Shares of United Airlines dropped more than 10 per cent on Thursday after the carrier signalled that weak prices will continue the rest of this year.

Analysts pressed United management during a conference call for evidence that adding more flights and slashing prices to match budget carriers are boosting the company's financial performance.

CEO Oscar Munoz appealed for patience. He said United had "dug ourselves in a hole" compared to competitors, and that his management team is working on a plan for long-term success that will include more profitable flying and lower costs.

"It's a difficult period for us as we work through all this information," Munoz said. "The team has only been in place really for a year and we're just getting our mojo working ... I just need a little more time."

The call came a day after United reported that third-quarter profit fell by one-third to US$637 million as hurricanes led to 8,300 cancelled flights and US$210 million in lost revenue. A key measure of pricing power fell 3.7 per cent, and the Chicago-based airline forecast it will drop by 1 per cent to 3 per cent in the fourth quarter.

Analysts said the fourth-quarter forecast wasn't so bad, but they wanted more evidence from management that recent initiatives to raise revenue are working.

"People are beginning to wonder, is the strategy working?" Stephens Inc. analyst Jack Atkins said in an interview. "When will we see that materialize in the financials?"

United is on pace to increase domestic passenger-carrying capacity by more than 4 per cent this year. Atkins said that is too fast and undermines pricing power, and that United is simultaneously seeing a "really troubling" increase in costs.

In afternoon trading, shares of United Continental Holdings Inc. were down US$7.41, or 10.9 per cent, to US$60.58.