United Continental Holdings, Inc., commonly referred to as United, is a major American airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is the world's second-largest airline when measured by number of destinations served, operates a comprehensive domestic and international route network, and has significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region. United operates out of nine airline hubs located in Chicago, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C.
United Airlines traces its roots to the Varney Air Lines air mail service of Walter Varney, who also founded Varney Speed Lines from which Continental Airlines had originated. Founded in Boise, Idaho in 1926, the carrier flew the first contract air mail flight in the U.S. on April 6, 1926. In 1927, aviation pioneer William Boeing founded his airline Boeing Air Transport to operate the San Francisco to Chicago air mail route. 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, Varney Air Lines and National Air Transport, as well as numerous equipment manufacturers at the same time.
After passage of the Air Mail Act in 1934, UATC separated into the United Aircraft Corporation (the future United Technologies Corporation), the Boeing Airplane Company and United Airlines.
On April 16, 2010, United resumed merger talks with Continental Airlines (the two airlines had previously discussed merging in 2008). The board of directors of both airlines reached an agreement to combine operations on May 2, 2010. While United would be the surviving airline, the merged airline would adopt Continental's logo and livery.
United Airlines is a founding member of Star Alliance, founded on 14 May 1997.
Livery from early 1990s (Battleship)
Boeing 737, registration ????, built ????, serial number ???? Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Seattle, WA, USA, 26 October 1999
Livery from 2010
Boeing 767-322ER, registration N654UA, built 1992, serial number 25392 Cointrin (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland, 15 June 2016
Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner, registration N26952, built 2015, serial number 36403 Schiphol (AMS/EHAM), Amsterdam, the Netherlands, 30 September 2022
Star Alliance livery
Boeing 767-322ER, registration N653UA, built 1992, serial number 25391 Cointrin (GVA), Geneva, Switzerland, 21 August 2018
