United Airlines

## Overview

United Airlines (colloquially known as United), is an American-based airline that is known for being the airline with the most destinations served, at 342. Its headquarters are located in Chicago, Illinois, USA, in Willis Tower, around 21 miles away from O'Hare International.

## United Airlines

### Hubs

* Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport, Guam
* Denver International Airport, Denver, CO, USA
* George Bush Intercontinental Airport, Houston, TX, USA
* Los Angeles International Airport, Los Angeles, CA, USA
* Narita International Airport, Tokyo, Japan
* Newark Liberty International Airport, Newark, NJ, USA
* O'Hare International Airport, Chicago, IL, USA
* San Francisco International Airport, San Francisco, CA, USA
* Washington Dulles International Airport, Dulles, VA, USA

### Key people

Oscar Munoz, President and CEOHenry L. Meyer III, Chairman

## History

Aircraft pioneer William Boeing founded Boeing Air Transport so that it could operate the San Francisco-Chicago mail delivery route. A merger with Pratt & Whitney lead to the establishment of the UATC, the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation. Boeing had acquired a multitude of airlines and air service providers such as Varney Airlines, National Air Transport, etc. The reason for this is unknown.

The first full-metal aircraft, the Boeing 247, was in use by United until the beginning of the second World War in 1939.

The passage of the Air Mail Act in 1934 separated the UATC into United Aircraft, Boeing Airplane Company, and United Airlines.

Following World War II there was a significant growth in customer demand for air travel. Major growth lasted through the early 1970's.

A merger with Capital Airlines in the early 1960's gave United the position of the United States' largest airline. A complete reorganization of the company created UAL Corporation, having United Airlines as a subsidiary of the aforementioned.

The first operator of the Boeing 767 was United, in 1982. One of the variants of the 767 was the 767-200, which is the variant that United had projected to provide air service with.

The CEO at the time, Richard Ferris, had changed the name of UAL Corporation to Allegis in 1987, but after Ferris' resignation, the name UAL Corporation was brought back.

In 1994, the entirety of United's employees sign an ownership plan that took away more than half of their company stock for around a quarter of salary concessions. The launch of Shuttle by United, a less expensive subsidiary of United Airlines was an attempt to compete with other low cost airlines. It lasted for 7 years until its dissolution in 2001.

The Boeing 777 was acquired by United in 1995 for use in commercial service. United's current alliance, Star Alliance, was co-founded by United itself. However, in 2000, United announced a rather shocking move to purchase US Airways for around USD$12 billion, but shortly retracted the offer shortly before the United States Department of Justice suspended the merger due to widespread dissidence from employee unions, patrons and political figures.

During 9/11, in 2001, half (2 out of 4) of the aircrafts hijacked were of United Airlines, being United Airlines Flight 175 that was flown into the South Tower, and United Airlines Flight 93, that was crashed in a field in Pennsylvania following a resistance by a passenger aboard the aircraft.

In 2005, followed a major slump after 9/11, United had put out that they'd raised around USD$3 billion, which put them out of near bankruptcy, and were wholly out of bankruptcy in early 2006.

In early 2010, United Airlines commenced talks with Continental Airlines after previously doing so in 2008. Both boards of directors of Continental and UAL Corporation agreed to combine operations by May 2010. Despite United surviving the merger, the newly merged airline would use Continental's logo and livery on their aircrafts during service.

The merger was official, after the European Commission approved the merger in July of 2010, as well as the US Justice Department in August of 2010.

In March 2012, United and Continental had merged their passenger service systems, rewards programs, and websites, leaving no trace of the Continental brand.

## Marketing

United has had a history of slogans and mottos. Their popular "Fly the Friendly Skies" has been in use since September 2013, after being in use originally until 1996.

The slogan following the United-Continental merger from 2010 was "Let's fly together," replacing the 2004 slogan "It's time to fly."

United's earliest known slogan was "The Main Line Airway," which signified it's signature New York-Chicago-San Francisco route, but was replaced in 1965 with "Fly the Friendly Skies."

