Glenn Tilton, president, chairman and CEO, sent the following message in an e-mail to all employees on Thursday, November 13.
Late yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Transportation set the timetable for final consideration of our application for Continental to join the group of nine Star Alliance carriers that already hold antitrust immunity and to start a trans-Atlantic joint venture among United, Continental, Lufthansa and Air Canada. We are in the home stretch of this DOT process.
This is another significant milestone for us and brings us closer to being able to develop extensive codesharing with Continental in the U.S., compete well with other alliances and pool our international passenger revenues across the Atlantic. If awarded anti-trust immunity, we can work with our partners to operate as a single carrier on these international services, delivering more travel options and better competing with our larger competitors.
After my last e-mail, I heard from many of you that you were encouraged by the opportunity the planned alliance with Continental creates for all of us and for our customers. Our competitors are taking note of this opportunity as well. The day after the Delta-Northwest merger received approval from the Department of Justice, in a spoil tactic, Delta filed an objection to what we provided to the DOT to support our application for antitrust immunity, seeking to delay our approval by requesting additional information. The DOT agreed yesterday that we had provided sufficient information in our application, and it is proceeding over Delta’s objection to move forward with final consideration of our application.
The DOT has set a timetable of two weeks for others to comment on our application, supporting it or objecting to it. We will have seven business days to respond and anticipate we could receive approval as soon as next month. This application was a significant effort, with 10 carriers involved, and because of the thoroughness and rigor of the work behind it, it has moved forward effectively.
I told you in my last email of the upcoming meetings with Continental CEO Larry Kellner and members of our teams in Houston. When we met last Friday, we reviewed the progress all teams are making along multiple workstreams. Larry and I reviewed and endorsed some 25 separate projects that, once implemented, would capture important cost savings and create opportunities in the areas of information technology, frequent flyer programs, lounges, procurement and sales and marketing. While in Houston, John Tague and I also had the opportunity to tour Continental’s operations center.
As the economic and business environment continues to be impacted by a combination of unprecedented factors, we see tremendous value in our planned alliance from a cost, revenue and customer satisfaction perspective, and our peers clearly see that our unique relationship with Continental is a competitive threat. As we have discussed, we have the right network, right people and importantly, right partners to succeed in this market. And, as we saw with our application before the DOT, hard work, rigor and a focus on running the best airline will win the day.
We look forward to completing our planned alliance with Continental and will keep you updated on our progress.
Be safe and stay United,
Glenn
Last Updated: 2008.11.13
Late yesterday afternoon, the U.S. Department of Transportation set the timetable for final consideration of our application for Continental to join the group of nine Star Alliance carriers that already hold antitrust immunity and to start a trans-Atlantic joint venture among United, Continental, Lufthansa and Air Canada. We are in the home stretch of this DOT process.
This is another significant milestone for us and brings us closer to being able to develop extensive codesharing with Continental in the U.S., compete well with other alliances and pool our international passenger revenues across the Atlantic. If awarded anti-trust immunity, we can work with our partners to operate as a single carrier on these international services, delivering more travel options and better competing with our larger competitors.
After my last e-mail, I heard from many of you that you were encouraged by the opportunity the planned alliance with Continental creates for all of us and for our customers. Our competitors are taking note of this opportunity as well. The day after the Delta-Northwest merger received approval from the Department of Justice, in a spoil tactic, Delta filed an objection to what we provided to the DOT to support our application for antitrust immunity, seeking to delay our approval by requesting additional information. The DOT agreed yesterday that we had provided sufficient information in our application, and it is proceeding over Delta’s objection to move forward with final consideration of our application.
The DOT has set a timetable of two weeks for others to comment on our application, supporting it or objecting to it. We will have seven business days to respond and anticipate we could receive approval as soon as next month. This application was a significant effort, with 10 carriers involved, and because of the thoroughness and rigor of the work behind it, it has moved forward effectively.
I told you in my last email of the upcoming meetings with Continental CEO Larry Kellner and members of our teams in Houston. When we met last Friday, we reviewed the progress all teams are making along multiple workstreams. Larry and I reviewed and endorsed some 25 separate projects that, once implemented, would capture important cost savings and create opportunities in the areas of information technology, frequent flyer programs, lounges, procurement and sales and marketing. While in Houston, John Tague and I also had the opportunity to tour Continental’s operations center.
As the economic and business environment continues to be impacted by a combination of unprecedented factors, we see tremendous value in our planned alliance from a cost, revenue and customer satisfaction perspective, and our peers clearly see that our unique relationship with Continental is a competitive threat. As we have discussed, we have the right network, right people and importantly, right partners to succeed in this market. And, as we saw with our application before the DOT, hard work, rigor and a focus on running the best airline will win the day.
We look forward to completing our planned alliance with Continental and will keep you updated on our progress.
Be safe and stay United,
Glenn
Last Updated: 2008.11.13
