CUSTOMER SERVICE REPRESENTATIVE Annie Walton likes to tell the story about one particular customer on a canceled flight whose wife said to her, in a thick Texas accent, “Annie, you’ve got to get Bob on the plane because he’s got to go to a lunch.”

Wondering what could be so important about a lunch that the man’s wife would be so adamant, Walton found him a flight that day, and he made it on time for his appointment. Walton later saw the man on television: He was in a rocket blasting off from Cape Canaveral. “It wasn’t a lunch,” she clarifies. “It was a launch.”

Getting an astronaut to the launchpad on time is all in a day’s work for Walton, who’s based in the Star Alliance lounge at Kingsford-Smith International Airport in Sydney, Australia. United has two flights arriving at the airport every morning, with one going on to Melbourne and returning that afternoon, and two more flights departing to Los Angeles and San Francisco.

“I look after 4,000 people a month in that lounge,” Walton says. And while her station may be only a small desk with three drawers, “I make that little counter of mine into something that everyone remembers. There are so many other carriers in that lounge, but I make sure [my customers] know exactly who we are in Sydney.”

Making sure everyone knows all about United Airlines is a job that Walton believes she was born to do. She was working in television and public relations when a headhunter recruited her for United’s Red Carpet Club some 23 years ago. When the airline later closed the Red Carpet Club, all the products — and Walton — moved over to the Star Alliance lounge. She didn’t miss a beat in taking care of 150 to 200 customers a day, five days a week; many of those are repeat customers who remember Walton because she makes a point of remembering them.

“I know everyone’s name,” she says. “I have a photographic memory, so I never forget faces.” Remembering names and faces, Walton adds, is part of a bigger effort to respect the fact that “every single person in front of me is different. I have learned not to judge and I realize that sometimes I cannot give them what they request — but I can try.

“They are individuals, and to the best of my ability I try to understand what each person needs.”

Walton’s compassion and understanding come through loud and clear to customers, who have written hundreds of letters through the years praising her. Part of her attitude comes from being a native of Sydney, where, she says, people are welcoming and laid-back. She and her United co-workers want to relax at the end of the day and know they did a great job.

“It’s not just about flying. It’s about everything. It’s about giving the best customer service you can and making everyone feel important,” she says. “I also let people know I’m glad they chose us. I tell them, ‘I realize you have to make a choice, and I hope you will choose to stay with us. But don’t forget — if you don’t, you won’t get me!’ A little bit of humor goes a long way.”

WHERE INTERPRETER MIGUEL VELASQUEZ grew up, in Santiago de Chuco, Peru, learning more than one language was inevitable. He spoke Spanish at home, watched Brazilian television stations that broadcast in Portuguese and acquired German to converse with some friends from Europe. Once he had three languages in his repertoire, he was hooked. He added English and French for fun.

Learning new languages comes easily to Velasquez, but he also loves the extra cultural awareness that accompanies it. For example, he explains, “you can understand Portuguese if you speak Spanish, but there’s a cultural difference.” Choosing a career in the travel industry gave him a way to explore the cultures that lent their richness to the languages he knew.

Velasquez first worked for an Italian cruise line, which hired him because he knew English. He learned Italian to move into desktop publishing for the company, but he didn’t intend to settle there. “I always wanted to move on and improve what I know,” he says. “I wanted to be more proficient, so I bought books and tapes and I worked at it.” He also gained fluency in other languages along the way: Russian, Hebrew, Japanese and Mandarin Chinese.

Velasquez moved to the United States to study at the University of Houston, where he earned degrees in business management, marketing, Chinese, French and Russian. He then began working at United’s hub at George Bush Intercontinental Airport, because an international airline seemed a natural fit for a man who knew 10 languages.

“Look at the last names of the passengers. How many English last names do you see?” he asks. “It’s about customer service and using people who understand the culture. Brazil, together with China and India, is becoming a powerful country. A lot of Brazilians do speak English, but many do not. But I am here; I speak the language.”

While Velasquez acts as an official interpreter of French and Spanish for United, his co-workers know they can depend on him for assistance with any of the other languages he speaks. He’s been called while off-duty to interpret for Japanese- and Chinese-speaking passengers who flew in late from Los Angeles, and he’s been pulled away from a dinner break to interpret for paramedics called to help Russian-speaking passengers.

But Velasquez says he likes to remind people that “if you want to use me to translate, I want to translate something positive. I don’t want to just translate problems — I’m looking for the solution.” He goes on to clarify, “It’s not just about languages; it’s about other skills, such as ticketing and gate management and international travel requirements. It’s about understanding the people you deal with — their cultures and what makes them who they are. That is a large part of learning what you need to know.”

That knowledge, he says, leads to the most satisfying result of all his work spent acquiring languages. “When [passengers] look at you and they know you are the only one who can speak their language and this is their first time in another country, my heart melts. That’s the rewarding part of my job. There’s a reason why I learned these languages.”

When not at work, Velasquez enjoys exploring the world, where his skills help him feel at home in any city. But he also likes to search out a little of his roots during his travels. “I always go to Latin clubs wherever I am, because there’s no way you can be in a bad mood when you are at a Latin club,” he says. “You just can’t feel bad trying to dance salsa.”

FLIGHT ATTENDANT Krista de Jonckheere loves to tell this story: She was flying to Paris not too long ago when the pilot called her to the flight deck. Her son, 757 First Officer David de Jonckheere, was heading to Ireland from Newark, N.J., and when he heard the Paris call sign he got in touch with the captain of Krista’s jet. She talked to her son on the radio for a while, then told him, “I have to get back to work now. I love you, sweetie,” to which David responded, “I love you too, Mom.”

According to David, what followed was comical. As it turned out, they had an audience. “It’s the middle of the night, you’re crossing the Atlantic and you hear all these other pilots out there saying over the radio: ‘I love you, Mom,’ ‘I love you, Mom,’ ‘I love you, Mom.’”

That David was on that flight deck at all is something of a miracle. In 1995, when he was 18, he was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma, a highly malignant brain tumor. “The doctor said he had never known anyone who had that type of tumor to be able to drive a car, but now David’s a commercial airline pilot,” says Krista, who has been with the airline since 1987.

Beating the odds seemed to come naturally to David. He had surgery and entered a clinical trial in Denver for treatment, which lasted nearly a year. During his struggle to overcome the disease, he received Intersport’s junior division Arête Award for Courage in Sports. Gordon Bethune, the former CEO of Continental Airlines, heard about David and wrote him a letter of encouragement, enclosing four plane tickets with a note reading, “When you’re done, why don’t you take your family on vacation?”

That gesture, and all the letters and emails and prayers from his mother’s coworkers, made David’s career path simple: He never considered working anywhere else. “If they can treat an employee like a family member, it made it the only place to work,” he says. “Having cancer was definitely the worst year of my life, but it was also the best. It showed me what is important, which is your family and friends and making the most of every day.”

David has been with the airline since February 2007, after working for Continental Express for two years. Though they are employed by the same company, Krista and David have gotten to work only one flight together because she works international flights while David flies mainly domestic. “I just wish we could fly on the same plane once in a while,” Krista says. David says his co-pilots agree with her sentiment because “every pilot who has ever flown with her loves her. She’s one of those flight attendants who know how to take care of people. She instilled those values in me.”

Krista says her knack for the job comes from realizing that flying is not an everyday thing for many who sit in the airplane’s seats. “For some of these people, it’s a big thing. It’s important to remember how much planning, money and thought have gone into their trip. This may be their only opportunity to take a big trip, especially internationally,” she says. “The other thing I keep in mind is that people compare how they are treated from one airline to another. They come back for a reason.”

In addition to upholding his mother’s values, David has a very simple motivation for doing his job well: “They say kids with cancer can’t grow up to do what I do. I want to show them they can. I don’t want to let down my mom or all the people who sacrificed and prayed for me. It’s an amazing job to be a pilot, to meet the people who fly on my plane, especially the children. It puts a smile on my face every day.”

When not flying, Krista enjoys golf, while David has volunteered as a pole-vaulting coach at Houston-area schools for the past four years. “It’s the closest thing to flying,” he jokes.

