United Air Lines, Inc., is a major airline based in the
United States and one of the world's largest airlines with 48,000 employees and
359 aircraft. It is a subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. formerly,
UAL Corporation, with corporate offices in Chicago. United's current largest
hub is Chicago's O'Hare International Airport. United also has hubs in
Washington Dulles International Airport, Denver International Airport, San
Francisco International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport and Narita
International
Airport near Tokyo. United is a founding member of the Star
Alliance, the largest airline alliance in the world, and offers connections to
over 1,000 destinations in over 170 countries worldwide.
On Sunday, May 2, 2010, the Boards of Directors at
Continental Airlines and UAL Corp. approved a stock-swap deal that would
combine them into the world's largest airline in revenue passenger miles and
second largest in fleet size and destinations after Delta Air Lines. The new
airline will take on the United Airlines name, Continental's logo and be based
in United's hometown of Chicago. Once combined, United's largest hub will be in
Houston. It will also be the largest carrier serving the New York City area via
its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport. The combined airline will also
operate smaller hubs in Cleveland and Guam. The parent company of the new
carrier will be called United Continental Holdings, Inc. The new United will be
run by Continental's CEO, Jeffery Smisek, along with United Airline's CEO,
Glenn Tilton, serving as non-executive Chairman of the board until his
retirement two years hence. United's pilots union announced that they "are
fully prepared to protect and defend the interests of all United pilots."
On August 27, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice
approved the US$3 billion merger. Share holders of both companies approved the
deal on September 17, 2010. The transaction was completed on October 1, 2010.
History
United Airlines traces its claim to be the oldest
commercial airline in the United States to the Varney Air Lines air mail
service of Walter Varney, who also founded Continental Airlines. It was founded
in Boise, Idaho. Varney's chief pilot, Leon D. "Lee" Cuddeback, flew
the first Contract Air Mail flight in a Swallow biplane from Varney's
headquarters in Boise, Idaho, to the railroad mail hub at Pasco, Washington, on
May 17, 1926, and returned the following day with 200 pounds of mail. May 17 is
regarded in the United Airlines company history as both its own birthday and
the date on which "true" airline service—operating on fixed routes
and fixed schedules—began in the United States. Varney Airlines' original 1925
hangar served as a portion of the terminal building for the Boise Airport until
2003, when the structure was replaced.
In 1927, airplane pioneer William Boeing founded his own
airline, Boeing Air Transport, and began buying other airmail carriers,
including Varney's. Within four years, Boeing's holdings grew to include
airlines, airplane and parts manufacturing companies, and several airports. In
1929, Boeing merged his company with Pratt & Whitney to form United
Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC). In March 1928, Boeing Air Transport,
National Air Transport, Varney Airlines and Pacific Air Transport combine as
United Air Lines, providing coast-to-coast passenger service and mail service.
It took 27 hours to fly the route, one way.
In 1930, as the capacity of airplanes proved sufficient
to carry not only mail but also passengers, Boeing Air Transport hired a
registered nurse, Ellen Church, to assist passengers. United claims Church as
the first airline stewardess. On May 7, 1930, UATC completed the acquisition of
National Air Transport Inc, a large carrier based in Chicago. On March 28,
1931, UATC formed the corporation United Air Lines, Inc. to manage its airline
subsidiaries.
Following the Air Mail scandal of 1930, the Air Mail Act
of 1934 banned the common ownership of manufacturers and airlines. UATC's
President Philip G. Johnson was forced to resign and moved to Trans-Canada
Airlines, the future Air Canada. William Boeing's company was broken into three
separate companies. UATC's manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi
River became United Aircraft (the future United Technologies), while its
manufacturing interests west of the Mississippi became Boeing Airplane Company.
The airline interests became United Air Lines. The airline company's new
president, hired to make a fresh start as airmail contracts were re-awarded in
1934, was William A. Patterson, who remained as president of United Airlines
until 1963.
Expansion into a national carrier
United's early route system, formed by connecting U.S.
air mail routes, operated east-to-west along a transcontinental route from New
York City via Chicago and Salt Lake City to San Francisco, as well as
north-and-south along the West Coast. The early interconnections during this
era became the basis of major United hubs in Chicago and San Francisco,
followed later by additional hubs in Denver and Washington, D.C. These four
cities remain United's principal hubs to this day.
