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View information about United Airlines. You can view the history of the United Airlines company and their impact on branding.
United Airlines
- United Airlines
- Airline
- April, 1926
The story of United Airlines:
When you count up all the places they fly to and from, this Chicago-based airline is the world’s biggest. United flies domestically and internationally to hundreds of destinations, with a major presence in the Asia-Pacific region.
It got its start as Varney Airlines…
…an air mail service founded by Walter Varney.
He also founded Varney Speed Lines, which was the predecessor of the eventual Continental Airlines. Fittingly, United and Continental merged into a new parent company, United Continental Holdings in May 2010.
But in the early years, 1933, United – as it came to be called, started flying the Boeing 247 airliners, allowing transcontinental flights in 20 hours, the fastest at the time. As the years passed, through innovation and merger, United grew into the nation’s largest air carrier.
Among the company’s most popular slogans was to “Fly the Friendly Skies”.
Sadly and tragically, two United flights were hijacked during the terror attacks on September 11th, 2001.
Flight 175 was crashed into the South Tower of the World Trade Center…
… and Flight 93 crashed in a field in Pennsylvania.
There were financial challenges too, including a post Nine Eleven bankruptcy proceeding.
Today, United operates eight domestic and one international hub.