FRIENDS AND COLLEAGUES call Gloria Leitao “Glo.” The nickname is a fitting one, considering how the international concierge goes about her job at New York/Newark Liberty International Airport (EWR), bringing a kind of shine to whatever she does.

“When people have experience, they might become complacent about their work, but that’s not the case with Gloria,” says Michael Mitolo, EWR’s airport operations supervisor. “She’s enthusiastic and energetic, and she projects that to her co-workers. Gloria always looks at the upside.”

Leitao has been with the airline since 1987, working in a number of customer service positions both behind the scenes and on the front lines. Twelve years ago, she found her niche when she joined the Concierge Program, and today Leitao serves on an elite team of 52 concierges who handle primarily international BusinessFirst customers.

“Our customers are premium-paying customers,” Leitao says. “When you’re paying that much to travel, you expect a service that meets that dollar amount. We uphold the integrity of the BusinessFirst cabin, no matter the situation.”

In addition to meeting the needs of passengers at the airport, the concierges monitor inbound and outbound flights to make sure passengers make their connecting flights, rebooking itineraries as needed to ensure each passenger has a smooth travel experience. Each concierge is responsible for as many as 200 passengers a day among the flights they’ve been assigned out of the 100 or so that go through Newark daily in peak season.

Leitao says patience, a great attitude and the ability to listen well are her biggest assets in doing her job. “You have to keep things in perspective,” she says. “I’m grateful for everything I have — I’m grateful I can come to work, walk to my gate, support my customers. They may tell me about problems they have, and I hear them out. A customer may have a line behind him, but at that moment, he has my full attention for as long as it takes. You can be positive or you can be negative. Positive is a better state to be in, so I choose to be positive.”

Because she works the same flights from day to day, Leitao has gotten to know many loyal customers who fly regularly, and considers them friends. Yet one of her favorite job experiences involved someone who not only doesn’t fly United regularly, but also would not be strictly considered a passenger.

“We had a Catholic monsignor coming in from Honolulu. My supervisor told me, ‘I don’t know what he needs, but if anyone can handle it, it would be you.’ So I went off to find the monsignor,” Leitao recalls. “He told me he was traveling with a reliquary of St. Thérèse of the Little Flower, and ‘she’ could not be left alone. Well, I broke out in tears. I asked my supervisor if I could sit with her.”

The monsignor had traveled with the reliquary throughout Guam and the Polynesian region, and was now passing through Newark on his way back to France. Leitao stayed in cargo with the remains of the saint until it was time to meet the monsignor at the airport lounge and escort him to his flight to Paris.

“I wasn’t able to upgrade him,” Leitao says, “but he said, ‘If St. Thérèse can fly cargo, I can fly coach.’

“It was the most amazing assignment ever given to me,” she says. “That’s what my job does for me: Every day, I come in and I never know what I’m going to do or who I’m going to meet. It’s like a new adventure every day. That’s what makes every day exciting.”

YOU COULD ALMOST say that Sally Grace Quek was born to be a flight attendant. She speaks three languages: English, Mandarin and Japanese. She has a reputation for being impeccably poised and gracious, whether interacting with passengers in the terminal or at 35,000 feet. In fact, in 2009 this Hong Kong–based flight attendant was chosen by colleagues as the person they’d most want to serve with on their “dream team”; they consider her a flight attendant’s flight attendant.

“I’ve always wanted to become a flight attendant, even when I was just 9 years old,” Quek says. “When my aunt came back from her honeymoon in the U.S., she brought me two beautiful dresses, and I told myself, ‘One day, I want to go there, too.’”

Quek got her chance in 1985 when Pan Am recruited flight attendants in Singapore. About a year later, she joined the United Airlines family when the carrier bought the Pacific routes from Pan Am. After subsequent stints with Cathay Pacific Airways and ANA, which allowed her to experience different airline cultures, Quek returned to United in 1992 as an interpreter for international flights. And when United opened the Hong Kong base in 1995 and eliminated the interpreter position, Quek came full circle, moving from Singapore to Hong Kong to don the United flight attendant’s uniform once again.

While Quek considers United her family, she also appreciates the perspective she gained from working at Cathay and ANA. “I grew up with United, so I feel very comfortable here, but I benefited a lot from the other airlines, actually, because they’re distinct from United. The culture and the flying experience are not the same; even the customers you meet are very unique to each airline.”

Experiencing variety — whether in destinations or in people — is one of the main benefits of being an international flight attendant, she says.

“We get to travel to different countries and experience diverse cultures and delicacies. I can be in Singapore one day, eating laksa noodles, and in Hong Kong the next day, eating dim sum. Or I can wake up in Hong Kong in the morning and go to sleep in San Francisco that night.

“I get to meet people from all walks of life,” Quek says, “people on business trips, honeymooners, people who are sick, happy, depressed or first-time fliers.” Those interactions can be both challenging and rewarding, she adds, recalling a passenger on one of her flights who’d just lost his wife.

“He was overwhelmed with grief, with tears streaming down his face. I decided to spend some time talking to him,” she says. By the time he stepped off the plane, his demeanor had brightened, if only a bit. “I felt very good that day that I was able to make a difference in his life. This is the good part of the job, that you can have a positive impact on someone.”

Making that kind of difference is as much a part of her job as knowing safety procedures or serving meals, Quek says, but it isn’t always easy. “When I don’t feel well or I’m troubled by something, I still have to pick myself up and provide service with a smile.”

Quek doesn’t believe there’s a magic formula to doing her job well. “I think you just make up your mind to do it,” she says. “I read once that when you think you are beautiful, you will be beautiful. It’s all in your mind. When you think you will be good, you are good.

“The minute I put on my uniform, psychologically, I know I have to put everything behind me and give the very best to my customers.

“That’s what it’s about for me,’’ she adds. “Being committed to my job. Having lots of patience. And serving with love. When you are good to somebody, they will be good to you. It always works both ways, I think.”

DONALD TURNER just naturally stands out. Thanks to his uniform and the fact that he’s six and a half feet tall, the Houston-based first officer draws a fair amount of attention when he walks through the airport, which is a good thing for bewildered passengers trying to make their way around the terminal.

“I hate rushing, and I’m normally early, so if I see someone who needs some help, I’ll say, ‘I’m going that way, I’ll show you,’” Turner says. “We’re in the service industry. We forget sometimes that people don’t fly every day. This may be the first time they’ve been to the airport in five years. Imagine if that’s your mother. Somebody on earth loves them dearly, and I try to remember that.”

In a journey that took him from his boyhood in New Orleans, where he watched Navy planes fly overhead, to the flight deck of the Boeing 757s and 767s he flies today, Turner has stood out in another way: in the tenacity and hard work it took him to get there. He sums up these qualities by saying, “This is what I wanted to do. There was no Plan B, except that Plan B was to make Plan A work.”

Turner and his wife, Tacanesha, worked their way through Texas Southern University, where Donald pursued a degree in aviation management. In his second year, he met Continental Captain Roscoe Edwards, who volunteered to teach him how to fly.

Full-time school, full-time work and a growing family didn’t keep Turner from earning his degree and furthering his training at Western Michigan University. Although he finished training in 2002 in the wake of 9/11, he was determined to “do something with planes” until he accumulated enough hours to try for a position as a pilot.

Looking back on the long road to his dream, Turner says he wouldn’t change anything because the struggle made him who he is. “Going through it, you get discouraged. When things don’t go your way, it can be heartbreaking,” Turner says. “I hear statistics that only 6 percent of the population is doing what they really love. I fit in with the 6 percent, but I can relate to the 94 percent. Sometimes you have to do a lot of what you don’t want to do to get to do what you want to do.”

That perspective is one reason Turner believes he is good at his job, and it stands as a constant reminder of the value of the people who choose to fly with the airline.

“People aren’t paying for a jet ride. They’re paying for an experience,” he says. “As much as I can, I try to make flying a good experience. I try to make it a smooth ride. I want to treat my passengers like gold because I appreciate every single one of them. Without them,” he adds with a smile, “I would have to get a real job.”

Along with the joys of doing something he really loves, Turner says one thing he has had to adjust to is standing out simply because of the uniform he puts on.

“I had this one lady come up to me and grab my hand. She had to be in her mid-80s. She said, ‘Baby, I’m sorry, but I just had to grab your hand. I’ve never seen a black pilot before.’” Turner pauses when he tells this story, before he goes on. “Things like that humble you because they let you know that you are always being watched. I always try to put my best foot forward.”

