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Check here for the latest United Airlines news.
UAL Studying Launch of Corporate Service
CHICAGO (Reuters) - United Airlines parent UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL - news) said on Thursday it is considering various new services to lure high-end travelers out of crowded airliners and into smaller, more convenient business jets.
UAL, which runs the world's second-largest airline, cautioned there is no guarantee its possible foray into corporate jet services will take off.
UAL said it has explored areas including fractional ownership of aircraft, charter services, a corporate shuttle and links between United's mainline commercial service and other business aviation services outside the United States.
Under fractional ownership, different businesses or individuals buy shares in the use of an aircraft.
The new business lines have been under study for 20 months, UAL spokesman Andy Plews said, and the company has held talks with corporate jet makers and corporations.
``We have done a lot of research and analysis,'' Plews said. ''The analysis showed us that there is a lot of synergy with the business we are in now.''
``We see it as a business that can attract others to the mainline product,'' Plews said, for instance, offering corporate jet service to top executives while contracting for mainline airline service for the rest of a given company.
``Beyond that, there is no guarantee we will launch that business,'' Plews said. A further announcement could come this summer, he added.
In a statement, UAL also warned that the ``individualized customer service requirements'' of the business aviation market entail different challenges than normally faced by commercial airlines.
The first flights are expected to start early next year, according to the publication Aviation Daily.
UAL shares gained 5 cents, to .05, in early trading on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday. The stock has underperformed the Standard & Poor's airline index by more than 44 percent in the last year.
Wednesday April 25, 5:05 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: United Airlines
United Airlines President Comments on FAA Capacity Study, Notes Critical Need For New Runways
CHICAGO, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Rono Dutta, President of United Airlines (NYSE: UAL - news), today issued the following statement regarding the Federal Aviation Authority's (FAA) benchmarking study on airport capacity and recommendations to manage delays across the system:
``The FAA's findings confirm the impending crisis facing our aviation system and the traveling public: too little capacity to meet soaring consumer demand. Key airports around the country must build new runways now, or consumers will face increasing delays and cancellations.
Using the FAA's projections, we expect that the average airport-related delay at three of United's hub airports (Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, Los Angeles International Airport, and San Francisco International Airport) will more than double by 2010.
United has invested million for operational improvements in 2001 to manage delays. Despite the real investment and commitment that United is making to our customers, dissatisfaction will remain high while the infrastructure remains unable to accommodate existing, let alone future, demand.
We are not going to be able to solve this problem with band-aid solutions or approaches that result in fewer flights or higher costs to consumers. The only real way to meet the growing needs of customers and communities is to add runways.
The FAA's recommendations, released today, are designed to increase capacity at an average rate of less-than one percent over the next 10 years. While today's recommendations from the FAA are helpful, they fall far short of resolving the crisis. We are committed to working with the FAA and with local communities to address the critical issues of new runways and their role in delivering the system improvements that customers, airlines, regulators, legislators, and the Administration have identified.``
United Airlines serves more of the world's business centers than any other airline and operates more than 2,300 departures each day on a route network that spans the globe.
Tuesday April 24, 5:48 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: Association of Flight Attendants
United Airlines Flight Attendants Meet Outside of McCain Hearings on Labor-Management Relations
Available for Statements and Interviews
WASHINGTON, April 24 /PRNewswire Interactive News Release/ -- United Airlines flight attendants, who may be striking in the near future, will meet outside Senator John McCain's (R-AZ) hearing on labor-management relations in the airline industry.
The flight attendants, clad in bright green CHAOS(TM) shirts, will be available from 8:30 until 9:15 a.m. at the Delaware and Constitution Ave. entrance to the Russell Senate Building to answer questions about their dispute with United Airlines.
The flight attendants would be forced to strike should United go through with its purchase of US Airways without securing a waiver to the flight attendant contract. Without the waiver, the merger would be illegal and constitute a unilateral change to the flight attendant contract.
The 26,000 United Airlines flight attendants are joined together in AFA, the world's largest flight attendant union. Visit AFA at http://www.afanet.org .
United Airlines celebrates its 75th Anniversary
April 6, 1926 Leon Cuddeback flew the swallow for Varney Airlines to Inaugurate contract Air Mail routes from Pasco, Washington through Boise, Idaho, to Elko, Nevada.
What many could not imagine that Varney Airlines would one day become the Worlds Second Largest Airline and be known as United Airlines.
Happy 75th Anniversary United Airlines.
Wednesday April 18, 6:35 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: United Airlines
United Airlines Converts Flying to United Express in Six Markets
CHICAGO, April 18 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines (NYSE: UAL - news) announced today a conversion of flying this summer to United Express regional jet service in six markets in its U.S. domestic system.
The markets where United Airlines will transition its service to United Express are Jacksonville, Lincoln, Memphis, Milwaukee, Nashville and Saginaw. The changes are effective from July 9, 2001.
