United Airlines Holdings, Inc. (formerly known as United Continental Holdings, Inc., UAL Corporation, Allegis Corporation and founded originally as UAL, Inc.) is a publicly traded

airline An airline is a company that provides air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or alliances with other airlines for codeshare agreements, in wh ...

holding company A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...

headquartered in the

Willis Tower The Willis Tower (originally the Sears Tower) is a 108- story, skyscraper in the Loop community area of Chicago in Illinois, United States. Designed by architect Bruce Graham and engineer Fazlur Rahman Khan of Skidmore, Owings & Merrill (SOM ...

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

. UAH owns and operates

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

, Inc. UAL Corporation agreed to change its name to United Continental Holdings in May 2010, when an agreement was reached between United and Continental Airlines where United would acquire Continental. To effect the acquisition, Continental shareholders received 1.05 shares of UAL stock for each Continental share; at the time of closing, it was estimated that United shareholders owned 55% of the merged entity and Continental shareholders owned 45%. 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 mile A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

s. United is a founding member of the

Star Alliance Star Alliance is the world's largest global airline alliance. Founded on 14 May 1997, its CEO is Jeffrey Goh and its headquarters is located in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. , Star Alliance is the largest of the three global alliances by passenge ...

. UAH has major operations at Chicago–O'Hare,

Denver Denver () is a consolidated city and county, the capital, and most populous city of the U.S. state of Colorado. Its population was 715,522 at the 2020 census, a 19.22% increase since 2010. It is the 19th-most populous city in the Unit ...

Guam Guam (; ch, Guåhan ) is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States in the Micronesia subregion of the western Pacific Ocean. It is the westernmost point and territory of the United States (reckoned from the geographic cent ...

, Houston–Intercontinental,

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

Newark (New Jersey) Newark ( , ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the seat of Essex County and the second largest city within the New York metropolitan area.San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

, and Washington–Dulles. Additionally, UAH's United is the largest U.S. carrier to the People's Republic of China and maintains a large operation throughout Asia. UAH uses Continental's operating certificate and United's repair station certificate, having been approved by the FAA on November 30, 2011. On June 27, 2019, the name of the parent company was changed from United Continental Holdings to United Airlines Holdings.

Major subsidiaries

The following is the list of major subsidiaries of United Airlines Holdings, Inc. *United Airlines, Inc. (formerly Continental Airlines, Inc.) **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 UAL Corporation is the former name of United Airlines Holdings, an airline holding company, incorporated in Delaware with headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. UAL held a 100 percent controlling interest in United Airlines, Inc., one of the worl ...

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 Delta Air Lines, Inc., typically referred to as Delta, is one of the major airlines of the United States and a legacy carrier. One of the world's oldest airlines in operation, Delta is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia. The airline, along w ...

and

Northwest Airlines Northwest Airlines Corp. (NWA) was a major American airline founded in 1926 and absorbed into Delta Air Lines, Inc. by a merger. The merger, approved on October 29, 2008, made Delta the largest airline in the world until the American Airlines ...

. 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. Despite ending merger talks, Continental announced that it would join United in the

. United and

US Airways US Airways (formerly USAir) was a major United States airline that operated from 1937 until its merger with American Airlines in 2015. It was originally founded in Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called All American Aviation, which soon ...

were in advanced merger talks in late April 2008, following the announcement that

Continental Continental may refer to: Places * Continent, the major landmasses of Earth * Continental, Arizona, a small community in Pima County, Arizona, US * Continental, Ohio, a small town in Putnam County, US Arts and entertainment * ''Continental'' ( ...

had broken off talks with United. In June 2008,

CEOs Kea ( el, Κέα), also known as Tzia ( el, Τζια) and in antiquity Keos ( el, Κέως, la, Ceos), is a Greek island in the Cyclades archipelago in the Aegean Sea. Kea is part of the Kea-Kythnos regional unit. Geography It is the island of ...

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

and

completed their merger, as that released Continental from the SkyTeam contract and allowed for the required nine-month notice. Additionally, Continental joined

, as Delta and Northwest merged. United Airlines was reported to be in serious merger discussion with US Airways in early April 2010. A ''

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' report indicated that a deal was close. Union consent was cited as a major hurdle for negotiators to clear. On April 22, 2010, United announced that it would not pursue a merger with

. 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. This would re-unite

Walter Varney Walter Thomas Varney (December 26, 1888 – January 25, 1967) and Continental Airlines,Continental Airlines WebsiteCompany History 1934 to 1958/ref> which combined under United Continental Holdings long after his death. Varney was also one of the ...

's airlines, which offspring includes Continental and United. Both airlines have taken losses in the recession and expect the merger to generate savings of more than a year. Combined, they fly to some 370 destinations in 59 countries from their ten hubs, and carry passengers a year. Combined revenues will be about . In July, the merger of the two airlines was approved by the

European Union The European Union (EU) is a supranational political and economic union of member states that are located primarily in Europe. The union has a total area of and an estimated total population of about 447million. The EU has often been de ...

. On August 27, 2010, the U.S. Department of Justice approved the $3 billion merger and shareholders of both the companies approved the merger on September 17, 2010. 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".

Finances

For the fiscal year 2017, United Continental Holdings reported earnings of US$2.131 billion, with an annual revenue of US$37.736 billion, an increase of 3.2% over the previous fiscal cycle. United Continental's shares traded at over $69 per share, and its market capitalization was valued at over US$23.1 billion in October 2018. The company ranked No. 81 in the 2018 Fortune 500 list of the largest United States corporations by total revenue.

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. 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. 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. 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 Saul Bass (; May 8, 1920 – April 25, 1996) was an American graphic designer and Oscar-winning filmmaker, best known for his design of motion-picture title sequences, film posters, and corporate logos. During his 40-year career, Bass wor ...

-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".

Fleet

As of April 22, 2021, United Airlines operated 835 mainline aircraft and 522 regional aircraft.

Hubs

United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.

and

United Express United Express is the brand name for the regional branch of United Airlines, under which six individually owned regional airlines operate short- and medium-haul feeder flights. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines merged t ...

operated more than 4,500 flights a day to 339 destinations; 140 million customers were carried on 1.5 million flights in 2015.

References

External links

* {{Use mdy dates, date=September 2016 Companies in the Dow Jones Transportation Average Companies listed on the Nasdaq Airline holding companies of the United States American companies established in 2010 Companies based in Chicago United Airlines Holding companies established in 2010 2010 establishments in Illinois