Turner uses his visibility as a pilot as much as he can by reaching out to young people who are now where he once was — in school and needing encouragement to pursue their dreams. He volunteered for two years at Sterling, the Houston Independent School District aviation magnet high school. He also travels around the country on his own time to speak at schools and universities.

“How can I refuse?” he asks. “So many people helped me along the way. I don’t consider it work. This is what I’m supposed to do.”

GO-TO PERSON. Troubleshooter. Creative thinker. All these words come to mind when Customer Service Representative Mary Brown steps into the lobby of Terminal 1 at Chicago O’Hare International Airport. She patrols the aisle, gliding smoothly among customers and stopping frequently to answer questions and point people in the right direction. Her eyes never stop scanning rows of check-in kiosks as she looks to make sure that the tiny green lights next to the card readers are glowing and the machines are functioning as they should be.

“I’ve learned to think like the machines,” she says with an empathy that extends beyond customers to the kiosks themselves. “It upsets me when I see an EasyCheck-in kiosk closed. It’s a pet peeve of mine, so I get to work to fix them. We want to keep customers moving.”

Brown has served as a “kiosk champion” for every release of software upgrades to United’s EasyCheck-in kiosks since they rolled out at O’Hare more than a decade ago. In that time, functionality has expanded greatly. Beyond simply printing boarding passes, customers can now make seat selections, purchase and check the status of upgrades, choose Economy Plus seating, and much more. In addition, customers of both Continental and United may now check in on the same machines.

During each beta test after a software upgrade, Brown stands in the lobby near the machines to observe customers using them. When an issue arises, she helps the customer with his or her issue, then reports back to the IT team about what’s functioning and what isn’t.

“She is so passionate and definitely goes above and beyond,” says her manager, Jeanne Nelli. “Everybody knows Mary Brown. They know they can count on her. She comes in early, sometimes at 2 a.m., to make sure the machines are working and coming online all right.”

Brown also works with every Chicago class of United’s newly hired customer service representatives to acquaint them with the kiosk functions and show them basic troubleshooting tips.

“I love helping people,” she says, “whether it’s co-workers or customers.”

She recently met a woman at the airport who was carrying a baby and had just come off an 18-hour flight. The customer was trying to connect to a flight that had just been canceled. When Brown saw that she was crying, she walked over and gave the customer a hug. Then Brown put on her problem-solving hat to get the woman a hotel room and, more immediately, a wheelchair so that she could sit down and take a break for a minute from the stress of traveling with a tiny child.

When Brown isn’t serving as a sentinel over the kiosks in the lobby, you will find her at a gate or in the Global Services lounge taking care of United’s premium customers.

“It’s amazing what a smile can do,” she says. “And I always thank every one of our customers for their business. It only takes a minute!”

AFTER 35 YEARS with Continental Airlines, Air Traffic Control Coordinator Craig Podzielinski — coworkers call him “Podge” — knows almost instinctively how busy his day in the airline’s nerve center will be when thunderstorms threaten.

Podge’s job is to keep the airline running efficiently and reduce delays. He works with the operations director, operations managers, dispatchers, customer service coordinators and others in the Houston System Operations Coordination Center (SOCC), where command decisions are made. “Our work is routine until something goes wrong,” he says, “like a weather system or a diversion.”

Podge logs in via iPhone on his way to work (“I want to know what’s coming,” he says), and at his desk he surveys aircraft and weather patterns in the United States on four monitors simultaneously. One of his tools is the Aerobahn, which tracks aircraft movements on the ground at the Houston and Newark hubs. Another tool helps him allocate landing slots when weather reduces the arrival rate. Another still tracks altitude, speed and route information for flights in the air. The FAA’s Operational Information System (OIS) provides real-time airport delay information from FAA facilities.

“When that screen is empty and there are no weather reroutes, it’s a great day,”

Podge says, “because all the customers are on time. In the summertime, it can be a different story. When convective activity or strong winds are present, there will be air traffic delays.”

Every two hours, the airlines have a national traffic control teleconference, and airlines dial into the FAA command center for updates on issues in the national airspace. Podge listens to those calls and reviews the FAA database to determine whether an airport may be placed in a ground delay program by the FAA command center, which means arrivals and departures will slow down.

In the SOCC, Continental may be watching 40 flights at Chicago, 280 flights at Newark and 380 flights at Houston.

“It takes experience to stay focused. Training a person to do this job takes almost a year.” Podge and his team can’t get enough, however. They even pick up dispatcher shifts on days off to stay close to the action.

Suddenly, two phones ring at once. Podge’s colleague and ATC Coordinator Jonathan Uhrig covers the Texas regional hotline and ATC Coordinator James Difloe takes the New York call. “Put it on speaker,” Podge instructs Uhrig. “I’ll listen to both.”

On another screen Podge views ground delay programs, checks the customer service team’s list of passengers connecting to international flights, and reduces their delays so they’ll make their connections. There may be a group of 25 customers, for example, connecting from Houston, to Newark, to points all over Europe. If he delays another flight for an hour from Jacksonville to Newark, it can preserve the group’s international itinerary.

With the push of a button, Podge reduces a 45-minute delay to just 20 minutes. Then a message goes out to the FAA and the airport, which passes it on to relieved passengers and crew.

“I want customers to know we’re doing the best we can to get them where they want to go, on time and safely,” Podge says. “We know they are on their way home, or have important engagements to attend or maybe a wedding the next day. There’s always someone behind the scenes who’s thinking about how to keep them moving.”

FOR DONNA TOWLE, United’s Vice President for HR-Employee Relations, success in business boils down to three simple concepts: trust, pride and camaraderie. If you make these your overarching goals for how coworkers relate to one another, Towle says, great customer service falls into place.

“Employees need to feel they’re part of the process, and they need to be part of the process,” Towle says. “To make this happen, we need to listen to them. Companies that listen to their coworkers fare well in the long run and are great places to work. If you provide a good employee experience, your coworkers will in turn provide great customer service— that’s the lynchpin of success in any service-oriented business.”

Towle joined Continental 26 years ago and can remember a time when things weren’t going too well.

“Fifteen years ago, Continental was a terrible place to work, and our employees had little pride in their jobs or in the carrier,” Towle says. “Continental had a bad reputation, largely based on how our coworkers delivered the product and service. Back then, it felt like managers never listened to our frontline employees.”

All of that changed when Gordon Bethune became CEO of Continental. Jeff Smisek, now United’s CEO, was part of the senior leadership team brought in to turn around the company. He and other senior leaders set about overhauling the lines of communication between management and the coworkers on the front lines.

Towle remembers that “one of the first things Gordon said was, ‘You gotta listen to the frontline employees.’ And so we did, and the employees told us what customers needed, and what tools our coworkers needed to do their jobs. At the time we had the worst employee attendance in the industry. People simply didn’t want to come to work.”

So the team decided to figure out why attendance was so low. They discovered that there was a disconnect between management and the front lines. “We immediately started a dialogue with the employees, and it paid off right away,” says Towle.

With the new United, CEO Smisek, Towle and the entire United leadership team are committed to keeping lines of communication open. It begins with expanding the organization’s focus. “All companies use metrics and analyses to measure and manage what gets done,” Towle says, “and that’s obviously important. But the truly successful companies also focus on how things get done. In the merger, we want to place as much emphasis on the how as on the what.”

To do this, Towle and the HR team have developed an innovative plan to create a better workplace for United’s coworkers. It begins with the open lines of communication. Working with Smisek, she created an Employee Advisory Group composed of 24 frontline employees from across all departments of the combined company (half from United, half from Continental). As the leaders organize and execute the integration of the two airlines, they are consulting with the employee advisory group to make sure the airline is listening to the experts—the frontline employees.

“We can’t make this great merger successful without our coworkers,” Towle says. “If they aren’t engaged in and supportive of the process, we won’t get the benefits we all want to achieve.”

Beyond the advisory group, Towle is dispatching teams to act as impartial liaisons between the leadership and frontline coworkers, the “boots on the ground.”

