United Continental Holdings

United Continental Holdings, Inc.

Type	Public
Traded as	NYSE: UAL DJTA Component S&P 500 Component
Industry	Aviation
Predecessor	UAL Corporation
Founded	October 1, 2010 (2010-10-01) Chicago, Illinois
Headquarters	Willis Tower Chicago Loop Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Area served	Worldwide
Key people	Oscar Muñoz, CEO[1] Scott Kirby, President[2] Robert A. Milton, Chairman[3] Andrew Levy, CFO[4] Julia Haywood, CCO[5]
Services	Airline services
Revenue	US$ 38.901 billion (2014)[6]
Operating income	US$ 2.373 billion (2014)[6]
Net income	US$ 1.132 billion (2014)[6]
Total assets	US$ 37.353 billion (2014)[6]
Total equity	US$ 2.396 billion (2014)[6]
Number of employees	84,000 (2015)[7]
Subsidiaries	United Airlines United Express operated by: Cape Air CommutAir ExpressJet Airlines GoJet Airlines Mesa Airlines Shuttle America Republic Airline Silver Airways SkyWest Airlines Trans States Airlines
Website	www.unitedcontinentalholdings.com
Footnotes / references [8]

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (formerly UAL Corporation) is a publicly traded airline holding company headquartered in the Willis Tower in Chicago.^[9] UCH owns and operates United Airlines, Inc. The company is the successor of UAL Corporation, which agreed to change its name to United Continental Holdings in May 2010, when a merger agreement was reached between United and Continental Airlines. Its stock trades under the UAL symbol. To effect the merger, Continental shareholders received 1.05 shares of UAL stock for each Continental share, effectively meaning Continental was acquired by UAL Corporation; at the time of closing, it was estimated that United shareholders owned 55% of the merged entity and Continental shareholders owned 45%.^[10] The company or its subsidiary airlines also have several other subsidiaries. Once completely combined, United became the world's largest airline, as measured by revenue passenger miles. United is a founding member of the Star Alliance.^[11]

UCH has major operations at Chicago–O'Hare, Denver, Guam, Houston–Intercontinental, Los Angeles, Newark (New Jersey), San Francisco, Tokyo–Narita and Washington–Dulles. UCH's United Air Lines, Inc. controls several key air rights, including being one of only two American carriers authorized to serve Asia from Tokyo-Narita (the other being Delta Air Lines). Additionally, UCH's United is the largest U.S. carrier to the People’s Republic of China and maintains a large operation throughout Asia.^[11]

UCH uses Continental's operating certificate and United's repair station certificate, having been approved by the FAA on November 30, 2011.^[12][13]

Major subsidiaries

United's global headquarters occupy 16 floors of Willis Tower in Chicago

The following is the list of current subsidiaries of United Continental Holdings, Inc.^{[14] [15]}

• United Airlines, Inc. (formerly Continental Airlines, Inc.^[16])
  • Air Micronesia, Inc.
    • Continental Micronesia, Inc.
  • CAL Cargo, S.A. de C.V.
  • CALFINCO Inc.
  • Century Casualty Company
  • Continental Airlines de Mexico, S.A.
  • Continental Airlines Domain Name Limited
  • Continental Airlines Finance Trust II
  • Continental Airlines, Inc. Supplemental Retirement Plan for Pilots Trust Agreement
  • Continental Airlines Purchasing Holdings LLC
    • Continental Airlines Purchasing Services LLC
  • Continental Express, Inc.
  • Presidents Club of Guam, Inc.
• Four Star Insurance Company, Ltd.
• UAL Benefits Management, Inc.
• United Airlines, Inc. (the original United Airlines)
  • Covia LLC
    • Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC
    • MPH I, Inc.
    • Mileage Plus Marketing, Inc.
    • Mileage Plus, Inc.
  • United Aviation Fuels Corporation
  • United Cogen, Inc.
  • United Vacations, Inc.

Development

Early in February 2008, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines began advanced stages of merger negotiations and were expected to announce their decision in the immediate aftermath of a definitive merger agreement between rival Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines.^[17] The timing of the events was notable because Northwest's golden shares in Continental (that gave Northwest veto authority against any merger involving Continental) could be redeemed, freeing Continental to pursue a marriage with United. On April 27, 2008, Continental broke off merger negotiations with United and stated it was going to stand alone.^[18] Despite ending merger talks, Continental announced that it will join United in the Star Alliance.^[19]

United and US Airways were in advanced merger talks in late April 2008, following the announcement that Continental had broken off talks with United.^[20] In June 2008, CEOs of both United Airlines and Continental Airlines signed an alliance pact presaging their eventual merger. The alliance is an agreement to link international networks and share technology and passenger perks. This agreement is basically a "virtual merger" that includes many of the benefits of a merger without the actual costs and restructuring involved. The alliance took effect about a year after Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines completed their merger, as that released Continental from the SkyTeam contract and allowed for the required nine-month notice. Additionally, Continental joined the Star Alliance, as Delta and Northwest merged.^[21]