The airline also has a unique theme song, George Gershwin's 1924 "Rhapsody in Blue".

## Hubs

The airline and its subsidiaries operate in 9 hubs:

* George Bush Intercontinental Airport - Located in Houston, Texas, it is the main hub for the southern United States and the primary gateway to Latin America. Approximately 16 million patrons travel through Bush on United every year, which equates to 44 thousand daily. United is the largest tenant at the airport. Before the United-Continental merger, Continental Airlines was previously its largest hub.
* Chicago O'Hare International Airport - Situated in Chicago, Illinois, it is known as the second largest hub for United. The airline flies about 15 million passengers through O'Hare annually. In addition to United being the busiest airline at O'Hare, its headquarters are also located in Chicago.
* Newark Liberty International Airport - Located in Newark, New Jersey, it is the third largest hub for the airline when it comes to number of flights and destinations. Around 12 million passengers travel on United through Liberty every year. 81 percent of Liberty's slots are occupied by United Airlines, and provides service for around 70 percent of all passengers who travel through the airport.
* Denver International Airport - Situated in Denver, Colorado, it is the fourth largest airport in terms of flights and destinations. Since March 2015, United has around 43 percent of the market share at Denver International, which puts in the spot of the largest airline at the airport. Denver is United's only domestic hub that does not provide service to Europe, while they previously operated seasonal service from Denver to London Heathrow. Fellow Star Alliance partner Lufthansa operates year round service to and from Frankfurt and Munich. In addition, British Airways operates from Denver to London Heathrow.
* San Francisco International Airport - United's fifth largest hub, located in San Francisco, California, is a main gateway to Asia, Europe, and portions of Oceania. San Francisco was once United's third largest hub prior to the United-Continental merger.
* Washington Dulles International Airport - Situated in Dulles, VA, it primarily serves the Washington, D.C metropolitan area. It is currently the sixth largest hub for United, with around 6.5 million passengers flying through Dulles flying on United Airlines. It is also the largest airline at Dulles, with around 65 percent of the market share.
* Los Angeles International Airport - Located in Los Angeles, California, it's currently United Airline's seventh largest hub. Along with San Francisco, it is a primary gateway to Asia, Europe, and Oceania respectively.
* Guam Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport - Located in Guam, it is a major gateway to destinations in the Pacific Ocean.
* Tokyo Narita International Airport - The ninth largest hub for United is Tokyo Narita. It is United's main hub for Asia.

## Destinations

The airline flies to 235 destinations within the United States, and 138 outside of the United States.

See

### Codeshares

In addition to United's Star Alliance and United Express partnerships, United Airlines has various marketing agreements with these airlines:

* Aer Lingus
* Aeromar
* Air Dolomiti
* Azul Brazilian Airlines
* Cape Air
* Edelweiss Air
* Eurowings
* Great Lakes Airlines
* Hawaiian Airlines
* Island Air
* Silver Airways
* Singapore Airlines

## Fleet

United Airlines' fleet consists of 721 mainline aircraft. The majority of the fleet is Boeing, but the company has acquired Airbus aircraft as well.

It consists of the following:

* Airbus A319-100 - 57 in service, 26 orders
* Airbus A320-200 - 97 in service, N/A orders
* Airbus A350-1000 - N/A in service, 35 orders
* Boeing 737-700 - 40 in service, 65 orders
* Boeing 737-800 - 132 in service, 5 orders
* Boeing 737-900 - 12 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 737-900ER - 130 in service, 6 orders
* Boeing 737 MAX 9 - N/A in service, 100 orders
* Boeing 747-400 - 21 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 757-200 - 56 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 757-300 - 21 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 767-300ER - 35 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 767-400ER - 16 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 777-200 - 19 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 777-200ER - 55 in service, N/A orders
* Boeing 777-300ER - N/A in service, 14 orders
* Boeing 787-8 - 12 in service, N/A Orders
* Boeing 787-9 - 18 in service, 5 orders
* Boeing 787-10 - N/A in service, 14 orders

