History of United Airlines
That summer, the fastest flight left Newark at noon (probably EST) and arrived at San Francisco at 6:55 PST after eight stops; the fare was $160 one-way, equal to $2,868 in today's value.
[10] Post-war United benefited from new technologies (such as the pressurized cabin which permitted planes to fly above the weather) and a boom in customer demand for air travel.
On November 1, 1955, United Airlines Flight 629 was bombed while flying from Stapleton Airport in Denver to Portland, killing all 39 passengers and five crew members on board the Douglas DC-6B.
In 1984, United was the first airline to serve all 50 states with commercial airports when it started flights to Atlanta, Nashville, Memphis, Little Rock, Fargo, Casper, Jackson, and Charleston.
In 1985, United agreed to buy the ailing Pan American World Airways' entire Pacific Division, Boeing 747SPs, and L-1011-500s, and flight crew staffs for $750 million.
[27] In 1988, United flew a two-stop around-the-world flight to raise money for the Friendship Foundation using a Boeing 747SP-21 purchased from Pan American World Airways.
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.
In 1997, Sony engineer John Cooperstock[33] and an assistant professor at McGill University in Montreal, Quebec,[34] created untied.com, a website chronicling complaints about service on United, including those from Premier Class customers.
[33] In September 2000, Kevin Simpson of the Denver Post said that "the Untied.com phenomenon mirrors the online trend in consumer activism that has caught on with the disgruntled flying public this summer travel season.
"[34] In 1998, Delta Air Lines and United introduced a marketing partnership that included a reciprocal redemption agreement between SkyMiles and Mileage Plus programs and shared lounges.
Eventually, CEO Jim Goodwin and the rest of the management had to get the pilots back in the cockpits and quickly offered them a 48% increase over four years with up to 28% upfront.
This increase was only temporary, and when the bubble finally burst, United was in a worse position than before because it had failed to keep costs under control, possibly due to giving its pilots pay raises of up to 28% in the summer of 2000.
That same year, United applied for a $1.5 billion loan guarantee from the federal Air Transportation Stabilization Board established in the wake of the 9/11 attacks.
Blame for the bankruptcy fell on 9/11, which triggered the financial crisis in all the major North American airlines, coupled with the economic slowdown that was underway.
The airline canceled several existing and planned routes, and eliminated its entire Latin American gateway and flight crew base at Miami International Airport after March 1, 2004.
On August 26, 2005, the bankruptcy court extended the airline's exclusive right to file a reorganization plan to November 1, although it also stated firmly this extension would be the last.
The scheduled flight from San Francisco via Hong Kong (SFO–HKG–SGN) was the first by a U.S. airline since the end of the Vietnam War, when Pan Am halted service shortly before the fall of Saigon in 1975.
[49] In the years following United's exit from bankruptcy, the financial firms Bank of America and Fidelity Investments accumulated shares to become the second largest owner with an 11 percent stake in the company.
[57] Star Alliance co-founder and Lufthansa CEO Wolfgang Mayrhuber threw his support behind a marriage of partner carriers United and US Airways.
[60] On June 28, 2008, United announced the cessation of several international routes, including San Francisco to Nagoya and Chicago to Mexico City.
[61][62][63] On September 8, 2008, the price of UAL shares fell by nearly 99% in fifteen minutes to $0.01 US amid rumors of another bankruptcy, before NASDAQ temporarily halted trading.
[84] In January 2018, United stated that it planned to grow its company by adding between 4% and 6% to its passenger capacity and maintain that growth through 2020; this news caused all U.S. airline stocks to fall in value.
[85] As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, in July 2020, United announced that it will be sending lay-off notice warnings to 36,000 employees including, 15,100 flight attendants, 11,000 in airport operations and 2,250 pilots among others.
[87] In November 2020, United Airlines Holdings Inc. started manning flights to position shipments of Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine in the event that the shots are approved by the FDA and other regulators worldwide.
The Federal Aviation Administration has stated it will allow United shipments of 15,000 pounds of dry ice per flight, a measure taken to ensure the vaccine does not spoil, which is five times more than normally permitted.
[89] In June 2021, United announced an order for 270 narrowbody planes, the largest in its history, in an effort to both revitalize its aging fleet[90] and grow its capacity.
The "Rainbow" (or "Saul Bass") livery, which was the first to feature the "tulip", had a primarily white fuselage, with red, orange and blue stripes along the "cheatline".
Marketing during this time continued the "Fly the Friendly Skies" slogan, and it was during this era that United acquired the rights to use Gerswhin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which started to be heard in broadcast advertisements.
A custom Times New Roman font, reading "UNITED AIRLINES" in white, replaced Saul Bass's previous lettering style.
The fresh livery featured a white upper fuselage, replacing the dark grey of the previous design, and used a lighter shade of blue for the aircraft belly, tail and engines.
