United Airlines

Shareholders of United and Continental are set to vote on September 17th on combining the two companies.
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This is a Special Briefing...We like to open up the Briefing for those to provide their opinion and to hear some new voices. Both of our guests did talk more than you hear, but were edited for time. Thanks to Dan Webb, of Boarding Area's Things in the Sky blog. Dan is also a...
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Our editor will be going on the road for a few days, as a roving reporter for our sister project, Transit Wisdom, reviewing Amtrak's Autotrain. Until then, here's all the news that fit to podcast.
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The New York Times reports that Continental and United Airlines agreed today to a merger that would create the world's biggest airline. United is buying Continental, and the new company will be based in Chicago, and will have Jeffrey Smisek, Continental CEO, as the Chief Executive.
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This is Briefing 18. We're still eager to get guest editorials. Those of you interested, please contact us. A guest editorial would be a 1-3 minute opinion on a relevant topic of your choice. It can be recorded over Skype or alternate digital means. We're sure, while you aren't tired of the Flight Wisdom...
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Senator Charles Schumer, who publicly criticized Spirit Airlines for their announcement that they would begin charging for carry-on bags, has secured the commitment of five airlines that they will NOT follow Spirit in this practice.
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Our parent, the Weneca Media Group, unveiled its own custom URL shortener for our blogs, n9n.us. All of our posts will now feature n9n.us URLs. We are looking for bloggers wishing to do editorials on the briefing. If you are interested, please contact us.
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This week, Flight Wisdom and the entire Weneca Media Group family are celebrating National Library Week. Support your local library.
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Helper Monkeys, new site developments, and a Fly Girls editorial....this time on the Flight Wisdom Briefing
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Lots of exciting new service in this briefing. We have tried a few different variations of our opening and closing. We'll continue to mix it up a bit, but if you have any suggestions on how to improve the Briefing, please contact us.
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Canadian musician Dave Carroll released the final part of his United Breaks Guitars Trilogy this evening, with a live webcast. United Breaks Guitars was an Internet phenomenon, showing that someone, after making a legitimate effort to settle his problems with a company, can call them out in a public forum.
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This week in Routes...Southwest to start Philly-Boston, United adds service in 13 markets, and more.
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Last week, the Airline Industry Examiner asked the question Whatever Happened to United's Friendly Skies? We wonder about that too, although not always specifically in relation to United. For years, United Airlines was the free world's largest airline. Now they are third.
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This week's latest in route developments.
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The singer, who is Canadian, was flying to Colorado Springs, was forced to fly United again because they were the only carrier he could. For more than an hour on Sunday, he was told he could not leave the international baggage claim area at Denver International Airport, where he had flown from Saskatchewan, because...
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Image by Getty Images via Daylife The Premier Baggage program unveiled by United Air Lines yesterday is something of a mixed bag. For $249 a year, you (plus up to eight people traveling with you on the same reservation) get to check up to two bags per person, per flight for free all year....
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Image by Getty Images via Daylife Airline Route Updates has a comprehensive list of the new JetBlue-Lufthansa codeshare, found here. The flight numbers will be between LH8500 and 8700 and cover both Boston and New York-JFK routes. Booking are already open for service on or after November 1st. Also effective today, South African Airlines...
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United Airlines will retire the last Boeing 737 jet from its fleet on October 28th, after forty-one years of service.
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We haven't done a service roundup in a while. Mostly because there hasn't been as much news in this area as there once was. Airlines don't announce discontinuance as much as they do inauguration. But this week had some interesting developments.
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Dave Carroll is back with his promised second United Song, included the promised tuba. It is a much slower tempo than United Song #1, but the video goes a bit farther, and incorporates many more volunteers. The song incorporates some of the same amusing elements. In lieu of three guys in sombreros, this time...
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Image via Wikipedia The Chicago Tribune announced that United Airlines may be announcing today a move of 2,800 employees and its operations center to the Sears(now Willis) Tower in downtown Chicago from its home in the suburb of Elk Grove. The city would be giving the airline millions in incentives and paying for the...
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Image by Getty Images via Daylife We previously reported that Republic Airways had put down a bid to buy out Frontier Airlines. Today, another airline put down a bid, Southwest Airlines. Southwest announced it was preparing a bid to compete with the Republic bid, which had been given tentative approval. If it is successful,...
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Image via Wikipedia Earlier, NYCAviation, who earlier in the week reminded us of other anniversaries, reminded us that on July 19th, 1989, United Flight 232 made a crash landing in Sioux City, Iowa, after a loss of all hydraulic controls. 296 Passengers were on board the flight from Denver to Chicago when one of...
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In a final note on the impact of United Song #1, which we previously reported on, United Airlines has decided to donate $3000 to the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz for music education for children. Taylor, the manufacturer of the guitar, did give Dave Carroll, the artist responsible a gift. They are giving him...
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Artist Dave Carroll(appears above) thanked the Internet community for its support of United Song #1(remember there are two more). United has offered compensation to Carroll, but he has declined, asking them to donate the money to a charity of their choice, and share that news with the public. We hope they take him up...
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