An overview of United Airlines | |
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United Airlines, which is a sub-division of UAL, is headquartered in Chicago. It operates from the O’Hare International Airport and offers more than 650 departures on a daily basis. This airline is one of the main airlines in the United States of America.
United Airlines was formed on the 6th of April 1926 by mail carrier, Varney Airlines. Aviation pioneer William Boeing founded the Boeing Air Transport airline company a year later and purchased Varney as well as several other operators to extend their footprint. In 1929, the name of the business changed to United Aircraft – Transport Corp. Following an airmail scandal, legislation was passed in 1934 prohibiting the ownership of both a manufacturer and an airline. This resulted in William Boeing’s business being split into three discrete businesses: a parts supplier, a manufacturer of aircrafts and an airline group called United Air Lines. On the 1st of June 1961, United Air Lines merged with Capital Airlines. The merged airline graduated to being the largest airline company in the USA and serviced every single destination in the United States. On the 23rd of December 1973, following a restructure of the airline, UAL Corporation was formed with United Airlines becoming a subsidiary. During 1997 United Airlines, together with Air Canada, Lufthansa, SAS and Thai Airways, were the founding members of the Star Alliance. The United Airlines passenger loyalty programme is known as Mileage Plus. Points and miles can be accrued while flying through United Airlines as well as any of the airline members of Star Alliance. There are several elite levels of membership such as the Premier Associate, Premier Member, Premier Executive, Premier Executive 1k etc. In Premier Associate level a member can access Economy Plus seats but cannot get e-upgrades. In Miles Plus’ Premier membership, e-upgrades of 500 miles as well as a 25% bonus on mileage is offered. Premier Executive members receive a mileage bonus of 100%, enjoy a higher priority where upgrades are concerned and are afforded lounge access on the date of their flight. Premier Executive 1K members have the advantage of being given meals and accommodation when there are flight delays and confirmed upgrades regionally. Global Services is a United Airlines invitational program associated with Mileage Plus and was established to retain their high yielding customers. Global Services members are afforded front line security queue access, enjoy top priority when miles are used for upgrades and are given upgrade certificates worth 500 miles. |