At the same time, United Airlines will discontinue its Palm Springs, CA service, which consists of a single daily flight to Los Angeles and seasonal winter service to Denver. United Express currently serves the Los Angeles -- Palm Springs market with 17 daily flights.
Commenting on the changes, United's president Rono Dutta said: ``Although United has not been profitable in these markets, we are very pleased that United Express will continue to serve the needs of both business and leisure travelers in the seven cities. As our fleet of regional jets has grown, our customers are telling us they find them fast, efficient and comfortable.''
Dutta said United's decision to replace United Airlines flying with United Express service in these cities was driven by the soft economic environment. ``Revenues simply are not keeping pace with costs in these markets, and the outlook is not encouraging. We believe that these communities will be well- served by our United Express partner carriers whose cost structure offers the prospect of good service in comfortable jet aircraft as well as profitable operations,'' Dutta said.
United will offer employees at the seven affected locations other employment opportunities within the company if the employees choose to stay with United or offer appropriate severance packages if they choose to leave the company. A total of 337 employees in the combined stations will be affected by the decision -- 33 in Jacksonville, 32 in Lincoln, 35 in Memphis, 88 in Milwaukee, 56 in Nashville, 68 in Palm Springs and 25 in Saginaw.
Here is a breakdown of current and planned service:
Market Existing Planned UEX Service
United/UEX
Service
Roundtrips Equipment Roundtrips Equipment
Jacksonville- 2 Boeing 737 3 CRJ*
Chicago
Jacksonville- 3 United Exp CRJ 3 CRJ
Washington,
Dulles
Lincoln- 2 Boeing 737 3 CRJ
Chicago
Lincoln- 2 Boeing 737 2 BAe-146
Denver
Memphis- 3 Boeing 737 4 CRJ
Chicago
Memphis- 2 United Exp CRJ 2 CRJ
Denver
Milwaukee- 2 727 8 BAe-146
Chicago 6 United Exp BAe-146
Milwaukee- 3 United Exp BAe-146 3 BAe-146
Denver
Nashville- 4 BAe-146 4 BAe-146
Chicago
Nashville- 2 Boeing 727 2 CRJ
Denver
Nashville- 3 United Exp CRJ 3 CRJ
Washington Dulles
Palm Springs- 1 Boeing 737 17 Brasilia
Los Angeles 17 United Exp Brasilia
Palm Springs- 1** Boeing 737 Discontinued
Denver
Saginaw- 4 Boeing 737 5 CRJ
Chicago
* CRJ is an abbreviation for Canadair Regional Jet
** Palm Springs-Denver is operated during the winter season only.
Note on Palm Springs service -- United Express will continue to offer service in the Palm Springs-San Francisco (2 daily round trips) and Palm Springs-Las Vegas (1 daily round trip) markets.
United Airlines serves more of the world's business centers than any other airline. It operates more than 2,300 departures each day on a route network that spans the globe.
UAL sees US Airways deal delay beyond Q2
(UPDATE: Adds antitrust comment, background)
NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - United Airlines parent UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL - news) said Wednesday it no longer believed its planned .3 billion purchase of US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE:U - news) would close by the middle of the year.
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``We are no longer optimistic that the transaction will close in the second quarter,'' Jake Brace, UAL's senior vice president-finance, said in a conference call with financial analysts.
``We have a very complicated transaction,'' Brace later told reporters of the deal that was first unveiled nearly a year ago. ``Taking regulators through it is just taking a long time.''
Some antitrust lawyers said United could be hoping that soon-to-be appointed Bush administration officials might be more receptive to the merger and some experts went so far as to question whether approval was possible at all.
``When you know your present hand is coming up with nothing, this alternative is better than throwing in the towel completely,'' one lawyer said.
To appease the U.S. Justice Department's antitrust division, the airlines have already said they will divest some Washington-based assets, sell some of US Airways to AMR Corp.'s (NYSE:AMR - news) American Airlines, partner the East Coast shuttle with American and sell some other US Airways units.
Executives declined to comment on whether UAL would be open to more changes in the transaction to satisfy regulators.
Bush's nominee to head the antitrust division, Washington, D.C. attorney Charles James, is expected to take a more hands- off approach to corporate mergers than his predecessor, Clinton-appointee Joel Klein.
James, still awaiting confirmation by the U.S. Senate, is expected to recuse himself because his law firm worked for one of the parties in the transaction, but the case would be handled by a deputy selected by James.
``You could reasonably assume that they're worried about getting a decision from someone who's there now and might feel better about getting a decision from whoever will be there later,'' said one lawyer of United's thinking.
Sources familiar with the deal said last month the Justice Department's antitrust division was still concerned the combination of United and US Airways would crimp competition on the East Coast.
