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UAL Corporation is the former name of United Airlines Holdings, an
airline An airline is a company that provides civil aviation, air transport services for traveling passengers and freight. Airlines use aircraft to supply these services and may form partnerships or Airline alliance, alliances with other airlines for ...
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 ...
,
incorporated in Delaware The Delaware General Corporation Law (Title 8, Chapter 1 of the Delaware Code) is the statute of the Delaware Code that governs corporate law in the U.S. state of Delaware. Adopted in 1899, the statute has since seen Delaware become the most imp ...
with headquarters in
Chicago, Illinois (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
. UAL held a 100 percent controlling interest in United Airlines, Inc., one of the world's largest air carriers, and 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 passenger ...
. It was announced on May 3, 2010 that UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines, Inc. would pursue a merger pending government approval. UAL Corporation would acquire Continental Airlines, Inc. and change its name to United Continental Holdings (UCH). On October 1, 2010, UCH, formerly UAL Corporation, announced completion of the merger. On Thursday June 27, 2019 United changed the name of its parent company from United Continental Holdings to
United Airlines Holdings 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 holding company headquartered in the Willis Tower in Chica ...
. UAL Corp. passed to its successor its major operations at Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and
Washington-Dulles Washington Dulles International Airport , typically referred to as Dulles International Airport, Dulles Airport, Washington Dulles, or simply Dulles ( ), is an international airport in the Eastern United States, located in Loudoun County and Fa ...
. UAL's United Airlines, Inc. held several key air rights, including one of the two American carriers authorized to serve Asia from Tokyo-Narita. UAL's United was the largest U.S. carrier to
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
and maintained operations throughout Asia.


History

UAL, Inc., was incorporated December 30, 1968 as a
Delaware corporation The Delaware General Corporation Law (Title 8, Chapter 1 of the Delaware Code) is the statute of the Delaware Code that governs corporate law in the U.S. state of Delaware. Adopted in 1899, the statute has since seen Delaware become the most im ...
as part of a reorganization of
United Airlines United Airlines, Inc. (commonly referred to as United), is a major American airline headquartered at the Willis Tower in Chicago, Illinois.
, its largest subsidiary, having a storied history. UAL, Inc. was the creation of then United Airlines president George Keck, who formed the holding company to allow United to diversify. Between 1970 and 1988 UAL, Inc. acquired the
Westin Westin Hotels & Resorts is an American upscale hotel chain owned by Marriott International. , the Westin Brand has 226 properties with 82,608 rooms in multiple countries in addition to 58 hotels with 15,741 rooms in the pipeline. History Wester ...
and Hilton
hotel chains A hotel is an establishment that provides paid lodging on a short-term basis. Facilities provided inside a hotel room may range from a modest-quality mattress in a small room to large suites with bigger, higher-quality beds, a dresser, a ref ...
and the
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car rental A car rental, hire car or car hire agency is a company that rents automobiles for short periods of time to the public, generally ranging from a few hours to a few weeks. It is often organized with numerous local branches (which allow a user to ...
company, as well as a
regional airline A regional airline is a general classification of airline which typically operates scheduled passenger air service, using regional aircraft, between communities lacking sufficient demand or infrastructure to attract mainline flights. In North ...
, a reservations network, and several leasing and insurance companies. On April 30, 1987, UAL, Inc. changed its name to Allegis Corporation. Wall Street analysts believed that Allegis' subsidiaries were worth more individually than valued by the parent company's stock price. Reacting to this opinion just weeks after the company changed its name, a group led by United Airlines employees moved to acquire ownership. However, the group was unable to secure the necessary financing and Allegis' management subsequently divested (sold) its non-airline subsidiaries. On May 26, 1988, Allegis changed its name to UAL Corporation, with United Airlines, Inc. as its sole major subsidiary.
United Airlines employees’ continued effort to buy the airline's parent company was realized in 1993. The Board of Directors of UAL in December 1993 agreed to an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP), with employees accepting salary and benefit reductions and work rule changes in exchange for stock. Employees gained an equity stake of 55%, thus making them the majority owners of UAL Corporation. UAL became the world's largest employee-owned company. During the mid-1990s the scheme worked well for UAL. The company was able to stabilize its finances, which had been weakened by the recession earlier in the decade and the divestiture of Allegis' profitable assets. In the late 1990s UAL's United Airlines subsidiary grew to be the world's largest airline, as well as one of the most profitable. Yet in 2000, UAL's fortunes began to dim. In April 2000, the ESOP investment period ended for most US employees, prompting United's unions to fight for higher wages. Labor issues, air traffic congestion and poor weather forced widespread flight cancellations during the summer of 2000, harming the airline's reputation. Then UAL Corporation announced its intent to merge with US Airways Group, Inc., the operator of
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 History of aviation in Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh as a mail delivery airline called ...
. The deal collapsed in mid-2001, due to opposition from the U.S. government and employees. Then came the tragedy of
September 11 Events Pre-1600 * 9 – The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends: The Roman Empire suffers the greatest defeat of its history and the Rhine is established as the border between the Empire and the so-called barbarians for the next four hu ...
. The company ended 2001 with a record loss of $2.1 billion. As losses continued into 2002, Glenn Tilton, a former
Texaco Texaco, Inc. ("The Texas Company") is an American Petroleum, oil brand owned and operated by Chevron Corporation. Its flagship product is its Gasoline, fuel "Texaco with Techron". It also owned the Havoline motor oil brand. Texaco was an Indepe ...
CEO with experience operating a troubled company, was brought in by UAL's Board of Directors to prevent bankruptcy, or, if needed, guide the company through a bankruptcy. Tilton was appointed Chairman, President, and CEO of UAL Corporation and United Airlines, Inc. in September 2002. Tilton sought wage cuts from employees and applied for a U.S. government loan guarantee to avoid filing for bankruptcy. By early December, the company had reached agreements with most of its unions for wage reductions, but its loan application was rejected Dec. 4. On Dec. 9, UAL and its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 reorganization. UAL quickly received
debtor-in-possession A debtor in possession or DIP in United States bankruptcy law is a person or corporation who has filed a bankruptcy petition, but remains in possession of property upon which a creditor has a lien or similar security interest. A debtor becomes the ...
(DIP) financing to allow it to continue "business as usual" while it reorganized its debt, capital and cost structures. The year ended with UAL seeking immediate voluntary wage reductions from all employee groups or permission from the bankruptcy court to impose those reductions in order to meet the strict covenants established by the DIP lenders. What followed was one of the largest, longest, and most complex bankruptcy cases in US history. UAL Corporation and its subsidiaries emerged from bankruptcy protection on February 1, 2006. On December 8, 2009, UAL Corporation announced an order for 25
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and 25
Boeing 787 The Boeing 787 Dreamliner is an American wide-body jet airliner developed and manufactured by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. After dropping its unconventional Sonic Cruiser project, Boeing announced the conventional 7E7 on January 29, 2003, ...
aircraft, with purchase rights for 50 more of each. The years following emergence from bankruptcy garnered mixed results for UAL. The company turned a profit in 2007, but the fuel crisis in the summer 2008, when crude oil briefly reached $147 a barrel, pushed the company into losses. After decades of boom and bust cycles, CEO Tilton pushed for a merger with another major US carrier. Tilton stated that a larger market-share and a more diverse route network was the way for UAL to reach sustained profitability, though many, including UAL's unions groups, strongly disagreed. In early 2008 UAL Corporation held merger talks with American airline operator Continental Airlines, Inc. The deal was called off after problems in the credit markets, as well as weak support from labor groups, prevented the merger. UAL's United then decided to form an alliance with Continental. In May 2010 United announced a full merger between the two carriers. The combined airline uses the trade name United Airlines with the Continental globe logo.


