United and Continental announce merger
Published: 03/05/2010 - Filed under: News »
United and Continental Airlines have ended speculation by announcing a "merger of equals", with the new carrier to be named United Airlines, but with aircraft sporting the Continental logo and livery. A mockup of the new livery can be seen below.
Current Continental CEO Jeff Smisek will become the CEO of the carrier, with United CEO Glenn Tilton becoming non-executive chairman of the airline, until December 31, 2012, or the second anniversary of closing, whichever is closer.
The airline will be headquartered in Chicago, but will maintain "a significant presece in Houston", which will be the combined company's largest hub.
A statement released by United said:
"The combination of United and Continental brings together the two most complementary networks of any U.S. carriers, with minimal domestic and no international route overlaps. The combined company will offer enhanced service to Asia, Europe, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East from well-placed hubs on the East Coast, West Coast, and Southern and Midwestern regions of the United States.
"The combined company will have 10 hubs, including hubs in the four largest cities in the United States, and will provide enhanced service to underserved small- and medium-sized communities. The combined carrier will continue to serve all the communities each carrier currently serves. Together, Continental and United serve more than 144 million passengers per year as they fly to 370 destinations in 59 countries."
The merger is expected to be completed by the fourth quarter of 2010, on condition of "approval by the shareholders of both companies, receipt of regulatory clearance, and customary closing conditions".
United and Continental restarted merger talks earlier this year, after previous dicussions were halted in 2008, and rumours of an agreement grew when rival carrier US Airways said it had dropped potential merger talks with United last month (see online news April 22).
For more information visit united.com, continental.com, unitedcontinentalmerger.com.
Report by Mark Caswell
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COMMENTS »
BlackTower - 03/05/2010 11:41
Does this water down Coninental's young fleet with lots of old United tubs???
Potakas - 03/05/2010 15:25
Tell BT that it was posted from 29/4 at the forum!!!
VintageKrug - 03/05/2010 20:15
I hope you can put up an artist's impression of the new United/Continental livery; absolutely vile travesty of a logo, and such a shame as the new United livery was so smart.
Symptomatic of agreement reached in a committee, and let's hope it doesn't indicate the future for the airline.
BusinessTraveller - 04/05/2010 10:09
Hi VintageKrug - just added the image.
Potakas - you did indeed post a story from the Wall Street Journal on Thursday, but we decided to wait for official confirmation before posting in the news section.
Mark
ManyMillionMilesFlown - 04/05/2010 13:57
United and Continental Airlines want a merger. Fine with me, 1 condition, Start the Worlds Biggest Airlines, out of the US. Then buy USA made planes from Boeing, keep jobs in America ! I noticed in Airlines Magazine that United had half their orders with Boeing and the other half with Airbus. The merger should be approved by regulators when the new company buys airplanes made in the USA by Boeing.
VintageKrug - 05/05/2010 06:57
ManyMillionsMilesFlown should realise that the global market for airliners is highly internationalised; many airbus suppliers will be located in the USA, as will many Boeing supliers be based overseas.
Airbus is pioneering more fuel efficient aircraft, and in my personal experience (although I am abig fan of Boeing) newer airbuses offers a superior cabin environment to their Boeing equivalents (more cabin space, larger windows, better air quality).
By having two suppliers for such a very large carrier, it ensures they retain bargaining power to obtain the best deal for the new airline's shareholders.
Having two principal suppliers means that Boeing has to remain competitive not only to win international contracts but also domestic contracts, increasing their level of Research & Development spend which in itself generates employment and maintains competitiveness.
AdrianoDiDia - 06/05/2010 11:45
I hope this is a temporary design in order to reassure employees at CO. I have never seen a merger where "used" logo, font, design, etc. have been taken over.
yack...
AdrianoDiDia - 06/05/2010 11:48
maybe and hopefully this design is *** t e m p o r a r y ***
ariejet - 06/05/2010 13:14
"By having two suppliers for such a very large carrier, it ensures they retain bargaining power to obtain the best deal for the new airline's shareholders."
The very same reasoning applies for not approving the merger (price fixing)...more air carriors equals more competitive/lower fares that cannot legally be subject to price fixing...tilton would like to distract the flying public with discussions about "the logo" rather than the increase in fares to us road warriors with less competition and the increased money in his pocket from a merger..any merger!
VTGlobalFlyer - 06/05/2010 22:41
I feel bad for Cleveland. UA use to have a hub there and all but pulled out because it was too close to their Chicago hub. Don't you think they have plans to eliminate Cleveland again?
StevenCinNYC - 07/05/2010 21:52
My concern is that CO has much better service (phone, ground, and in air), better seats, and better food. Will this all get downgraded to the UA standard? My experience with these airlines is mostly domestic, and UA seats have the worst headrests (all classes of service). Down, they're in my shoulder blades. Up, they're a little better, but UA crews go around and shove them down during takeoff and landing. UA has offshored their phone support to people who are completely incompetent while CO has well-trained personnel who understand not just the English language but also air travel. CO has much better food in first and good terms and conditions (no hidden/extra charges). (Overseas travel I generally use AA which still has 3 classes of service to London and generally more comfortable seats. Their policies have worsened over time though, with less/worse food, more fees, tougher redemptions, etc.)
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