Investigators were particularly focused on the impact the deal would have at Washington, D.C.'s Reagan National Airport, the sources said.
In late March, United and US Airways agreed to an open- ended extension of the deadline for Justice Department review of their deal, adding the government wanted more details on American Airlines' portion of the deal.
The Justice Department also has asked for more information on how the joint shuttle operation would work and is concerned about a handful of smaller airports where United and US Airways both operate, such as Albany, N.Y. and Harrisburg, Pa., sources have said.
United, American and US Airways all reported first quarter losses Wednesday as high fuel costs, labor unrest and a sagging economy combined to create financial turbulence.
United Parent UAL Posts Million Loss
CHICAGO (Reuters) - UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL - news), parent of United Airlines, on Wednesday posted a first-quarter loss of million as the economic slowdown, higher labor costs, and high fuel prices bit into its profitability.
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UAL, which operates the world's second-largest airline now that rival AMR Corp. (NYSE:AMR - news) has purchased Trans World Airlines, said the loss amounted to .82 a share, compared with a year-earlier profit of million, or 84 cents a share. The loss figures exclude the effect of a change in accounting principle, while the year-earlier numbers exclude an accounting change and a one-time charge.
Analysts' loss expectations had ranged from .50 to .75 a share, with an average forecast of .28, according to research firm Thomson Financial/First Call. Revenue fell 2.7 percent to .42 billion from .55 billion a year earlier.
Based on current trends, UAL said its year-over-year decline in unit revenue in the second quarter will be ''considerably worse'' than that of the first quarter, and with higher fuel and labor costs it expects to post an unspecified second-quarter loss. A continuation of current trends would also lead to a full-year loss, the company said.
Prospects for a turnaround will be driven by the economy and are not expected anytime soon, UAL president Rono Dutta told reporters on a conference call.
``Our fortunes are very much tied to the economy,'' he said. ''The economy is weak, and therefore business people are not traveling that much. I don't think it's a permanent change. How quickly will it recover? How quickly will the economy recover?'' he asked.
The slowing economy has cut into United's high fare business travel revenues, and because many of its customers are concentrated on the technology-intensive West Coast it was particularly affected by the worsening revenue environment, James Goodwin, UAL chairman and chief executive officer, said in a news release.
Dutta said that initially the downturn in the U.S. economy did not seem to affect United's international network, but in March there was some impact.
In one of its many efforts to cut costs, Dutta said United will announce later this afternoon changes for its United Express regional carrier operations. Under a new pilot contract, the carrier now has the flexibility to use regional jets in short-haul routes instead of larger planes, he said.
Earlier, Jake Brace, UAL's senior vice president-finance, told analysts that the company no longer believes its planned .3 billion acquisition of US Airways Group Inc (NYSE:U - news) will be completed in the second quarter.
``We have a very complicated transaction,'' Brace later told reporters. ``Taking regulators through it is just taking a long time.''
UAL shares added \$1.85, or 5.5 percent, to .50 in early afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange. They have fallen about 38 percent over the past 12 months, underperforming the sagging S&P 500 index by about 28 percent during that time.
(Additional reporting by Jane Light in Chicago)
UAL no longer sees US Airways deal closing in Q2
NEW YORK, April 18 (Reuters) - United Airlines parent UAL Corp. (NYSE:UAL - news) no longer believes its planned .3 billion purchase of US Airways Group Inc. (NYSE:U - news) is likely to close in the second quarter, as it had previously stated, an executive said Wednesday.
``We are no longer optimistic that the transaction will close in the second quarter,'' Jake Brace, UAL's senior vice president-finance, said in a conference call with analysts.
The federal regulatory review is being slowed by the complexity of the transaction, Brace said, which involves divesting some Washington-based assets, an agreement to sell some US Airways assets to AMR Corp.'s (NYSE:AMR - news) American Airlines, an East Coast shuttle partnership with American, and the sale of some other US Airways units.
``We are working real hard with all the parties, including the regulatory agencies, to make the deal happen,'' Brace said. Executives declined to comment on whether UAL would be open to more changes in the transaction in order to satisfy regulators.
Monday April 16, 7:49 pm Eastern Time
Two Indicted in UAL Kickback Scheme
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) -- A federal grand jury indicted two men Monday on allegations they defrauded United Airlines out of millions of dollars, stealing parts and then reselling them to the airline as part of a kickback scheme.
A former United Airlines employee is charged with stealing electronics parts from the carrier at San Francisco International Airport and shipping them to a parts supplier in Seattle in return for millions of dollars in kickbacks.
The supplier then sold the products back to United Airlines between 1997 and 2000, according to the indictment.
Indicted was former United Airlines employee Richard Harper, 37, of San Clemente and Norman Tucker, 50, of Seattle. Neither could be reached for immediate comment.
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