United Air Lines

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 headquarters in Chicago. United's 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 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 headquartered in 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.

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.

Record-setting flight

In 1988, using a 747SP-21 purchased from Pan American World Airways, United flew a two-stop around-the-world flight to raise money for the Friendship Foundation, to which the plane was 'loaned'. The flight made a very short-lived record for fastest flight around the globe; within a month, a Gulfstream IV business jet had broken Friendship One's record.

Employee Stock Ownership Plan

The decline of Pan American World Airways continued to offer new opportunities for United. In 1991 the company expanded dramatically, purchasing Pan Am's routes to London Heathrow Airport. In direct negotiations with the UK government, United also obtained rights to fly to Heathrow from Chicago. However, the aftermath of the Gulf War and increased competition from low-cost carriers led to losses of USD $332M in 1991 and USD $957M in 1992. In 1992, United purchased now-defunct Pan Am's Latin American and Caribbean routes and Miami gates, but United allowed months to elapse between Pan Am's demise and its launch of service.

In 1994, United's pilots, machinists, bag handlers and non-contract employees agreed to acquire 55% of company stock in exchange for 15% to 25% salary concessions. The flight attendants voted to not participate in the deal, and at the beginning some wore buttons saying "we just work here." The Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) made United the largest employee-owned corporation in the world. United used the opportunity to create a low-cost subsidiary, Shuttle by United, in an attempt to compete with low-cost carriers.

September 11, 2001

As part of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, two United Airlines planes were hijacked by terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda. One aircraft was N612UA, a Boeing 767–222 (Flight 175) that crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City and the other was N591UA, a Boeing 757–222 (Flight 93) that crashed in rural Pennsylvania. Flight 93 was suspected to have been directed towards the United States Capitol building according to the United States Department of Homeland Security.

Brand

United adopted a red, white and blue shield logo in 1936, but its use varied widely and was eventually abandoned altogether in the early 1970s. In 1973, the airline commissioned designer Saul Bass to develop a new logo. The "tulip" logo of colored stripes representing overlapping letter "U"s remained in use until the Continental merger with only slight modification. United's grey livery featured the words "Worldwide Service" near the front of the aircraft.

On May 3, 2010, it was announced that United and Continental Airlines would merge. The combined airline will take the United name but use Continental's "globe" identity and livery. There has been some negative reaction to the new livery, and some people have started campaigns on social networks such as Facebook and Twitter to keep the Tulip logo. The "United" typeface was updated in August 2010, resembling more like the most recent United typeface. The merger was approved in September 2010, and the two companies merged on October 1, 2010. Currently, over 100 planes have been painted in the "new" livery.

The early slogan "The Main Line Airway," emphasizing its signature New York-Chicago-San Francisco route, was replaced in 1965 with "Fly the Friendly Skies." The "friendly skies" tagline was used until 1996. The current slogan and ad campaign since 2004, is "It's time to fly." Other United Slogans include:

"The Great White Way to New York" (1971–1972)

"The Friendly Skies of your land" (also known as "Mother Country", 1972–1976)

"You're the boss" (1976–1977), "United we fly" (1977–1978)

"That's what friendly skies are all about" (1980)

"You're not just flying, you're flying the Friendly Skies" (mid 1980s)

"From the ground up, rededicated to giving you the service you deserve. Come fly the friendly skies" (Late 1980s)

"Come fly the airline that's uniting the world. Come fly the Friendly Skies" (late 1980s)

"Come fly our Friendly Skies" (The early ESOP years)

"United. Rising." during the late 1990s

"Come fly Chicago's hometown airline. Come fly the friendly skies."

"Feel United ... Be United ... Worlds United ... Stay United ... United" (the late 1990s)

"It's important for the human race to stay United"

"Life is a journey – travel it well; United"

"We Are United" following the September 11 incident

"Relax, Stretch Out" with the rollout of EconomyPlus

"It's time to fly" for the animated commercials (voiced over by Robert Redford), banners, and magazine advertisements of the campaign first unveiled during Super Bowl XXXVIII. (2004 – present). The campaign was reintroduced in August 2008 when United premiered five new TV commercials during the 2008 Summer Olympic Games.

United's theme song is George Gershwin's 1924 "Rhapsody in Blue", which it licensed from Gershwin's estate for $500,000 in 1976. "Rhapsody" would have entered the public domain in 2000, but the Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act of 1998 extended its copyright another 20 years.