## Controversial Incidents

### 1930's

* In October 1933, a Boeing 247 crashed near Chesterton, Indiana. The flight was carrying 4 passengers, originating from Newark, New Jersey, with its destination in Oakland, California. The supposed cause of the accident was an in-flight explosion in the baggage compartment at the back of the aircraft. It could've been because of a bomb, and added that the main explosive agent was nitroglycerin.
* In October 1935, a Boeing 247D flight from Salt Lake City, Utah to Cheyenne, Wyoming crashed. On board, was 9 passengers and 3 flight crew. Everyone on board did not survive the crash. The cause of the crash believed to be pilot error; a failure to monitor attitude and location.
* In December 1936, UA34 from San Francisco, California to Los Angeles, California, fatally crashed in Newhall, California. There were 9 passengers on board. The probable cause of the accident was pilot error, due to the pilot attempting to fly through Newhall Pass at a low altitude.

### 1940's

* A Douglas DC-4 scheduled to fly from LaGuardia Airport in New York City, New York to Cleveland, Ohio on May 29, 1947 crashed while taking off from LaGuardia's runway 18. The plane tore through an airport fence at the end of the runway and slammed into an embankment before plunging into a large pond and exploding. Of the 46 on board, 5 survived. The ultimate cause of the accident was the pilot forgetting to release the gust lock prior to take-off.
* United flight 608 was a Douglas DC-6 aircraft from Los Angeles, California to Chicago, Illinois when it disappeared out of the air about 1.5 miles away from Bryce Canyon Airport, Utah. None of the 52 people on board survived. It was determined that an in-flight fire was the cause of the crash.
* In June 1948, United flight 624 en route from San Diego, California, with short layovers in Los Angeles and Chicago, to LaGuardia Airport in New York City. The four-engine airplane crashed outside of Aristes, Pennsylvania, killing all 43 people on board the aircraft. It is clear that an in-flight fire caused the accident, but the fire was deemed a false warning, but shortly after the crew became incapacitated, and the aircraft crashed.

### 1950's

* United flight 610 was a routine transcontinental flight San Francisco-Oakland-Salt Lake City-Denver-Chicago flown with a Douglas DC-6 aircraft. The aircraft crashed in Larimer County northwest of Denver, Colorado. The cause was controlled flight into terrain.
* in August 1951, a Douglas DC-6B Boston-Hartford-Cleveland-Chicago-Oakland-San Francisco. While en route to Oakland, the pilot had supposedly forgot about the landing procedures prior to landing, while instead used visual reference to guide the DC-6 to the runway. Instead, the plane veered five kilometres off course and crashed.
* In October 1955, a routine flight from Denver to Salt Lake City crashed into Medicine Bow Peak in Wyoming. Of the 66 people on board, every one of them were killed. During the time, it was considered one of the deadliest aircraft accidents in commercial aviation.
* In November 1955, a Douglas DC-6B aircraft traveling from Denver to Portland, Oregon. 44 fatalities were reported after the crash was investigated. The cause was an explosive being blown up in a checked piece of luggage. In addition, the man responsible pulled it off as revenge on his mother.
* In June 1956, United 718 was on its way to Chicago Midway from Los Angeles, when it collided with a Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation aircraft, marketed as Trans World Airlines 2, over the boundaries of the Grand Canyon National Park in northwestern Arizona. Of the 128 aboard both aircrafts, all of them perished.
* In April 1958, a United flight collided with a United States Air Force fighter jet, controlled by a duo of pilots. One of the main causes was cockpit visibility limitations, but in addition also faulted both military and civilian aviation authorities who forgot to take extra measures to reduce the risk of a mid-air collision. Of the 49 aboard the two aircrafts, all of them died.

