Apple Spends $150 Million on Flights With United Every Year

Apple spends $150 million annually with United Airlines, according to a leaked photo from an internal United source.

The data from the leaked signage was verified by a United representative, who also said that the information was confidential and had been intended for internal employee use only.

"This information was provided to United employees as part of a limited pilot project focused on San Francisco to highlight the importance of our corporate relationships and was not intended to be shared publicly. The project has since been discontinued. A small group of customers were mentioned by name on this material and each has been contacted directly and we are working to address their concerns. The material has been taken down, and moving forward we will review and further restrict sharing of internal customer information to a strictly need-to-know audience."

Other noteworthy statistics on the leaked signage stated that the routes between San Francisco and Shanghai is the airline's "#1 market for Apple," representing $35 million in annual revenue and 25% of the company's annual spending. Part of that cost is comprised of 50 business-class seats per day on flights between Shanghai and San Francisco. The other nine destinations rounding out Apple's Top 10 list include Hong Kong, Taipei, London, Seoul, Singapore, Munich, Tokyo Haneda, Beijing and Tel Aviv.

The vast majority of Apple's products are manufactured in China, and the Asia destinations allow the tech giant's employees to keep a close eye on its supply chain partners. Meanwhile, London is Apple's largest non-manufacturing destination.

But don't expect to find Apple CEO Tim Cook on board your next United flight. Cook flies private at the request of Apple's board, according to Business Insider, and spent $294,082 on private air travel expenses in 2018.

According to the data, Apple beats out its next closest competitors by more than $100 million per year. Internet giants Facebook and Google, as well as healthcare company Roche, spend more than $34 million per year with United Airlines. Well-known consulting companies primarily fill out the $12-17 million bracket, while Intel, Visa and Chevron each spend between $10-12 million annually.