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United Airlines (UAL) is an American airline, the second largest in the world, after American Airlines. Based in Elk Grove Village, Illinois, near Chicago, it employs around 61,000 people and operates around 540 aircraft (Jan 2002). The company has been operating under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since December 2002 and is set to emerge in the first half of 2005.

United Airlines Boeing 777 taking off at Schiphol, Amsterdam.

Hubs and alliances

United has hub operations at

O'Hare International Airport (ORD) serving Chicago, Illinois

San Francisco International Airport (SFO) serving San Francisco, California

Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) serving Washington, DC

Denver International Airport (DEN) serving Denver, Colorado

Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) serving Los Angeles, California

Narita International Airport (NRT) serving Tokyo, Japan

The airline's low-cost leisure subsidiary, Ted, is primarily hubbed at Denver.

United's regional feeder operation is United Express. United Express is the marketing name for several small airlines which operate under contract to fly passengers from small cities in the U.S. and Canada to United hubs. Although the aircraft are painted in United colours, they are separate companies with different pilots and management.

UA is a founding member of the Star Alliance, through which it is a marketing partner of 16 other carriers. It has a special partnership with Star member Lufthansa which includes profit-sharing on certain trans-Atlantic routes. Separately, United currently codeshares with SNCF French Rail to stations in France and has marketing agreements of varying intimacy with Aeromar, Air China, Aloha Airlines, BWIA, Cayman Airways, and Emirates.

History

Early History

United Airlines Airbus A320-200. In early 2004, the color scheme shown here was superseded.

UAL originated in the air mail service of Walter Varney, founded in 1926 in Boise, Idaho. Varney Airlines' original hanger served as a portion of the terminal building for the Boise Municipal Airport until 2003, when the structure was replaced.

In only four years the company included a number of airlines, aero manufacturing companies and several airports and was also closely associated with the new firm of William Boeing. Following the Air Mail Scandal of 1930, by 1934 the company still held its Swarovski airlines routes but had lost all its non-airline holdings and had a new president in William A. Patterson (who remained in that office until 1963).

United's early routes operated in and around the West Coast, Midwest, and Mid-Atlantic states. It operated transcontinental flights through Denver, Colorado, which remains a major United hub to this day.

During World War II United was involved in the training of ground crews and material transportation. Post-war United benefited from the boom in demand for air travel.

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 bomb was planted by a man named Jack Graham, who was executed a year after the explosion [1] (http://www.crimelibrary.com/notorious_murders/mass/jack_graham/index.html).

The collectors cabinets and display cabinets (as curio cabinets or collectors cases) are an example of a versatile usable piece of furniture.

Modern History

The company merged with Capital Airlines on June 1, 1961, making it the world's largest commercial airline and giving it a route network covering the entire United States.

In 1968 the company reorganized, creating UAL, Inc., with United as a wholly owned subsidiary. United also began to seek overseas routes in the 1960s, but the Transpacific Route Case (1969) denied them this expansion and it did not gain an overseas route until 1983, when they began flights to Tokyo. By the end of the year, United had flights to 13 Pacific destinations, many of which were with route contracts purchased from the ailing Pan Am.

Economic turmoil, labor unrest, and the pressures of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act greatly affected the company, which incurred losses and saw a greatly increased turnover in its senior management through the 1970s and early 1980s.

In May 1981 United launched its Mileage Plus frequent flyer program one week after archrival American Airlines launched the first.

Between 1982 and 1987, United attempted to diversify its business, to stabilize its finances and reduce the power of its unions. It acquired the Westin and Hilton Hotel chains and the Hertz car rental company, and briefly changed its name to Allegis. The venture failed, however; Allegis divested its non-airline properties in 1987 and reverted to the name UAL Corp.

In 1990 the company initially expanded aggresively, purchasing Pan Am's rights at London Heathrow Airport and paving the way for the company's first trans-Atlantic flights. However, the aftermath of the Gulf War and increased competition led to losses of $332m in 1991 and $957m in 1992.

In 1994, 55% of company stock was given to employees in exchange for salary concessions from its uions. The ESOP (Employee Stock Ownership Plan) made United the largest employee-owned company in the world. It used the opportunity to create a low-cost subsidiary, Shuttle by United, in an attempt to compete with low-cost carriers.

