United Airlines



What is United Airlines? United Airlines, commonly referred to as United, is a major United States airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. United operates a large domestic and international route network, with an extensive presence in the Asia-Pacific region. United is a founding member of the Star Alliance, the world's largest airline alliance with a total of 28 member airlines.Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express. United was established by the amalgamation of several airlines in the late 1920s, the oldest of these being Varney Air Lines, which was founded in 1926

History..
United started as Varney Air Lines (VAL), which Walter Varney founded in 1926 in Boise, Idaho. Continental Airlines is the successor to Speed Lanes, which Varney had founded by 1932 and whose name changed to Varney Speed Lines in 1934. VAL flew the first privately contracted air mail flight in the U.S. on April 6, 1926.later in 1927, William Boeing founded Boeing Air Transport to operate air mail routes under contract with the United States Post Office Department. In 1929, Boeing merged his company with Pratt & Whitney to form the United Aircraft and Transport Corporation (UATC) which then set about buying, in the space of just 28 months, Pacific Air Transport, Stout Air Services, VAL, and National Air Transport, as well as numerous equipment manufacturers at the same time. On March 28, 1931, UATC formed United Air Lines, Inc. as a holding company for its airline subsidiaries.

Hubs
United has seven hubs, with Chicago–O'Hare being its largest in terms of passengers carried and the number of departures. The company employs over 86,000 people while maintaining its headquarters in Chicago's Willis Tower. Through the airline's parent company, United Continental Holdings, it is publicly traded under NYSE: UAL with a market capitalization of over US$21 billion as of January 2018.

New Livery
On March 8 2019 United Announced it would be seeking to reveal a new livery in Early April 2019. the new livery was revealed on April 23rd one day before the actual date when it would be released. the new livery is a remake of the Continental Livery despite changing the gold on the globe into a much darker blue, and removing the gold at the end into pure black. the livery was viewed by millions. some fans did not enjoy the new look.

Acquisition of Continental Airlines
In late 2006, Continental Airlines and United had preliminary merger discussions. On April 16, 2010, those discussions resumed.The board of directors of Continental and UAL Corporation agreed on May 2, 2010, to combine operations, contingent upon shareholder and regulatory approval. On October 1, 2010, the UAL Corporation changed its name to United Continental Holdings, Inc.[30] The carriers planned to begin merging their operations in 2011. The merged airline began operating under a single air operator's certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration on November 30, 2011. On March 3, 2012, United and Continental merged their passenger service systems, frequent-flier programs, and websites, which virtually eliminated the Continental brand with the exception of its logo.

Fleet
As of June 2021, the United Airlines fleet consists of the following aircraft:

Fleet Strategy
On July 20, 2011, American Airlines announced an order for 460 narrowbody jets, including 260 Airbus A320s. This order broke Boeing's monopoly with the airline and forced Boeing to proceed with plans for the re-engined 737 MAX. The contract with American included a Most-Favoured-Customer Clause, which requires Airbus to refund to American any difference between the price paid by American and the price paid by United or another airline, if lower. The clause acts to perpetuate United having a Boeing-skewed fleet.

On September 22, 2012, United became the first American airline to take delivery of Boeing 787 aircraft. United is also the North American launch customer for the Boeing 787-9 and 787-10 aircraft, which are stretched versions of the base 787-8 model, delivered at launch.

In May 2018, United planned to replace its 51 Boeing 767s in a deal potentially worth $14 billion at list prices, and was in talks with both Airbus and Boeing, for their A330neo and 787. United operates 128 757s and 767s (77 B757s and 51 B767s), the second-largest combined fleet after Delta Air Lines with 206 (127 757s and 79 767s). Both have to replace them; they could be replaced by 737 MAX 10s, A321neos, Boeing NMAs, 787-8s or A330-800s.

On June 3, 2021, United announced that a deal had been confirmed with Boom Supersonic to purchase at least 15 of their Overture supersonic airliners & potentially up to 50 in total. These aircraft will be flown on 100% sustainable fuels. The aircraft are intended to enter service with United in 2029 & are expected to be the first supersonic airliners to fly domestically for a airline since the Concorde was retired with British Airways & Air France in 2003.