United is a sponsor of five of six of Chicago's major professional sports teams—the Bears, Blackhawks, Bulls, Cubs and White Sox – only the Fire are unaffiliated. The Blackhawks and Bulls play their games in the United Center, which the airline holds the naming rights to until 2014. The Cubs use a United 757 as their charter jet for transport between games, and the White Sox, similarly, use an Airbus A320 as their charter operating under flight number UAL9904.

Economy class

Passengers in flight in the Economy Section (International) of a United Airlines Boeing 747-400 in 2006.

United Economy (International) is available on all internationally configured aircraft in United's fleet. Seats range from 17 to 18 inches wide, and have 31 inches of pitch. All United Economy seats on Boeing 767-300ER and 777-200/200ER aircraft feature an adjustable headrest and a 5 inch personal television at the back of each seat. United Economy's in-flight entertainment system on these aircraft features nine channels of entertainment (Seven films and two short-subjects.) The B777-200/200ER's will be updated in the future to Audio-Video-on-Demand (AVOD) with a 7 inch Panasonic eFX touch screen LCD. United serves free meals on international flights between the US, South America, Europe, the South Pacific and Asia. Shortly after takeoff, passengers are served cocktail snacks and free non-alcoholic drinks. On flights with meals, the main meal consists of a salad, an appetizer, a choice of hot entrées and dessert. On longer flights, United also offers a light pre-arrival meal.

United Economy (Domestic) is available on all domestically configured aircraft in United's fleet. Seats range from 17 to 18 inches wide, and have between 31 and 32 inches of pitch. Economy seats on all A319-100, A320-200, 757–200, and domestic-configured 767-300ER and 777-200/200ER aircraft feature adjustable headrests. United offers a buy on board program. On United flights between three and five hours in duration, snackboxes are available for a fee. On United flights of five or more hours, fresh sandwiches, salads and snackbox options are also available for a fee. Water, soft drinks, and coffee are complimentary on all flights. Alcoholic beverages are available for a fee on most flights. All aircraft feature overhead television screens. Short subject television program is shown on flights between 1.5 and 2.5 hours and feature-length films are shown on flights over three hours.

Economy Plus is available on all aircraft in the domestic and international fleet. Economy Plus seats are located in the front 6–12 rows of the economy cabin and feature up to 6 inches of additional legroom. Economy Plus is available for free to all Mileage Plus Elite members. It can also be purchased at check-in depending upon availability by members of the United Mileage Plus program. Economy Plus seats are restricted solely to members of the program. All other customers including passengers from other frequent flyer programs in the Star Alliance are prohibited from purchasing Economy Plus seats at the time of ticket purchase. All seats in economy on the p.s. flights from JFK to LAX and SFO are configured into Economy Plus. United announced that it will keep the "Economy Plus" seating for the combined carrier.

In popular culture

Leanne Scott's country pop tune, "L.A. International Airport", which became a Top Ten Country hit for Susan Raye in 1971, refers to the airline in the closing lyrics, "Captain's voice so loud and clear; Amplifies into my ear, Assuring me I'm flying friendly skies."

The Crosby, Stills, and Nash ballad "Just a Song Before I Go," released in 1977, features the lyrics: "Driving me to the airport / And to the friendly skies." It reached number seven on the Billboard singles charts, the band's greatest hit.

Tom Hanks' character Viktor Navorski is stuck at New York's JFK airport in the United terminal in The Terminal (2004). Viktor flew into JFK on a United 747 and the woman he falls for played by Catherine Zeta Jones, is a flight attendant for United.

The crash of United Airlines Flight 93 was the focus of the 2006 movies United 93 and Flight 93 (TV film).

In 2008, Canadian musician David Carroll had his guitar damaged by United's baggage handlers, and United refused to repair it. He and his band Sons of Maxwell wrote and performed a song about this incident, "United Breaks Guitars", and posted it on Youtube. The video was a big hit on YouTube and has reached more than nine million views; United thereafter compensated Dave Carroll.

In the finale of the hit television series Seinfeld, Elaine is about to admit her love for Jerry but stops herself. Instead of saying "I've always loved you," she says "I've always loved U-nited Airlines."

In the Fountains of Wayne song Mexican Wine, the band tells the story of a United Airlines pilot that is fired for reading High Times.