Directors

The directors of UAL Corporation at the time of the merger were: * Glenn F. Tilton, Chairman/President/CEO *Wendy Morse (Pilots' Union) *Stephen R. Canale (Machinist & Aerospace Workers union) * W. James Farrell *David J. Vitale * Robert D. Krebs * Steve Miller *James J. O'Connor (Lead Director) *Mary K. Bush *John H. Walker *Richard J. Almeida *
Walter Isaacson Walter Seff Isaacson (born May 20, 1952) is an American author, journalist, and professor. He has been the President and CEO of the Aspen Institute, a nonpartisan policy studies organization based in Washington, D.C., the chair and CEO of CNN, ...
* Jane F. Garvey


Subsidiaries

The company's subsidiaries at the time of the merger were: * United Airlines, Inc. (including United Cargo) **Covia, LLC **Domicile Management Services, Inc. (also subsidiary of Air Wis Services) ** Kion de Mexico, S.A. de C.V **Kion Leasing, Inc. **Premier Meeting and Travel Services, Inc. **UAL Loyalty Services Inc. (loyalty programs and travel clubs, including United Cruises) ***Mileage Plus Holdings Inc. ****Mileage Plus Marketing, Inc. (administers the
Mileage Plus MileagePlus is the loyalty program of United Airlines and Aeromar that offers rewards to passengers traveling on certain types of tickets. Following the 2011 merger agreement between United Airlines and Continental Airlines, United Mileage Plus ...
frequent flyer program A frequent-flyer program (American English) or frequent-flyer programme (British English) is a loyalty program offered by an airline. Many airlines have frequent-flyer programs designed to encourage airline customers enrolled in the program ...
) ***ULS Ventures, Inc. **United Airlines Ventures, Inc. **United Aviation Fuels Corporation (fuel purchasing unit) **United Cogen, Inc. (develops and operates cogeneration and power projects) **United GHS, Inc. (ground handling services) ** United Vacations Inc. **United Worldwide Corporation *Air Wis Services, Inc. **Air Wisconsin, Inc. (not to be confused with Air Wisconsin Airlines Corporation, an independent corporation and former
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 ...
partner) **Domicile Management Services, Inc. (also subsidiary of United Airlines) *Four Star Insurance Company, Ltd. *Four Star Leasing, Inc. *UAL Benefits Management, Inc. *UAL Company Services Inc.


References

*Garvey, William and David Fisher. ''The Age of Flight: A History of America's Pioneering Airline''. Greensboro, NC: Pace Communications, 2002.


External links


UAL Company InformationUnited Corporate StructureUAL Corporation – stock listing
{{DEFAULTSORT:UAL Corporation United Airlines Airline holding companies of the United States Holding companies established in 1968 Holding companies disestablished in 2010 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2002 1968 establishments in Illinois 2010 disestablishments in Illinois Companies formerly listed on the Nasdaq