“Our coworkers need to have someone in management they can speak to who is neutral and unbiased,” Towle says. “We’re going to provide venues where employees can feel comfortable sharing ideas and getting feedback from leadership.”

The goal, Towle says, is to make coworkers confident that they can ask any question of management and get a straight answer; that management delivers on promises; shows appreciation for good work and for extra effort; seeks and responds to suggestions and ideas; and shows interest in coworkers as human beings, not just employees.

“At the end of the day,” Towle says, “we want our coworkers to be proud to tell others that they work at the new United. We want this to be a great place to work.”

And it’s not just coworkers who can reap the rewards of a great place to work. These initiatives have a great payoff for the customer, who in turn will receive great service and be able to ask any question and get a straight answer from a United representative, who will appreciate the customer’s business and respond appropriately to the customer’s suggestions and ideas.

CLEAN, SAFE AND RELIABLE. These are the words that United lives by on a daily basis.

“That’s our mantra in operations,” says United’s chief operations officer Peter McDonald from his office at United headquarters in Chicago. “These are the things that the operations team and I focus on delivering every single day.”

Following the merger of United and Continental, McDonald oversees operations, and his team is minding everything from airport operations and maintenance, to safety and even watching, and planning, for the weather across the airline’s 10 hubs.

McDonald was born and raised on the northwest side of Chicago. He attended Notre Dame High School and Judson College and took his first job in the airline industry as a ramp serviceman at O’Hare International Airport. It was 1969, and he was 18 years old.

In the decades that followed, he climbed from supervisor to manager to senior vice president.

“I’ve worked at O’Hare, Denver, San Francisco and LAX—all for United,” he says. In July 2010, McDonald was named chief operations officer of the new United—a company that’s nearly double the size, based on departures, it was before its merger with Continental Airlines.

McDonald’s typical day begins early. “I get up at 3:15 a.m. and exercise,” he says. “Then I call into our operations center and get an update on the previous day’s performance. That means on-time arrivals and any other issues we might have had.”

He then reviews the operations forecast for the day. His team briefs him on weather reports from O’Hare and around the world, and makes any necessary adjustments to ensure the fleet stays ahead of the forecast. He also spends a considerable amount of time traveling, meeting with employees and working to ensure a seamless integration of the two airlines’ operations.

“I just returned from our Cleveland hub, where we built a new hangar and have a catering operation,” he says. “Then this evening I’ll head to London to spend time with our Continental operations people, and brief our team in Europe about integration. It’s a great opportunity for me to listen to my coworkers and discuss our plans with them about how we are creating the world’s leading airline.”

From McDonald’s perspective, the merger of United and Continental is going to create the best airline in the world, and it all starts with the people. “The key to my job is having highly effective individuals handling various aspects of the operations,” he says. “I have very seasoned executives running flight operations, inflight and system operations control, and safety. And we have the benefit of very strong executive teams from both United and Continental.

“Bringing together the best of both worlds goes well beyond enhancing the quality of the workforce,” McDonald says. “We will take the best practices from each airline to create a combination that is stronger in a broader array of areas,” he says.

For instance, United has more widebody aircraft than Continental. The combined airline can optimize the deployment of the aircraft so that each route is matched with precisely the right plane.

Also, by combining United and Continental’s maintenance networks, the airline will be leveraging those maintenance resources to work more efficiently on the aircraft, fixing items such as reading lights and coffee makers to ensure a better experience for our customers and for coworkers inflight.

The merger of United and Continental will not change the airlines’ focus on minimizing delays and cancellations—no mean feat considering that on October 1, 2010, when the merger was made official, the combined United/Continental was already leading the industry. “At the time the merger closed, both airlines were running a ninety- nine-plus percent completion schedule,” McDonald says. “That means that over the course of a day we canceled only one flight out of a hundred, which is a credit to my coworkers who do great work getting our customers to their destinations on time.”

McDonald has traveled to every combined hub and some of the smaller destinations in the new network, and he has found that the coworkers from both United and Continental are truly excited about the opportunities this merger brings.

“The fact is, we had a strong network before, but having a New York hub and Latin American presence with Continental, and combining it with United’s Asian presence—well, that’s a powerhouse,” he says. “Our people love that. They’re excited to take those strengths and deliver the highest quality service in the world. Being number one is a great motivator.”

More information about the United-Continental merger is available at united.com.

WALTER VARNEY WAS a U.S. aviation pioneer who started up one airline in 1926 and another in 1934.

Decades later, those carriers-United Airlines and Continental Airlines-are both subsidiaries of a common holding company, United Continental Holdings Inc., and together carry passengers farther than any other airline in the world. This new airline will operate under the United Airlines name with aircraft carrying the Continental globe logo, livery and colors. We sat down with Jeff Smisek, president and CEO of the new United, to discuss what’s going on with the biggest airline merger in history.

Where are we today in the merger process?

We’ve done a lot already. We’ve been busy with integration planning since June, and we closed the legal merger on October first. But most of the actual integration work is still ahead of us. We need to harmonize every imaginable aspect of the two airlines. We expect to be able to handle each other’s customers this spring. However, it will take about twelve to eighteen months until we have a company that works and looks like one airline.

What changes should air travelers expect to see during the merger integration?

One of our big goals is to make the merger integration effortless for our customers and to bring benefits to our customers as quickly as we can. You will start to see some changes occur gradually. We have already started painting airplanes so they all look alike, which means the airplane you fly on today might have our combined livery already and thus look different from the Continental or United jet you are accustomed to. We are going to gradually align our programs, policies and procedures so that we have a unified product offering at the conclusion of the integration process.

What do you have in store for frequent flyers?

There are three main areas where frequent flyers will see differences. First is the network. We now have a lot more scope to take people where they want to fly, around the world. Second are the frequent-flyer programs, OnePass and Mileage Plus. We are working on plans to combine them next year into one program that will be the best one out there. Third are the airport lounges. The Presidents Club and Red Carpet Club will be merged to create a comprehensive network of lounges where members can relax before, between or after their flights. We also plan to invest in our clubs to modernize them and make them even more appealing to our customers.

How does it feel to be in charge of one of the world’s largest airlines?

It’s exciting to be able to help build the world’s leading carrier. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for all of my coworkers. Our combined network is very impressive and provides enormous utility for global travelers. But for me the issue isn’t how big we are. There are two things that stand out for me as being most important: having clean, safe and reliable operations with great customer service, and having an airline where my coworkers enjoy coming to work, working together and doing a good job for our customers. Those are the areas where I am going to be focusing because they will make the travel experience great for our customers and will make the new United successful.

What will be your strategy for success?

Both United and Continental are great airlines. The new United will have an unmatched network, a young and fuel-efficient fleet, the best new aircraft order book among U.S. global carriers, the world’s leading frequent- flyer program and the best people in the business. We will focus on the basics that have always mattered to employees and customers: a working- together culture based on dignity, respect and direct; open and honest communication; clean, safe and reliable air transportation; and industry-leading products and services.

More information about the United-Continental merger is available at www.united.com.

I AM PLEASED TO ANNOUNCE the on-time arrival of the new United. This month, we expect to close our merger with Continental Airlines, having received approval of stockholders from both companies on the 17th of September as well as completion of a thorough review from the Department of Justice.

This is great news for our employees, our stockholders and you, our customers.

For our customers, changes will be apparent over time. For now, you will continue to book tickets and check in just as you always have with either Continental or United—we will not be set up immediately to handle each other’s customers, as that will take time. You will earn and redeem miles as you always have, and your miles will be safe and unaffected. In the coming months, as we begin to fully integrate our companies, there will be changes as we improve our product and service, pulling the best from both of our companies.

That’s really what this merger is all about: bringing together the best of two great airlines. With this merger, we have the best people and the world’s best network, focused on providing you with the best service to 350 destinations, connections to 1,000 destinations through our Star Alliance partnerships and access to more than 69 lounges across our combined network.

The path leading to this merger has not been an easy one for our industry, our company, our people or our shareholders. In my eight years with United, we have weathered skyrocketing oil prices, natural disasters and a devastating recession. During these tumultuous years we have restructured our company, taking it from bankruptcy to industry-leading on several financial and operating metrics—and now we are back as a global leader.

