Court Approves UAL Plan

January 23, 2006

Court Approves UAL Plan
January 23, 2006 – United Airlines is set to emerge from Chapter 11 after a bankruptcy court approved UAL Corp.’s reorganizations plan.

"The confirmation of our plan validates more than three years of work to make United a sustainable enterprise, ready to compete successfully with the strongest carriers," President, Chairman and CEO Glenn Tilton said.

United has secured $3 billion in exit financing by JPMorgan, Citigroup and GE Capital. In confirming the plan, the U.S. Bankruptcy Court determined the plan provided fair and equitable treatment of creditors and otherwise satisfied bankruptcy code requirements.

United now plans to offer something for everyone, says USA Today. It will cater more than ever to elite business fliers paying the highest fares, while also reaching out to thrifty fliers who just want cheap seats. As part of its quest to be more international, it will fly regularly to more foreign cities and to fewer U.S. cities.

In the bankruptcy process, United has shed $8 billion in debt, 20,000 employees and 100 jetliners. Altogether, United has slashed about $7 billion from its annual expenses.

Now United is forming a new efficiency project to reduce airplanes’ time on the ground. Starting this month in San Francisco and moving to the other hub airports, United plans to cut ground time between flights by four to 12 minutes. United operations chief Pete McDonald says by year’s end the changes will free up 10 planes that United can use to generate revenue on new flights.

To read more, visit http://www.usatoday.com/ or http://www.ual.com/.