On the night of October 11, 1933, a United Boeing 247
exploded in mid-air and crashed near Chesterton, Indiana, killing all seven
people aboard. Investigation revealed that the explosion was caused by a
nitroglycerin bomb placed in the baggage hold. The United Airlines Chesterton
Crash is believed to be the first proven case of air sabotage in commercial
aviation history. No suspects or motives were ever discovered.
During World War II, United-trained ground crews modified
airplanes for use as bombers, and transported mail, material, and passengers in
support of the war effort. Post-war United benefited from both the wartime
development of new airplane technologies (like the pressurized cabin which
permitted planes to fly above the weather) and a boom in customer demand for
air travel. This was also the period in which Pan American Airways established
a Tokyo hub and revived its Pacific route system that would later be acquired
by United.
On November 1, 1955, United Airlines Flight 629, which
was flying from Stapleton Airport in Denver to Portland, Oregon, was bombed,
killing everyone on board the Douglas DC-6B aircraft. The bomb was planted by
Jack Graham who placed the device in his mother's luggage with the intent of
collecting on her life insurance policy. Graham was arrested, tried, and was
executed a year after the explosion.
United merged with Capital Airlines on June 1, 1961 and
displaced American as the world's second largest airline, after Aeroflot. In
1968 the company reorganized, creating UAL Corporation, with United Airlines as
a wholly owned subsidiary.
United Airlines has the distinction of being the only
commercial airline to have operated Executive One, the designation given to a
civilian flight which the U.S. President is aboard. On December 23, 1973, then
President Richard Nixon flew as a passenger aboard a United DC-10 flight from
Washington Dulles to Los Angeles. White House staff explained that this was
done to conserve fuel by not having to fly the usual Boeing 707 Air Force
aircraft. In keeping with the common practice of having two aircraft
immediately available at all times during Presidential travel, an Air Force
aircraft flew behind in case of an emergency.
United had begun to seek overseas routes in the 1960s,
but the Transpacific Route Case (1969) denied them this expansion. It did not
gain an overseas route until 1983, when they began flights to Tokyo from
Portland and Seattle. United became a leading proponent of deregulation due to
its perception that regulation, as it existed at the time, was a major
constraint on United's ability to profitably grow. After years of focused work
to bring about deregulation, the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act became law.
In 1985, United agreed to purchase Pan American World
Airways' entire Pacific Division, Boeing 747SPs, and L-1011-500s, and flight
crew staffs for $750 million. By the end of 1986, United operated flights to 13
Pacific destinations, most of which were purchased from the ailing Pan American
World Airways.
Economic turmoil brought about largely by the economic
climate of the 70's which lead to "stagflation", labor unrest, and
the pressures of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act greatly the industry and
United, which incurred losses at a time when it was also undergoing significant
changes at the top of both United Airlines and its parent company UAL Corp.
Some changes due largely to the retirement of long term senior management
members as well as performance driven changes at the very top in 1969 and again
in 1985 following the pilot strike.
In May 1981, one week after rival American Airlines
launched AAdvantage, the first modern frequent flyer program, United launched
its Mileage Plus. In 1982, United became the launch carrier for the Boeing 767,
taking its first delivery of 767-200s on August 19.
In 1984, United became the first airline to serve all 50
states when it introduced service to Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock,
Fargo, Casper, Jackson, and Charleston.
Cabin
United offers in-flight entertainment on all mainline
aircraft, the only mainline legacy carrier to do so. Audio programming is
provided by Zune. The entire fleet features "From the Flightdeck" on
channel 9. This program allows passengers to listen to live radio
communications between the cockpit and Air Traffic Control. "From the
Flightdeck" can be disabled at the pilot's discretion. United also has
partnerships with various television networks who provide programming for video-equipped
aircraft. The most prominent of these programming partners was NBC, which
provided branded "NBC on United" programming. This long-standing
partnership ended in early 2009, when NBC signed a two-year deal with American
Airlines. Despite the loss of this partnership, United's television
entertainment continues to include several prime time NBC programs.
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