Through it all, we focused on doing the work and making the right decisions to guarantee United would be well-positioned to succeed. We also focused on putting our customers first, ensuring, as best we could, that you were not directly impacted by our challenges. So many of you have been with us every step of our journey and continue to stand by us.

On behalf of all of us at the new United, we thank you for your business and for your support. We know you have choices when you fly, and we never take for granted the fact that you have chosen United when you could have done otherwise.

Closing our merger is one important step on a longer path— and now that journey continues as our two companies can begin to work together to create the world’s leading airline for our customers, our employees and our shareholders.

Let’s fly together.

Image – United Airlines Creative Services

INTEGRATING CUTTING-EDGE technology with its day-to-day operations to improve the customer experience is an ongoing focus for United. Some of that is visible to the United customer— self-service kiosks, mobile check-in, baggage tracking and proactive email notifications for things like itinerary changes—but much of the tech magic takes place behind the scenes. The newest generation of technology, says Keith Halbert, United’s Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer, allow us to focus on improving the experience of the United flier.

“I got into the airline industry because it’s exciting and fast paced,” Halbert says, “and I really love working with customers.” An Orlando native, Halbert grew up a self-described “Air Force brat,” who has traveled extensively and spent most of his career in the transportation industry. He joined United in the winter of 2008.

What attracted him to United is its focus on innovation. “There are tremendous opportunities at United that can be obtained through technology,” Halbert says. “We have a focused leadership team that’s using technology to improve the overall travel experience for customers. That is truly exciting to me.”

The first priority at United, Halbert says, is to operate a safe, clean and on- time airline. To refine this, his team is focusing on several new technologies that are already being rolled out. The first is a new flight-planning system that optimizes flight paths. “The impact for our customers is that the routes will be optimal based on the latest conditions, and that means that they will get to their destinations on time,” Halbert says. “That’s a great benefit for United fliers because it’ll ensure they get to their destination as scheduled.”

Another system deals smartly with unforeseeable delays. “We call it ‘service recovery technology,’” Halbert says. “In the event of a major weather situation, this technology allows us, in real time, to reschedule the airline while focusing on minimizing cancellations, delays and equipment changes, and rescheduling flights in a way that preserves our commitment to the customer.” To do this, United uses real-time event-driven software that, in the future, will predict overall system slowdown hours before a human can. “Before, when we had a major snowstorm, the process of rescheduling everything could take hours. With these new tools, it takes just minutes to rebuild a new schedule with substantially fewer cancellations and fewer aircraft changes, which means fewer customers’ schedules are needlessly disrupted.”

United has also rolled out wireless handheld devices to its ramp workers to optimize baggage routing and delivery. “We’re also providing handheld devices to a lot more of our customer service agents that enable them to provide rebooking information to help check in customers and make changes to their itineraries, particularly when there are large groups of people waiting to check in at high-volume hours.” Called “Line Busters,” these agents can attack the line to help shorten the time a customer has to wait in it.

In addition to the online check-in available at united.com, a new mobile phone application enables customers to check in and get flight details wirelessly. “In the past few months, we’ve also introduced the electronic boarding pass,” Halbert says. “So fliers can go directly to the gate with their phone. It’s all about streamlining the customer’s experience.”

Not to mention customizing a flier’s trip. Using the new capabilities on united.com, the mobile phone app and the check-in kiosk, customers can upgrade to Economy Plus or a Premium seat, or pre-order specialty meals. “They can also opt to be a premium passenger for a day,” Halbert adds. “That means they can get in the first class line, and get one-day access to the Red Carpet Club.” When United’s predictive software is able to accurately predict delays, it will know if you’re expecting a long layover, and can ask if you’d like to join the Red Carpet Club for the day. “There are times when weather makes delays inevitable. Things like that reduce the pain of waiting out a storm,” Halbert says.

As United works to complete its merger with Continental Airlines, he expects that the technological advances are going to multiply. “The merger presents an exciting opportunity to take each airline’s focus on the customer and technologies and blend them together,” Halbert says. “It’s going to be a great partnership, and our customers are really going to benefit from it.”

For Halbert, building the technology was the difficult part. Now, the real fun begins. “We’re running a great airline and also delivering a seamless flying experience that customers really want,” Halbert says. “I believe that with these new technologies, in the end the customer really can have it all. I’m excited!”

Image – United Airlines Creative Services

FOR THE MAJORITY of United fliers, the addition of one more destination—be it a small rural community like Minot, North Dakota (pop. 35,000), or an international city like Accra, Ghana—to the airline’s network of destinations might not seem like such a big deal. But for local residents and business leaders, it can be a game-changer, not merely opening new possibilities for travel but providing a critical economic lifeline.

“You can see what it represents to them to have this connection to the world,” says Cindy Szadokierski, vice president of airport operations planning and United Express, who with her team is instrumental in making sure such new routes are up to United’s high standards and are seamlessly integrated into the network. “Often the whole community comes out in support of our first arrival. You’ll see the mayor there, the Chamber of Commerce, school groups. It becomes a real community celebration.”

And no wonder, since fliers from any point on United’s hub-and-spoke network enjoy efficient connections to everywhere else the airline flies, opening up new horizons, relationships and possibilities. “When I started at United in 1985,” Szadokierski recalls, “we only flew to a handful of international destinations. Today, to see how we bring people from small towns and medium-sized communities to most anywhere in the world through United, United Express and our Star Alliance partners is just amazing to me.

Over the course of her 25 years at United, Szadokierski, 51, has held a number of positions—from reservations and sales to airport operations—but it’s her current role that has given her the most vivid look at the ways in which becoming part of United’s vast hub-and-spoke network can benefit a community. “It allows us to connect small cities with hubs like Chicago or Washington, D.C., and then link them to the world,” she explains. “It has a tremendous impact on the lifeblood of these smaller communities, not only offering them new opportunities for both business and leisure travel but bringing commerce and economic value to them as well.”

The hub-and-spoke system is critical to United as well. “The spokes feed into the network,” Szadokierski explains. “They help to fill those planes going on to Europe, Asia—everywhere United flies. So it’s reciprocal. A new route is an economic engine for a community, providing local jobs among other benefits, but at the same time, these communities help make United a stronger airline, which is great for everyone.” Szadokierski works closely with the planning team, who determines the type of aircraft and the frequency of service that an airport needs and can accommodate. The network, as it is designed, provides for flexibility and enables service to be determined based on market demand.

What makes such a network possible, Szadokierski notes, is the airline’s array of partnerships with a number of smaller carriers, through United Express. And one of Szadokierski’s most critical responsibilities is to ensure that United and its flying and ground handling partners are able to meet United’s strict standards and work in lock-step with the mainline carrier to provide every customer the level of safety and service that has made United one of the world’s top airlines. “We contract with regional airlines to provide airplanes, trained pilots and flight attendants, as well as ground crew, to United Express,” she explains. “But the relationship is deeper than that—we consider them to be true partners. We’ve made tremendous improvements in United Express’ operational performance over the last several years, and that’s a testament to the incredible work not only of our flying partners and ground-handling providers but United employees, as well as the performance-management team, which is constantly working to make sure that all partners adhere to the strictest standards.”

Before a partner can even be considered, Szadokierski adds, being certified by the FAA is just the beginning. “They also have to meet Department of Transportation quality and safety requirements, pass regular audits by the International Air Transport Association and undergo a rigorous United quality and safety evaluation, among many other stringent requirements. We monitor them on an ongoing basis and survey our customers on how well our partners are improving the customer experience.”

The goal, she says, is to provide a truly seamless experience for United’s customers. “The partners’ aircraft are painted in United’s livery,” she points out. “They represent United. And from a customer-experience perspective, they are United.”

The proposed merger with Continental Airlines will further strengthen this network. “We’re committed to continuing to operate in all of the small and medium-sized communities that both of our airlines serve,” Szadokierski says. “Through the combined airline and our Express and Star Alliance partners, we’ll then be able to connect all of the residents of these communities to our eight mainline domestic hubs, enabling them to travel to 350 destinations in 59 countries around the world. It’s truly amazing.”