United Airlines was reported to be in serious merger discussion with US Airways in early April 2010. A New York Times report indicated that a deal was close. Union consent was cited as a major hurdle for negotiators to clear.^[22] On April 22, 2010, United announced that it would not pursue a merger with US Airways.^[23]

The Board of Directors at Continental and United Airlines approved a stock-swap deal that would combine them into the world's largest airline on Sunday, May 2, 2010. The airlines publicly announced the deal the next day.^[24] This would re-unite Walter Varney's airlines, which offspring includes Continental and United.^[25]

Wikinews has related news: Continental and United Airlines to merge Continental and United Airlines shareholders approve merger

Both airlines have taken losses in the recession and expect the merger to generate savings of more than $1 billion a year.^[26] Combined, they fly to some 370 destinations in 59 countries from their ten hubs,^[27] and carry 144 million passengers a year.^[26] Combined revenues will be about $29 billion.^[28]

In July, the merger of the two airlines was approved by the European Union.^[29]

On August 27, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the $3 billion merger^[30] and shareholders of both the companies approved the merger on September 17, 2010.^[31][32] On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation (the parent company of United Airlines) completed its acquisition of Continental Airlines and changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc. Although the two airlines remained separated until the operational integration was completed, as of this day both airlines are corporately controlled by the same leadership. Both carriers achieved a single operating certificate from the FAA on November 30, 2011 which allowed both airlines to operate under the name "United".^[33]

Branding

When United Airlines and Continental Airlines announced their merger in May 2010 they introduced their new corporate branding. It featured the words "United Airlines" in the then-current Continental typeface, and Continental's globe-like logo. United updated their branding once again in August 2010, replacing the words "United Airlines" with the single word UNITED and changing the font to United's traditional upper-case sans-serif font.^[34] United's new CEO Jeff Smisek, who previously served as Continental's chairman, helped design the new font, integrating it with the existing Lippincott-designed Continental graphics. He has noted that he has received over 15,000 emails with suggestions for a new livery.^[35]

United Continental Holdings, Inc. The Company became the parent company of Continental Airlines, Inc. ("Continental") upon the closing of a merger transaction (the "Merger") on October 1, 2010. As part of the Merger integration, on March 31, 2013, the Company merged its two operating subsidiaries, Continental and United Airlines, Inc. ("United Airlines"), with Continental continuing as the surviving corporation and as a whollyowned subsidiary of the Company. Upon the closing of this transaction on March 31, 2013, Continental's name was changed to "United Airlines, Inc." ("United").

A Continental Airlines Boeing 737-900ER series aircraft (N53442) was the first aircraft to be painted into the new livery for the combined company.

United Continental Holdings also brings its larger airline services to smaller communities via its branding rights and ownership over the Continental Connection, Continental Express, and United Express trademarks. Continental Connection and Continental Express will be consolidated into the United Express marketing and branding as the merger integration moves forward.

As of late 2010, George Gershwin's 1924 "Rhapsody in Blue" will remain as the new United's theme song, the song has since been featured on new safety videos on United and Continental aircraft.

It was announced February 2011 that United would maintain its p.s., or premium service transcontinental aircraft and update the interiors.

The first United 747 featuring the new livery was painted in February 2011. Re-painting and branding is said to be "accelerated" beginning mid-2011.^[36]

United's new interim advertisement, shown on a print ad on March 1, 2011.

On March 1, 2011, United unveiled an "interim" marketing campaign replacing the previous "It's Time to Fly" campaign, which included fingerpaint ads and television spots created by Fallon. On the same date, United removed the iconic 38-year-old Saul Bass-designed "Tulip" logo from its website and all new advertisements will feature the former Continental globe logo. This new campaign was used until 2012, when United reconditioned a former slogan, "Fly the Friendly Skies."^[37] The newly released ads adopt the same concept of the former Continental ads which simply express a one-liner.

Fleet

United Airlines operates more than 750 mainline aircraft.

Hubs

United Airlines and United Express operate more than 4,500 flights a day to 339 destinations; 140 million customers were carried on 1.5 million flights in 2015.^[38]

United Airlines hubs^[39]

Airport	Area served	Type/region	Airline before merger
Denver International Airport	Denver, Colorado	Western hub	United
George Bush Intercontinental Airport	Houston, Texas	Largest hub, primary gateway to Latin America	Continental
Los Angeles International Airport	Los Angeles, California	Secondary West Coast hub	United
Newark Liberty International Airport	Newark, New Jersey, New York metropolitan area	Primary East Coast hub	Continental
O'Hare International Airport	Chicago, Illinois	Second largest hub, primary Midwest hub	United
San Francisco International Airport	San Francisco, California, San Francisco Bay Area	Primary West Coast hub	United
Washington Dulles International Airport	Northern Virginia Washington, D.C.	Secondary East Coast hub	United

See also

• Continental Airlines
• United Airlines
• List of airline mergers and acquisitions

References

External links

• United Continental Holdings

• • Business data for United Continental Holdings: Google Finance
  • Yahoo! Finance
  • Reuters
  • SEC filings