### 1960's

* December 1960; a United Airlines Douglas DC-8-11 bound for LaGuardia Airport in New York City from O'Hare International in Chicago collided with a TWA Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation aircraft. 44 fatalities were reported.
* In July 1961, a scheduled flight from Omaha to Denver crashed while landing in Denver. The main cause of the accident was the failure of two engines on one side that caused reverse thrust, therefore rupturing a fuel tank, which crashed the airplane.
* November 1962 saw United 297 crash. It was originally bound for Newark from Washington, D.C, with 17 aboard the Vickers Viscount 745D. The cause was a bird strike.
* In July 1964, a Vickers Viscount 745D aircraft crashed near Parrottsville, Tennessee after an in-flight fire brought the plane down. Of the 39 aboard the plane, everyone did not survive.
* In August 1965, a Boeing 727-22 aircraft crashed into Lake Michigan while flying from LaGuardia Airport in New York City to Chicago O'Hare in Chicago. The NTSB, or National Transportation Safety Board, did not find a certain cause to the accident, though many presumed that pilot error was a major factor. All 30 passengers on board did not survive.
* November 1965; a Boeing 727-22, during landing, crashed while attempting a landing at Salt Lake City International Airport in Salt Lake City, Utah. The believed cause was the aircraft landing short of the runway due to pilot error. 91 were on board, and 48 survived.
* In January 1969, a scheduled flight from Los Angeles to Milwaukee via Denver crashed into Santa Monica Bay in the Pacific Ocean. Many rescuers believed that an explosion occurred on the plane, which led to mechanical failure, and it crashed. Nobody among the 38 on board survived.

### 1970's

* In December 1972, a Boeing 737-222 bound for Eppley Airfeld in Omaha with a brief stopover in Chicago, crashed during approach to Chicago Midway. The plane did not make the runway, but instead crashed into a residential neighbourhood, destroying 5 homes. 55 passengers were on board the flight, and 43 survived. In addition, 2 on the ground were also killed.
* A scheduled cargo flight from San Francisco to Chicago crashed into a mountain in the Wasatch mountain range near Kaysville, Utah on December 17, 1977. Of the 3 on board, all did not survive.
* United 173 was a routine flight from New York JFK to Portland International in December 1978. It crashed in a Portland neighbourhood during landing. Fuel exhaustion due to pilot error caused the plane to crash.

### 1980's

* Flight 811 from Honolulu, Hawaii to Auckland, New Zealand experienced a cargo door failure in February 1989. What followed was explosive decompression, blowing out rows of seats, that resulted in the deaths of nine passengers. The aircraft returned to Honolulu, and 346 of the 355 on board survived.
* A Douglas DC-10-10 traveling from Denver to Chicago crashed on July 19, 1989. The cause was uncontained engine failure that led to total loss of flight controls, that caused the plane to crash in Sioux City, Iowa. Of the 296 on board, 111 died, and 185 survived.
* A scheduled cargo flight from Cleveland to Los Angeles, marketed as UA2885, crashed after take-off from Detroit, which was one of the flights stopovers. The cause was the captain asking the first officer to switch seats for take-off, despite United Airlines and Federal Aviation Administration rules.

### 1990's

* A scheduled flight from Denver to Colorado Springs on March 3, 1991, crashed during final approach at Colorado Springs Municipal Airport. The cause was a defect in the design of the Boeing 737's (the one used in the flight) rudder power control unit, or PCU.
* On December 28, 1997, a Boeing 747-100 flying from New Tokyo Airport to Honolulu International was involved in clear-air turbulence, which severely injured 15 passengers and 3 crew members. Of the 393 on board, all but one survived; a middle-aged Japanese woman.

### 2000's

* This was one of the two United aircrafts that were involved in the September 11 attacks, or 9/11. The airplane was hijacked and flown into the South Tower of the World Trade Center in New York City. It was originally bound for Los Angeles International from Logan International in Boston.
* The second of the two involved in 9/11. It crashed into a field in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, while passengers attempted to fight off the hijackers, to no avail. It was originally flying from Newark International to San Francisco International.