Szadokierski grew up in a small town herself, Strasburg, Virginia, so she knows how transformative such an opening to the world can be. She retains fond memories of her first trip to Europe, as a teenager. “My mother took out a loan to help pay for it,” she recalls. “We went to fifteen countries in twelve days. When we returned the first thing I said was, ‘When can I go back?’” The answer came when Szadokierski began her first career as a high school French teacher and brought student groups to Europe. “It was so great for them to see that there’s more to the world than the place where they grew up,” she says.

At the time, such trips began and ended with an 80-mile drive to Dulles. Now, with more regional flying to smaller cities, the possibilities are endless for a quick hop to one of United’s hubs on United Express and then off to see the world.

IN MID-MAY, Graham Atkinson, president of Mileage Plus, was looking for a special way to celebrate his wife’s birthday. He settled on a long weekend at the St. Regis hotel in Rome. It was a welcome getaway, but also a working vacation: Atkinson booked the room on united.com using United Mileage Plus miles racked up on his new Mileage Plus Visa card—putting to the test several of the new products the division has begun offering in the last year.

It’s been a busy time for Atkinson and his team at United’s headquarters on Chicago’s Wacker Drive as they’ve sought to ensure that the airline’s signature loyalty program—named best frequent flier traveler program by Global Traveler magazine for six years straight—remains the industry leader. United Mileage Plus has been around for three decades, but as loyalty programs have been embraced by other industries, from coffee shops to filling stations, Atkinson says, “We’ve responded by taking a hard look at the knowledge we’ve gained over the years, offering more options for redeeming awards, broadening the range of products people can use their miles for and pushing forward on experiential benefits and other enhancements.”

The goal of Mileage Plus, he explains, is to connect with two distinct types of valued customers. “First you’ve got the very engaged United customer, who flies a great deal and is looking to make the experience as pleasant as possible. He or she is all about recognition: upgrades, priority check-in and boarding, enhanced telephone service and so on. Then there’s the customer who might not fly often but is looking for value. For them it’s about accumulating miles and exchanging them for great rewards.”

Membership in Mileage Plus is a tiered system, allowing the airline to show its appreciation to its most committed fliers. Those who reach 25,000 miles—flying either United or other Star Alliance carriers—are Premier Members; Premier Executive level is for 50,000 and up, and those who fly 100,000 miles are the vaunted 1Ks. The top tier, known as Global Services, is based not simply on miles flown but the customers’ value to United’s bottom line, for example corporate travel influencers and other high-value travelers (like the George Clooney character in Up in the Air).

All of these so-called “elite travelers” are eligible for United’s new unlimited domestic upgrades. “If on a domestic departure there are seats available in the first class cabin, and you are an elite, we will give you that seat at no cost,” Atkinson explains. “It’s automatic. That’s a huge deal for these customers. Same thing with Economy Plus seating, which offers up to five extra inches of legroom. The surprise and delight in getting these upgrades persuades them to fly us more.”

Getting lucky isn’t the only way to upgrade, Atkinson adds, noting that “United has the best suite of upgrade option products in the marketplace,” including the ability to purchase preferred seating with miles or cash.

Another radical change: Last year, Mileage Plus took the bold step of doing away with “close-in fees,” a common industry practice which requires anyone redeeming miles within 21 days of their flight to pay a premium. “We were the first airline to eliminate that fee,” Atkinson says. “We wanted to send a strong message to our most committed and loyal customers that they’re important to us. We get it.”

The ability to redeem miles for hotels—such as the St. Regis—and car rentals is another enhancement. “And we’ve made it so much easier to execute,” Atkinson says. “You just go to united.com and it’s like an online travel agency, except your currency is miles.” And if a customer doesn’t have enough miles to purchase that flight or hotel room? Members can now opt for oneway awards, magazine subscriptions and other rewards. And the Miles & Money program allows travelers to supplement their miles with cash. “That’s an industry leading product,” Atkinson says. What’s more, fliers can also use miles for flights on Star Alliance partners such as Continental and US Airways, booking directly from united.com. “It’s all about making it easier to use those miles.”

It’s easier than ever to earn those miles, too, by choosing from a unique family of Mileage Plus credit cards off ering different combinations of benefits—such as access to Red Carpet Clubs, Economy Plus seating or the ability to earn double or triple miles on United purchases—each geared toward a different customer segment. “You can earn miles as well as burn them,” Atkinson says, using a bit of industry jargon. “And Elite travelers can rack up miles very quickly.”

Atkinson’s next task will involve the proposed merger of United with its Star Alliance partner Continental Airlines. “It’s a big deal,” he says. “Our intention is to combine the best of both programs into the industry-leading loyalty program, giving people a much broader network through which to earn miles and an even more attractive set of destinations for which to redeem them.” And once the deal is approved, existing miles from both programs will be merged. “Nobody is going to lose their miles,” he promises.

At the root of these transformations, Atkinson says, is a core understanding of just how important a loyalty program can be to frequent fliers. Many of these executives spend so much of their time on the road—or in the air—that a personal bond is forged between traveler and airline: Friendships develop between United employees and regular customers, and Red Carpet Clubs become something of a home away from home. “People get to know the employees at their home airports quite well,” Atkinson says. “They really become part of the United family. The level of engagement and connection that many of our best customers have with us is something most businesses can only dream about. It’s a very precious and very valuable relationship to us.”

For more information, please go to Unitedcontinentalmerger.com.

With the announcement of the agreement to merge United and Continental Airlines, United Airlines Chairman and Chief Executive Officer Glenn Tilton talks about the benefits for our customers around the globe.

LAST MONTH, we announced our decision to merge with Continental Airlines, combining the best of two great organizations to create the world’s leading airline, with strengths that will benefit our valued customers. With this merger, we are bringing together two world-class companies known for exceptional customer service and operational excellence.

Together, the new airline will create a truly comprehensive global network, serving 370 destinations around the world, connecting our cities and smaller communities. When looking at how our routes fit together, the logic that drives the merger is immediately clear. Continental’s network is a natural fit with ours. They increase our presence in New York and Latin America, build on our extensive routes across the Pacific, the Midwest and West Coast, and help make our excellent coverage in Europe even better.

The bottom line: Together, we will provide our passengers with greater ease accessing communities across the U.S. and around the world.

We will have an industry-leading frequent flyer program as we plan to combine all your miles into one account, providing you with more opportunities to earn and redeem miles across an enhanced global network.

The announcement builds on our strong relationship with our partner Continental, which we brought into the Star Alliance last year.

Merging the two airlines is expected to take that partner relationship to the next level—a true merger of equals, as we combine two great brands. I will serve as non-executive chairman of the new company, and Jeff Smisek will serve as CEO. Our management team will draw equally from the talented leaders of each company. Our headquarters and operational center will be in Chicago. Our airline will have 10 hubs, including hubs in the four largest U.S. cities, and will continue to provide service to all of the communities that United and Continental currently serve.

The company will be called United Airlines and will use the Continental colors, logo and livery. Houston will be our combined carrier’s largest hub.

Our companies and our people know each other well. When Jeff and I were together last month in New York to announce the news, we were asked what our customers can expect from this merger. And the answer is simple: a world-class airline that brings together the best of our two companies. Our company will have the financial strength to enhance customers’ travel experience by enabling us to invest in globally competitive products, upgrade technology, refurbish and replace older aircraft and implement the best-in-class practices of both airlines.

There’s probably no one who knows the ups and downs of the airline industry better than frequent flyers. We have discussed with you in the Voices column some of the work the United team is doing in order to deliver better service, invest in our products and improve our airline—all with a commitment to getting you there safely. That work will be ongoing as we continue to measure the improvements in our operational and service delivery performance month by month.

Our colleagues at Continental share our vision. This combination allows us to enhance our service to our communities and to deliver the best possible service to our customers. It will also provide long-term career opportunities for our employees and deliver increased value for shareholders. We know you will be paying close attention as we work toward implementing the merger after closing and smoothly integrating these two companies, and we fully expect to meet and exceed your expectations.

As Jeff and I said when we were in New York, “Let’s Fly Together.”

For more information, please go to www.Unitedcontinentalmerger.com.

Image – United Airlines Creative Services

IT TAKES A TEAM EFFORT to improve an airline’s performance. And United’s people from across many departments—from flight crews and ramp workers to maintenance personnel and gate agents—can all share credit for United’s ongoing success in the area of on-time arrivals.