In 1997 it joined the Star Alliance with Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS and Thai Airways.

United was a launch customer of the Boeing 777, and was the first to introduce the twin-jet in commercial service.

In May 2000, United announced plans to acquire competitor US Airways in a complex deal valued at $11.6 billion. The offer drew immediate scorn from consumer groups and employees of both airlines, however. By the following year regulatory sentiment was against the deal, and the Department of Justice barred the merger on antitrust grounds in July.

Operation Bojinka and September 11

Operation Bojinka, Ramzi Yousef and Khalid Sheik Mohammed's terrorist plot against a large number of airliners, targeted eight United aircraft flying transpacific routes on January 21, 1995. While this attack was prevented by an apartment fire in Manila, a "descendant" of the project perfected by Sheik Mohammed would cause tragedy six years later.

As part of the September 11, 2001 Terrorist Attack, two United Airlines planes were hijacked, a Boeing 767 (United Airlines Flight 175) that crashed into one of the twin towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, and a Boeing 757 (United Airlines Flight 93) that is suspected to have been directed towards either the White House or Camp David by the hijackers. It is thought that the passengers succeeded in preventing this action when the aircraft crashed in a small Pennsylvania town.

Bankruptcy and Reorganization

United benefited from the dot-com boom, which boosted traffic to its San Francisco hub, but failed to keep its costs under control and entered a downward spiral of losses after the bubble burst. In 2001 the company lost $2,137 million on revenues of $16,138 million and applied for a $1.5 billion loan guarantee from the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board established in the wake of September 11. When the application was rejected in December of 2002, the company was forced to seek debtor-in-possession financing from commercial sources to cover the expected future loses.

UAL Corporation filed for chapter 11 protection against bankruptcy. The ESOP was terminated, but by then its shares had become virtually worthless. Blame for the bankruptcy has fallen on the events of September 11, which triggered financial crisis in all the major North American airlines. However the rise of low-cost carriers, labor disputes, and problems within the management structure of the company also contributed significantly.

United has continued operations during its bankruptcy, but been forced to reorganize under delicate terms. For instance, it currently plans to eliminate its Latin American gateway and flight crew base at Miami International Airport for March 1, 2009. [2] (http://www.miami.com/mld/miamiherald/news/breaking_news/7781721.htm) . However, the airline has continued to invest in new projects. On November 12, 2003, it launched a new low-cost carrier, Ted, to compete with Frontier Airlines at the Denver hub. United has also continued its commitment to a new passenger terminal at JFK Airport in New York.

Financial pressure on the airine remains heavy. The SARS epidemic in 2003 depressed traffic on United's extensive Pacific network. The soaring cost of jet fuel in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war have also eaten away at profits. On June 30, 2004, United Airlines announced the application of a 5% fare hike on most flights to overseas destinations, citing rising fuel costs.



Fleet

Boeing 747-400

United operates 31 747s on international routes, primarily to East Asia and the South Pacific. They have a three-class (14/73/260) layout (First, Business, and Economy). Half of the Economy cabin has been given extra legroom and branded Economy Plus: all United aircraft have an Economy Plus section except the 767-200.

Boeing 777-200

United operates 56 777s on international and transcontinental routes. There are three 777 subfleets: a two-class (36/312) subfleet used for domestic flights, a three-class (12/49/197) subfleet used for transatlantic flights, and a 10/45/198 subfleet used for transpacific flights. The international subfleets feature personal video in all cabins, while the domestic subfleet only has overhead monitors and projectors.

Boeing 767-200

United operates 18 767-200s on domestic routes. These have a three-class layout (either 10/33/125 or 10/32/126), with personal video in first class and projectors in business and economy. These are among the oldest aircraft in United's fleet and lack an Economy Plus section.

Boeing 767-300ER

United operates 37 767-300 aircraft, with subfleets for domestic and international flights. The international subfleet has a 10/32/151 layout, while the domestic subfleet has a 34/210 layout.

Boeing 757-200

United operates 96 757-200s. Most have a two-class (24/158) layout. In 2004, United began service with three-class 757s between New York and the West Coast: these aircraft have a 12/26/72 layout, with a higher seat pitch in first and business class and an all-Economy Plus main cabin.

