American Telephone & Telegraph Co. said it...

American Telephone & Telegraph Co. said it earned $982 million in the fourth quarter after special charges as long-distance volume and equipment sales improved. The performance met AT&T;’s goals, and a top executive said the company aims for a repeat in 1994.

AT&T; earned 72 cents per share in the three months ended Dec. 31. It earned $1 billion, or 75 cents per share, in the same period of 1992. Revenue was $18.46 billion, up 5.5% from $17.5 billion in the fourth quarter of 1992.

Special charges for an accounting rule change and restructuring its computer subsidiary cut the New York firm’s profit by $167 million. Without them, the company would have earned $1.15 billion, or 85 cents per share.

United Airlines and Delta Air Lines narrowed their losses in the final three months of the year, helped by lower fuel prices, higher revenues and a windfall of business from the strike at American Airlines.

United’s parent company, UAL Inc., lost $64 million, or $3.02 per share, on revenue of $3.64 billion in the fourth quarter. A year earlier, the company lost $224 million, or $9.27 per share, on revenue of $3.20 billion.

Based solely on the expenses of running the business, Chicago-based United had an operating profit of $19 million.

United said its short routes, where the new competitors pose the biggest challenge, continued to be a drag on earnings. The airline has agreed to sell itself to employees as part of a plan to create a more efficient subsidiary to take on the cheap-ticket start-ups.