According to Joanne Calabrese, vice president of Airport Operations– Hubs, this success is a testament to several programs the company has put in place over the past few years to encourage each person to bear in mind how his or her own job relates to those of coworkers and contributes to the operation of the airline as a whole.

“We’re at our best when we all support each other and work together as a team that is focused on the best interests of our customers as well as one another,” she says.

Calabrese, born and raised in Manhattan and currently residing in Chicago’s northwest suburbs, knows a thing or two about the day-to-day jobs of those she works with. Her career with United began in 1969 as a reservations clerk, and over 40-plus years she’s served in departments ranging from customer service to baggage and onboard services. And now, as the executive responsible for United’s hubs in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Denver and Washington Dulles, as well as 10 surrounding airports, Calabrese puts that on-the-ground experience to good use as she searches for ways departments can improve efficiency and performance.

Along with some of her peers, she’s helping develop ways United’s various operating groups can work toward a common goal: successful departures.

“What we continually ask ourselves is, what do we have to do to collectively get this flight out safely and on time?” she explains. “It’s really about setting up teams so we can get to the root cause of any issues and work together to improve the customer’s experience,” she says.

A big part of the effort has been focused on common work practices. At United’s hub at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), everyone—from managers and supervisors to front-line folks— charted out the 1,500 or so different activities involved in a typical departure, everything from loading bags, mail and freight to boarding customers to maintenance checks. After mapping out a more efficient way for individual departments to collaborate, the team also developed an issue resolution protocol to give every person a way to talk through any challenges related to their jobs.

“Standard work has always guided our departures,” notes Calabrese. “What is new is focusing on how one’s individual work impacts other groups involved in getting our planes and customers out safely and on time.”

While such improvements have certainly contributed to United’s performance gains, fundamental changes at its hubs have also had an enormous impact. Beginning last year, a new system was put in place that gives both “upstairs and downstairs” responsibilities to all managers.

That means the concourse manager is charged not only with planeside ramp activities, but also customer service at the gate; and the terminal manager oversees customer service in the check-in area and baggage service, including the ramp bag room.

“It’s a whole new way of doing business for us,” Calabrese says. “Looking at our performance to date, I think this new approach is the best thing we’ve ever done.”

Additional training was provided to get everyone up to speed on their new roles—to ensure a smooth departure, yes, but also to keep people safe.

In the airline industry, safety is always of utmost concern. But all of the activity that goes on around an aircraft during a standard takeoff and landing—for example, the lifting, pushing and rolling of heavy items— can also present occasions for strains and sprains.

Each ramp worker loads an average of 180 bags, totaling almost 5,500 pounds, every single day. To help minimize potential injuries, United launched the MoveSMART program. These training sessions focus on body mechanics principles—some derived from martial arts—to find safer, more efficient ways to lift bags or push carts.

“Working safely is always at the top of everyone’s mind,” says Calabrese. “Whether our people are guiding an airplane or loading a bag, we have to remember this each and every day.”

In addition to providing the proper training, United also believes in the importance of showing appreciation for a job well done. At no time is this more important than the summer traveling season in the northern hemisphere. Just as the company does during all high-volume periods, Calabrese and other company leaders will meet with people on the concourses to thank them and sometimes to provide snacks or beverages during long, hot, busy days.

For senior executives like Calabrese, meeting with those she works with also offers opportunities for mentorship. During her ongoing visits to United hubs and their surrounding metro airports, she sits down with each respective general manager and division head to track performance across multiple criteria. But she’s always on the lookout for ways to foster leadership among all employees.

It’s a role Calabrese relishes, and is uniquely qualified to perform. Because after 40 years experience working her way up the corporate ladder—at a time when female executives were not very common in many industries—she understands how to empower people to do their best work.

“I started out here as a clerk,” Calabrese says. “So when I go into the field, I get it. I’ve been there, done that, got all the T-shirts,” she adds with a laugh. “I understand what our people go through. And I tell this to folks throughout the organization: ‘You can be anything you want to be. If you want a leadership role, it’s open to you.’

“That experience has helped me tremendously in relating to our teams and understanding what we’re all trying to accomplish. When we have a successful flight, I know what it takes to make that happen.”

PERHAPS NO OTHER industry is more motivated to increase efficiency than commercial aviation. With fuel by far the industry’s largest expense and the environment a top concern, airlines have every incentive to operate cleaner and greener.

Consider how the volatility of fuel prices has impacted aviation’s No. 1 cost: While airlines used the same amount of fuel in 2008 as they did in 2003, the total bill was $42 billion higher due to price volatility.

The good news, despite dramatic price increases and continued volatility, is that the industry is taking advantage of the latest technological advances. As a result, airlines are more than twice as efficient today—with the ability to carry passengers and cargo twice as far on a gallon of jet fuel—as they were in the late 1970s.

“That’s a big deal,” says Captain Joe Burns, United’s Managing Director, Technology and Flight Test. “And within United and throughout the industry, we are always looking for ways we can get even better.”

Over the years, United has led the charge to reduce fuel burn and emissions. It is a strong advocate for moving to the next generation air transportation system or “NextGen.” This project would modernize the nation’s current ground-based air traffic control system using state-of-the-art satellite technologies and procedural innovations under the direction of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).

“We prefer to call it ‘NowGen,’” Burns says, “because the need is now, not later.”

In fact, modernization is one of the biggest single issues for the airline industry today, and with strong support from the FAA and Congress, the project could be accelerated to reduce delays, improve fuel efficiency and ultimately lower emissions by about 12 percent.

Meanwhile, United continues to take advantage of these new technologies and procedures within the confines of the current air traffic control system. For example, in November 2008, United was the first U.S. carrier to participate in the Asia and South Pacific Initiative to Reduce Emissions (ASPIRE). By utilizing up-to-the minute fuel data, priority take off clearance, new arrival procedures and other techniques, a single test flight from Sydney to San Francisco—a joint program with the FAA—saved 1,564 gallons of fuel and 32,656 pounds of carbon emissions.

Many of the procedures showcased during that flight are currently in use by United, including Tailored Arrivals, which generate fuel savings through an idled, continuous descent during landings. “A jet burns a lot of fuel during descent, so fuel usage is significantly reduced by turning the landing into a continuous glide toward descent instead of a series of graduated steps,” Burns explains. “You get a more efficient and quieter arrival.”

Later this month, United will participate in the Green Corridor program to demonstrate and analyze environmental benefits over the North Atlantic using the latest operational and technological advancements—the only U.S. airline selected to do so.

United is also cutting emissions through the use of plane winglets, devices which extend the wings’ surface to cut down on induced drag. The company’s Boeing 747s and Airbus fleets already have winglets or wingtip fins, and the Boeing 757s are being modified to include the technology as well.

Making these efficiencies a reality has required an investment in technology both in the cockpit and on the ground, including new flight management systems and upgrades to GPS, or global positioning systems. It’s up to Burns and his flight test team to help design and acquire this new whiz-bang technology, while ops performance staff tracks and monitors to ensure the real efficiency gains are achieved. A technology enthusiast, Burns holds an undergraduate engineering degree and a M.B.A. in management from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. He’s also a pilot on the Airbus 319/320 aircraft.

“I’m an engineer who loves to fly airplanes,” he says. “It’s my job, and that of every every United employee, to get our customers to their destinations safely and on time, and to do so in the most efficient way possible.”

One of the technology programs Burns is most excited about is Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B), a NextGen-endorsed replacement for conventional radar. While in the air, ADS-B allows pilots and air traffic controllers to “see” and direct aircraft with more precision than ever before. “Right now, planes have to stay on the same pathways,” Burns explains. “But this technology allows the pilot and the dispatch team to see where the traffic is and make decisions in the air based on optimal flight paths.” Not only is optimal aircraft routing achieved, fuel burn is reduced as a result, and flight delays are, too.

United pilots and dispatchers now go through fuel-efficiency training, studying the new technologies, and adopting new practices—taxiing the runway on one engine instead of two, for instance, and using less fuel on the ground by taking advantage of electricity at the gates—that can make a big difference.

Another major part of the puzzle is the development of viable alternative fuels. On this front, United is pursuing multiple solutions. The airline is already using biodiesel fuel in its ground support equipment at several airports and is looking to purchase synthetic fuel and biofuel for use in aircraft beginning in 2012.