Boeing 737-500

United operates 57 737-500s. The most common configuration has a two-class 8/96 layout: there are also some aircraft converted from United's old Shuttle operation on the West Coast, which have an 8/102 layout.

Boeing 737-300

United operates 101 737-300s, in regular (8/112) and ex-Shuttle (8/120) layouts.

Airbus A320

United operates 98 A320s. These are replacing 737s throughout the system. These have a 12/126 layout, with LCD video screens in the aisles.

Airbus A319

United operates 55 A319s. These have an 8/112 layout. The A320 and A319 are often interchanged on flights when overbooking or underbooking demands it.

Destinations

The list does not include cities only served by United Express

Asia

East Asia

China, People's Republic of

Beijing (Beijing Capital International Airport)

Hong Kong (Hong Kong International Airport)

Shanghai (Pu Dong International Airport)

Japan

Osaka (Kansai International Airport)

Tokyo (Narita International Airport)

Korea, South

Seoul (Incheon International Airport)

Taiwan

Taipei (Chiang Kai-shek International Airport)

Southeast Asia

Singapore

Singapore (Changi International Airport)

Thailand

Bangkok (Don Muang International Airport)

Europe

Belgium

Brussels (Brussels International Airport)

France

Paris (Charles de Gaulle International Airport)

Germany

Frankfurt am Main (Frankfurt International Airport)

Munich (Munich International Airport)

Netherlands

Amsterdam (Schiphol International Airport)

Switzerland

Zurich (Zurich International Airport)

United Kingdom

London, England (Heathrow Airport)

North America

United States, U.S. Territories, Canada, and Mexico

Canada

Alberta

Calgary/Banff (Calgary International Airport)

British Columbia

Vancouver (Vancouver International Airport)

Ontario

Toronto (Toronto Pearson International Airport)

Mexico

Federal District

Mexico City (Benito Juarez International Airport)

Quintana Roo

Cancun

United States

Alaska

Anchorage, Alaska (Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport, SEASONAL)

Arizona

Phoenix/Scottsdale (Sky Harbor International Airport)

Tucson (Tucson International Airport)

California

Burbank (Bob Hope Airport)

Los Angeles (Los Angeles International Airport, Hub)

Oakland (Oakland International Airport)

Ontario (Ontario International Airport)

Sacramento (Sacramento International Airport)

San Diego (San Diego International Airport)

San Francisco (San Francisco International Airport, Hub)

San José (San José International Airport)

Santa Ana, Orange County (John Wayne Airport)

Colorado

Colorado Springs (Colorado Springs Airport)

Denver (Denver International Airport, Hub)

Hayden/Steamboat Springs (SEASONAL)

Gunnison/Crested Butte (Eagle County Airport, SEASONAL)

Montrose/Telluride (SEASONAL)

Connecticut

Hartford/Springfield, Massachusetts (Bradley International Airport)

Florida

Fort Lauderdale (Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport)

Fort Myers (Southwest Florida International Airport)

Miami (Miami International Airport)

Orlando (Orlando International Airport)

Tampa/Saint Petersburg/Clearwater (Tampa International Airport)

West Palm Beach (Palm Beach International Airport)

Georgia

Atlanta (Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport)

Hawaii

Honolulu (Honolulu International Airport)

Kahului (Kahului Airport)

Kailua-Kona (Kona International Airport)

Lihue (Lihue Airport)

Idaho

Boise (Boise Air Terminal)

Illinois

Chicago (O'Hare International Airport, hub)

Indiana

Indianapolis (Indianapolis International Airport)

Iowa

Des Moines

Kansas

Wichita

Kentucky

Cincinnati, Ohio suburbs (Cincinnati-Northern Kentucky International Airport)

Louisiana

New Orleans (Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport)

Maryland

Baltimore (Baltimore/Washington International Airport)

Massachusetts

Boston (Logan International Airport)

Michigan

Detroit (Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport)

Grand Rapids (Gerald R. Ford International Airport)

Minnesota

Minneapolis/Saint Paul (Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport)

Missouri

Kansas City (Kansas City International Airport)

