United Airlines was formed in 1931 as a subsidiary of United Aircraft and Transport Corporation to manage a group of airlines controlled by William Boeing, including Boeing Air Transport, National Air Transport, Pacific Air Transport and Varney Air Lines, all of which held U.S. Air Mail contracts. Of its predecessor companies, the first to commence cargo (airmail) operations was Varney Air Lines on April 6, 1926, a date United later celebrated as its centenary. The 1934 Air Mail scandal led to the dissolution of the parent corporation, resulting in the separation of Boeing, United Aircraft (now RTX), and United Air Lines, all of which continued as independent major American companies.
As an independent company, United expanded rapidly. In 1933, it introduced the Boeing 247, the first modern airliner, enabling non-stop transcontinental travel. During World War II, United modified the aircraft for military use and transporting supplies. After the war, United capitalized on the aviation boom, and in 1961 merged with Capital Airlines, briefly becoming the world's second-largest airline. United was a major proponent of airline deregulation in the 1970s and would ultimately benefit from the post-deregulation decline of Pan American World Airways acquiring Pan Am's Pacific route authority in 1985, its London Heathrow operation in 1991, and its Latin America and Caribbean network in 1992. In 1997, United was one of the five airlines to launch Star Alliance, the first global airline alliance.
United suffered significant losses during the September 11 attacks, when two of its aircraft—a Boeing 757 and a Boeing 767—were hijacked and deliberately crashed. Already facing financial difficulties, the airline was further affected by the post-attack economic downturn and filed for bankruptcy in 2002. United emerged from bankruptcy in 2006 after restructuring and, in 2010, merged with Continental Airlines, creating one of the world's largest airlines.
Beginnings
United Air Lines was the creation of aviation pioneer William Boeing, who started out in the airplane business in 1916. His Boeing Airplane Company, achieved the first international postal delivery in 1919, and he went on to establish Boeing Air Transport (BAT) in 1927. In 1928 his company acquired mail and passenger service operator, Pacific Air Transport, and was renamed the company Boeing Airplane & Transport Corporation. In early 1929 the name was changed again to United Aircraft & Transport Corporation (UATC) and merged with Pratt & Whitney Aircraft. UATC acquired America's first scheduled passenger services carrier Stout Air Services on April 29, 1929, the nation's first scheduled service (mail only) operator Varney Air Lines in early 1930, and finally National Air Transport (a large Chicago-based mail-only carrier) on May 7, 1930. On March 28, 1931, UATC formed the corporation United Air Lines, Inc. to manage its airline subsidiaries. Garvey, William & Fisher, David, et al (November 1, 2001) "The Age of Flight, A History of America's Pioneering Airline" pp. 206-207.
Varney Air Lines was founded in Boise, Idaho by Walter Varney who ended up playing an interesting role both aviation and United's history. Varney's chief pilot Leon D. "Lee" Cuddeback flew the first contract air mail flight in a Swallow biplane from Varney's Boise headquarters to the railroad mail hub at Pasco, Washington on April 6, 1926, and returned the following day with 200 pounds of mail.History of Flight in the US Seventy-Five Years United Varney Air Lines' original 1925 hangar served as a portion of the terminal building for the Boise Airport until 2003, when the structure was replaced. And Continental Airlines' is the successor to Speed Lines, which Varney also founded in 1932 and whose name changed to Varney Speed Lines in 1934.
With its string of successful acquisitions, United Air Lines was able to provide coast-to-coast passenger and mail services by 1930. It took 27 hours to fly the route, one way. Boeing Air Transport hired registered nurse Ellen Church to assist passengers; United claims Church as the first airline stewardess. In Chicago, United Air Lines hired the first airline dietitian, Ella Gertrude McMullen, in July 1937.
Following the Air Mail scandal of 1930, the Air Mail Act of 1934 banned the common ownership of manufacturers and airlines. UATC's President Philip G. Johnson was forced to resign and moved to Trans-Canada Airlines, the future Air Canada. UATC was broken into three separate companies. UATC's manufacturing interests east of the Mississippi River became United Aircraft (the future United Technologies), while its manufacturing interests west of the Mississippi became Boeing Airplane Company. The airline interests became United Air Lines. The airline company's new president, hired to make a fresh start as airmail contracts were re-awarded in 1934, was William A. Patterson, who remained as president until 1963.
Expansion into a national carrier
United's early routes, formed by connecting airmail routes, was east-to-west from New York City via Chicago and Salt Lake City to San Francisco, and north–south along the West Coast. The early connections became the basis of United hubs in Chicago and San Francisco, and later in Denver and Washington, D.C.; these remain United's principal hubs.
In 1933, United introduced the Boeing 247; for the first time, passengers could fly across the United States without an overnight stop or changing planes. That summer, the fastest flight left Newark at noon (probably EST) and arrived at San Francisco at 6:55 PST after eight stops; the fare was $160 one-way, equal to $2,868 in today's value.
On the night of October 10, 1933, a United Boeing 247 exploded in mid-air and crashed near Chesterton, Indiana, killing seven people aboard. An investigation revealed that the explosion was caused by a nitroglycerin bomb placed in the baggage hold. The incident is believed to be the first proven case of air sabotage in commercial aviation history. No suspects or motives were ever found.
