town, in fact will begin later this year. That's subject to government approval.
Atlantic PRASM increased 21% versus the third quarter of '19, which we consider outstanding. United is now the largest airline across Atlantic, where our strategic partnership with Lufthansa and Air Canada is working better than ever. Last week, we announced yet another Atlantic expansion plan for 2023 of nine new routes. A few weeks ago, we announced a new partnership with Emirates. This partnership will allow United to reassume service to Dubai, the largest and best hub in the Middle East after a seven-year absence. Dubai is unique as a hub in the region as it has both significant local markets and a large amount of premium demand, but also massive connectivity.
While our Pacific flying is our least recovered so far from the pandemic, we continue to expand capacity as economies open. Overall capacity in the region was down 59% versus 2019. And Pacific PRASM increased 41% versus 2019, and we continue to experience much stronger cargo yields. We'll be focused on resume in the bulk of our Pacific capacity, excluding China in the next year, now that Japan is fully open for business. We continue to build our partnership with Virgin Australia. We'll begin new nonstop service to Brisbane from San Francisco in a few weeks. We're the only airline that maintained continued service to Australia from the U.S. during the pandemic. And now United expects to be the largest airline operating to and from Australia this winter for the first time ever.
Latin American PRASM was up 20% on 4% more capacity than 2019. Domestic PRASM was up to 20.4% on 10.5% less capacity versus '19. Our domestic gauge versus '19 will also increase to 11% as we continue to replace regional jet flying with mainline jets. Gauge increases are being absorbed well without much of a negative impact on PRASM. Cargo volumes were strong even as we face much more competitive capacity. Yields in the quarter did continue to fall consistent with our expectations relative to pandemic highs and were 90% greater than 2019.
The corporate business travel recovery in the quarter was about 80% of volume of '19 and stable over the quarter. While larger corporations clearly lagged the recovery rate, we believe new network patterns and hybrid work environments are having positive and offsetting impacts on revenue. It's also worth noting that business traffic for long-haul segments across the Atlantic have recovered at a faster pace than domestic. It's our observation that a Zoom meeting is simply less practical in a global setting. We remain optimistic that business traffic will continue to get better from this point forward. Our traditional view on business traffic recovery rates relative to not 2019 may now be obsolete, a measurement given the changes in how customers now travel in a remote work environment or business and leisure trips often are combined.
New revenue segmentation efforts versus '19 have been increasingly successful. Premium plus, our new mid-tier global long-haul product is now 7% of our long-haul capacity producing yields that are twice that of the main cabin. Our efforts should better market and sell. Main cabin seats have also produced strong results with seat revenue per passenger up 21% from 2019. September was a strong revenue month and we are entering the fourth quarter with a lot of momentum. And October is on track to date to quickly replace September as our third best TRASM month ever excluding the low flying pandemic months.
In fact, we currently anticipate a similar TRASM increase in the fourth quarter, as we saw in the third of between 24% and 25% on between 9% and 10% less capacity. While I recognize recent headlines would otherwise indicate our revenue performance should be falter in, I hope this strong revenue outlook puts those thoughts duress.
I wanted to briefly address some of the recent changes on RJ operating costs. We expect that these recent cost changes to alter the balance of pilots, choosing a career at United Express versus a ULCC. With competitive pay, United Express versus ULCCs for the first time, we'll be better able to staff our United Express operation albeit at higher costs. United Express pilots who join our ABA program can transition to a United money now [Phonetic] job in four years, making it with the best short-term and long-term career option. We do expect that given the overall pilot shortage today at non-legacy carriers, it may take a while and probably until 2026 to fully utilize in R3 to 400 RJs, we'd like to operate by our Express partners.
Finally, a quick update on our Mileage Plus program. I have to say every key indicator we measure is positive. We've seen a record number of memberships to date with more enrollment so far this year than all of 2021. Mileage redemptions this quarter were the highest and for any third quarter in our history and new co-brand accounts were up over 25% year-over-year, and we saw the highest quarter of spend in the history of the program in the third quarter. Momentum is strong and we expect 2023 to set new records as we continue to grow the program.
I wanted to say thanks to the entire United team. And with that, I will hand it over to Gerry.