Saint Louis (Lambert-Saint Louis International Airport)

Montana

Billings

Nebraska

Omaha

Nevada

Las Vegas (McCarran International Airport)

Reno (Reno/Tahoe International Airport)

New Hampshire

Manchester (Manchester Airport)

New Jersey

Newark (Newark Liberty International Airport)

New Mexico

Albuquerque (Albuquerque International Sunport)

New York

Albany (Albany International Airport)

Buffalo (Buffalo Niagara International Airport)

New York City (John F. Kennedy International Airport, LaGuardia Airport)

Rochester (Greater Rochester International Airport)

North Carolina

Charlotte (Charlotte Douglas International Airport)

Greensboro/High Point/Winston-Salem (Piedmont Triad International Airport)

Ohio (For Cincinnati, see Kentucky)

Cleveland (Hopkins International Airport)

Columbus (Port Columbus International Airport)

Dayton

Oklahoma

Oklahoma City (Will Rogers World Airport

Tulsa (Tulsa International Airport)

Oregon

Portland (Portland International Airport)

Pennsylvania

Harrisburg (Harrisburg International Airport)

Philadelphia (Philadelphia International Airport)

Pittsburgh (Pittsburgh International Airport)

Puerto Rico

San Juan (Luis Munoz Marin International Airport)

Rhode Island

Providence (T. F. Green Airport)

Texas

Austin (Austin-Bergstrom International Airport)

Dallas/Fort Worth (Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport)

Houston (George Bush Intercontinental Airport)

San Antonio (San Antonio International Airport)

US Virgin Islands

Saint Thomas

Utah

Salt Lake City (Salt Lake City International Airport)

Vermont

Burlington

Virginia

Richmond (Richmond International Airport)

Washington, DC Suburbs (Dulles International Airport and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport)

Washington

Seattle/Tacoma (Seattle-Tacoma International Airport)

Spokane

Wyoming

Jackson Hole (SEASONAL)

Bermuda and the Caribbean, excluding US territories

Aruba

Oranjestad

Bermuda

Bermuda (Bermuda International Airport, SEASONAL, starting May 1, 2004)

Cayman Islands

Grand Cayman (Owen Roberts International Airport)

Central America

Costa Rica

San Jose

El Salvador

San Salvador

Guatemala

Guatemala City

South America

Argentina

Buenos Aires (Ministro Pistarini International Airport)

Brazil

Rio de Janeiro

São Paulo (Guarulhos International Airport)

Uruguay

Montevideo

Oceania

Australia

Melbourne (Melbourne Airport)

Sydney (Kingsford Smith International Airport)

IATA Code

United Airlines uses the IATA designator code UA.

A whole emphasis can be lent to the objects showed in a curio cabinet or collectors cabinet (display cabinet, collectors case) by the economical and purposeful use of light emitters (halogen).

ICAO Code

United Airlines uses the ICAO designator code UAL.

External links

Swarovski

Official Sites

United Airlines (http://www.ual.com)

Ted (http://www.flyted.com)

United Cargo (http://www.unitedcargo.com)

United Rhapsody (http://www.unitedrhapsody.com)

The United Shop (http://www.theunitedshop.com)

History

A Chicago Tribune Special Report: United's rhapsody of blues (http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/specials/united/chi-unitedfront,1,2528800.htmlstory?coll=chi-site-nav)

Airline History - United Air Lines (http://airlines.afriqonline.com/airlines/546.htm)

Super70s.com: United Airlines (http://www.super70s.com/Super70s/Tech/Aviation/Airlines/United.asp)

Consumer Complaints

Untied Airlines (http://www.untied.com/)

United We Strand (http://www.westword.com/issues/2000-08-10/feature.html/page1.html)

Frequent Flyer Miles

Earning miles on United Airlines (http://mileguide.com/ua.shtml)

Members of the Star Alliance

Air Canada | Air New Zealand | ANA | Asiana Airlines | Austrian Airlines | bmi | LOT Polish Airlines

Lufthansa | SAS | Singapore Airlines | Spanair | Thai Airways | United Airlines | US Airways | Varig

Future Members: Adria Airways | Blue1 | Croatia Airlines | South African Airways | TAP Air Portugal