Company Names Board Members, Begins Trading on NYSE as UAL
Friday
United Continental Holdings, Inc., formerly UAL Corporation,
announced Friday that a wholly owned subsidiary has merged with
Continental Airlines, Inc., and that Continental Airlines and
United Air Lines, Inc. are now wholly owned subsidiaries of United
Continental Holdings, Inc. The common stock of United Continental
Holdings, Inc. began trading on the New York Stock Exchange under
the symbol UAL Friday.
United Continental Holdings, Inc. also announced the members of
its board of directors, effective October 1, 2010. The 16-member
board includes six independent directors from each of United and
Continental, Glenn Tilton, who will serve as non-executive chairman
of the board, and Jeff Smisek, who will serve as president and
chief executive officer. The independent directors are
Kirbyjon H. Caldwell, Carolyn Corvi, W. James Farrell, Jane C.
Garvey, Walter Isaacson, Henry L. Meyer III, Oscar Munoz, James J.
O'Connor, Laurence E. Simmons, David J. Vitale, John H. Walker and
Charles A. Yamarone. Additionally, the board has two union
directors: Stephen R. Canale and Captain Wendy J.
Morse.
"This is a true merger of equals, bringing together two strong
companies and positioning us to succeed in a dynamic and highly
competitive global aviation industry. This sets us on a path to
create the world's leading airline from a position of strength,
with one of the the industry's best cash positions,
industry-leading revenues and a competitive cost structure," Tilton
said. "Drawing from both companies, we have an excellent board of
directors and a strong management team, and we have the industry's
best people to deliver on the promise of great products and service
for our customers, career opportunities for our people and
consistent returns for our shareholders."
With approximately $9 billion in unrestricted cash at closing,
United expects the merger will deliver $1.0 billion to $1.2 billion
in net annual synergies by 2013, including between $800 million and
$900 million of incremental annual revenue, from expanded customer
options resulting from the greater scope and scale of the network,
fleet optimization and expanded service enabled by the broader
network of the combined carrier. On a pro-forma basis, the combined
company would have annual revenues of $31.4 billion, based on
results for the 12 months ending June 30, 2010.
Continental and United, operating under United Continental
Holdings, Inc., will immediately begin the work to fully integrate
the two companies. In the near term, customers can expect to
interact with each carrier as they always have. Customers flying on
Continental will continue to check in at continental.com, or at
Continental kiosks and ticket counters, and to be assisted by
Continental employees, and customers flying on United will continue
to check in at united.com or at United kiosks or ticket counters,
and to be assisted by United employees. Customers will continue to
earn and redeem frequent-flier miles through the respective loyalty
programs of Continental and United until those programs are
combined. The company expects that travelers will begin to see a
more unified product in the spring of 2011, as the carriers
integrate key customer service and marketing activities to deliver
a more seamless product.
"Today's merger closing is a big first step, and I want to thank
my co-workers at Continental and United for their incredible
efforts to get us to this point," Smisek said. "We have been moving
quickly but thoughtfully on our integration planning, and I'm
pleased with the progress we've made. We have a lot of hard
work ahead as we begin to implement our integration plan, but our
co-workers are enthusiastic about the opportunities this merger
will bring to them."
The new company creates a platform for greater job stability,
career opportunities, and retirement security for its employees by
being part of a larger, financially stronger and more
geographically diverse carrier that is better able to compete
successfully in the global marketplace.
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