During World War II, United-trained ground crews modified airplanes for use as bombers, and transported mail, material and passengers in support of the war effort. The airline was busy covering the need for air transport across the United States during the war. Its fleet of fifty aircraft were utilized at a rate of more than thirteen hours per day by 1945 (well above the pre-war rate of less than nine hours per day), flying 100,000 miles per day. Post-war United benefited from new technologies (such as the pressurized cabin which permitted planes to fly above the weather) and a boom in customer demand for air travel. This was the period during which Pan American Airways revived its Pacific route system that would later be acquired by United.
In 1954, United became the first airline with flight simulators that had visual, sound and motion cues for training pilots. Purchased for US$3 million (1954) from Curtiss-Wright, these were the first modern simulators for training of commercial pilots."Airline Pilots Fly Anywhere in the world - Without Leaving the Ground." Popular Mechanics, August 1954, p. 87.
From 1953 to 1970, United operated six-day-a-week afternoon non-stop extra fare "men only" flights between New York and Chicago ("The Chicago Executive" 642–643) and Los Angeles and San Francisco (665–666) on which women and children were banned. Advertised as a "club in the sky", they featured "cocktails, steak dinner, and cigar and pipe smoking permitted".
On November 1, 1955, United Air Lines Flight 629 was bombed while flying from Stapleton Airport in Denver to Portland, killing all 39 passengers and five crew members on board the Douglas DC-6B. The bomb was planted by Jack Graham, who put the device in his mother's luggage to collect on her life insurance policy. Graham was arrested, tried, and later executed a year after the explosion.
In the late 1950s, three United planes were lost in mid-air collisions that killed everyone on both aircraft involved. On June 30, 1956, Flight 718 collided with a Trans World Airlines Lockheed L-1049 Super Constellation over the Grand Canyon in what was then the world's deadliest commercial airline disaster. On April 21, 1958, Flight 736 crashed in southern Nevada after colliding with a USAF F-100 Super Sabre fighter jet. On December 16, 1960, Flight 826 hit another TWA Super Constellation over New York City. These accidents helped pave the way for modern Air Traffic Control. Also, in 1958, United received its first Douglas DC-8, its first jet aircraft.
On June 1, 1961, United merged with Capital Airlines, displacing rival American Airlines as the world's second largest airline behind Aeroflot of the Soviet Union. The merger resulted in United inheriting from Capital the British-manufactured Vickers Viscount, which was the only mainline turboprop aircraft ever flown by the airline. United also began operating French-manufactured Sud Aviation Caravelle jetliners and was the only American-based airline ever to operate the Caravelle in scheduled passenger service.http://www.timetableimages.com, June 1, 1961, United Air Lines system timetable In 1968, the company reorganized, creating UAL Corporation with United Airlines as a wholly owned subsidiary.
In August 1970, United took delivery of their first Boeing 747s,Roach and Eastwood, 2003, p. 332 initially operating them on longer routes within the United States. A year later, United, along with American, were the launch customers for the McDonnell Douglas DC-10, which served as a workhorse in both airlines' fleets and others around the world for many years.
United Airlines is the only airline to have operated Executive One, the designation given to a civil flight carrying the U.S. president. On December 26, 1973, then-president Richard Nixon flew aboard a United DC-10 flight from Washington Dulles to Los Angeles. White House staff explained that this was done to conserve fuel by not having to fly the usual Boeing 707 aircraft used for Air Force One. In keeping with the practice of having two aircraft available at all times during Presidential travel, an Air Force aircraft followed in case of emergency.
+ Revenue Passenger-Miles1951–75 from Handbook of Airline Statistics (biannual CAB publication); 1981–2000 from IATA's World Air Transport Statistics (Millions)+(Sched Service Only) United Capital 1951 1,835 604 1955 3,968 792 1960 5,759 1,492 1965 12,249 (merged 1961) 1970 23,768 1975 26,226Shut down for 16-day strike December 1975 1981 34,787 1985 41,693Short strike 1989 69,589 1995 102,680 2000 116,533 2005 113,894
In August 1940, United scheduled flights to 37 airports. In August 1953, 66 airports on United and 51 on Capital; United flew to 91 in May 1968, and to 90 in November 1978.
Deregulation Era United sought overseas routes in the 1960s, but the 1969 Transpacific Route Case denied it this expansion; it did not gain an overseas route until 1983, when United began flights to Tokyo from Portland and Seattle. United became a proponent of deregulation due to its perception that regulation, as it then existed, was a major constraint on United's ability to profitably grow. After years of focused work to bring about deregulation, the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act became law.
During the 1970s, economic turmoil and the "stagflation" that ensued, as well as labor unrest and the pressures of the 1978 Airline Deregulation Act, greatly hampered the industry and United, which incurred losses at a time when it was also undergoing changes at the top of both United and its parent company UAL Corp. Some changes were due largely to the retirement of long-term senior management members, as well as performance-driven changes at the very top in 1969 and again in 1985 following the pilot strike (discussed below).