The biggest impact on the company’s long-term fuel agenda will come from United’s recently announced purchase of 25 new 787-8 Dreamliner aircraft from Boeing. With an expected delivery between 2016 and 2019, at the same time United retires its international Boeing 747s and 767s, this investment will bring technology advances that can reduce fuel burn and emissions by up to 33 percent per aircraft.

“Safety is first and foremost in everything we do,” says Burns. “And the next generation technologies and systems we have in place today, and are supporting going forward, have the potential to make our operation and the air traffic control system safer for our customers and our employees.”

Stop Oil Speculation to Protect America’s Economic Recovery

ACCORDING TO DATA from the Energy Information Administration, demand for petroleum products in the United States is lower today than it was 10 years ago, and supply is higher today than it was in 1982. In addition, the International Energy Agency recently predicted that global demand for oil will drop by about 2.5 million barrels a day this year compared to last year.

Yet, despite an adequate supply of oil and decreasing demand, prices are going up, not down, and many economic experts and government and industry officials point to excessive speculation as a leading cause. You can help make a difference in keeping energy prices affordable.

Ask Congress to curb oil speculation by closing regulatory loopholes, increasing market transparency and requiring strict limits on trading. To lower oil prices for all Americans, we need to increase domestic supply, exploration, alternative energy sources and conservation. Please visit www.stopoilspeculationnow.com for more information.

AFTER RETURNING from Haiti last month, Sonya Jackson, managing director Corporate Social Investment for United and president of the United Airlines Foundation, can say first-hand that the immediate needs we all heard about were obvious: Water, medical supplies and relief workers had to be shipped in; evacuees, mostly children, needed to be transported out.

As one of the world’s largest airlines, it was clear that United was in a position to help and took immediate action to do so.

Behind-the-scenes, a team co-led by Jackson and Jim DeYoung, managing director of United’s operations control center, formulated a highly coordinated relief plan involving scores of United employees. Senior management quickly gave the plan a green light and put the appropriate resources where they needed to be to fly safely to Haiti.

“We have assets that are not easy to come by,” notes Jackson. “Planes, flight crews…there are certain things that only an airline with a global reach can do.”

Flying into Port-au-Prince—a city United normally doesn’t serve— necessitated regular contact with the military’s U.S. Southern Command, which is overseeing relief efforts in Haiti, implementing a strict flight schedule that allows flights to arrive and depart the damaged airport.

Jackson’s team, working closely with corporate and non-profit partners, quickly assembled the supplies most needed in Haiti, totaling 150,000 pounds of donated food, water, medicine, tents and other critical goods transported in six trips. This overwhelming amount of supplies that United needed to transport, including relief workers – some with up to 55 bags – was unprecedented and broke all cargo records for the company.

“Jim was a great partner and led our operations effort tirelessly,” Jackson says. “Every employee who worked on our relief flights contributed a critical piece to the success of this important mission.”

Extra cargo weight required special coordination among United’s cargo, weight and balance, and ramp services teams. “Our cargo team had to ensure the aircraft was loaded in a way that maximized every inch of the aircraft,” Jackson notes. “Our ramp personnel loaded more cargo than they normally would consider for a typical flight and our load planning team had to ensure the balance of the aircraft. They all did an amazing job.”

Prior to each flight, United employees worked with the State Department and U.S. Customs and Border Patrol to bring hundreds of individuals, including orphans who had been paired with adoptive parents, back from Haiti to the United States. Employees escorted Haitian orphans to their new parents in Colorado, completing adoptions that had long been in the works. United’s airport operations team ensured passenger handling, security and international documentation requirements were met

At the Port-au-Prince airport, there are no parallel taxiways, so United’s pilots had to land and turn around at the end of the runway, taxi midway back and pull off on a narrow taxiway. The onboard crews who welcomed earthquake victims onto air-conditioned planes provided comfort in the form of water, sandwiches, and simple human compassion.

“With some of the people and supplies that we transported in and out of Haiti—orphans, doctors, relief workers, cargo—we had existing partnerships with their respective organizations,” Jackson explains. “But there were many other groups where we didn’t. In those instances, we picked up the phone and started developing those relationships.”

Jackson and her team are focused on finding the best ways to leverage United’s resources—not only aircraft and corporate relationships, but also connecting customers and employees who want to help—to respond to the challenges facing the communities that they serve. United made it easy for employees and customers to donate Mileage Plus miles and cash to the American Red Cross, a longtime United partner, just as the company did when it facilitated the donation of more than 71 million miles after the tsunami in Asia five years ago.

United is also connecting its customers and employees to another important cause—hunger. Nearly 49 million Americans currently lack necessary food, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Starting this month, United is empowering customers to fight this growing problem by purchasing an “Eat for Good” snackbox, with one dollar from each purchase going to the national organization Feeding America (see the Choice Menu on the back cover). The attention-grabbing, brightly colored snackbox was designed by a student from After School Matters, another United partner program led by Maggie Daley, wife of Chicago Mayor Richard  
M. Daley, that provides after-school initiatives for Chicago students.

“Eat for Good” is just the latest example of United making connections. Since 2007, the Hugyou Family Teddy Bear program has encouraged flyers to donate dollars or Mileage Plus miles to raise funds and deliver teddy bears to children undergoing medical treatment. Plus, the ongoing Charity Miles program makes it easy for customers to go online and donate unused miles. In 2008 alone, nearly 200 million miles were donated to help organizations like the American Red Cross to fly relief workers to areas impacted by natural disasters.

But perhaps United’s best example of connecting its employees with the community is during events like the Breast Cancer Network of Strength’s Walks to Empower and the annual Holiday Giving program, which supplies gifts and a holiday meal for those in need.

“What impresses me the most is the way our people are willing to give,” Jackson says of her fellow employees. “They care. They get involved. They could not be more generous with their time.

“’Every Action Counts’ is something we take to heart,” she adds. “We constantly look for ways to engage the hearts and minds of our employees and of our customers. We firmly believe that it’s the collective action we all take that really makes that difference.”

MICHAEL QUIELLO IS passionate about safety. It’s obvious in the way he talks about it. Analyzing a continuous stream of data with his team is in many ways a highly technical process, but Quiello sees his mission in very human terms: ensuring the well being of United’s customers and employees—every day and on every flight.

“Whether in the air or on the ground, our number one priority is keeping our customers and our people safe,” Quiello says. “It is the foundation of everything we do.” It’s a point Quiello often reinforces in his conversations with fellow executives, his team and United’s employees at the many airports he frequently visits.

“We know our customers want an airline that is safe and on time,” he says. “In 2009, we executed extremely well in on-time performance, ranking first among the major network carriers according to preliminary industry statistics, but never at the expense of safety. We know it can be frustrating if a flight is delayed because of a mechanical issue with the aircraft, but the bottom line is there is no such thing as a successful on-time departure unless it’s a safe departure. We trust our captains’ judgment implicitly.”

A former commercial airline captain himself, Quiello received his pilot’s license at age 17 and is qualified to fly everything from gliders and sea planes to most major airliners. “I’ve loved aviation all my life, including building model planes and rockets. I guess I’ve gone from balsa wood and tissue paper to the majestic Boeing 777.”

After obtaining a degree in civil engineering, he was commissioned as an officer in the Marine Corps, where he served as a jet pilot. Quiello, who has 28 years of experience in the commercial aviation industry, joined United in January 2009 as vice president of Corporate Safety, Security, Quality and Environment. Quiello has a polished and easygoing nature, not unlike an Ivy League professor in his dress and demeanor, but his commitment to continuous improvement, training and communication is intense.

As reflected in his relatively long title, another of Quiello’s and his team’s responsibilities is aviation security, which requires close coordination with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and other regulatory agencies, both U.S.-based and international. He has served on a number of national boards, including the Air Transport Association’s safety committee and the executive committee of the Flight Safety Foundation.

One recent challenge for United and all airlines was posed by the additional security measures implemented by the TSA in late December. “Our teams, especially at our international airports, really rose to the challenge of not only meeting the TSA’s requirements, but maintaining our focus on safety, customer service and the integrity of our operations,” he says with pride, “an accomplishment that’s even more noteworthy given the high volume of customers we serve at that time of year.”

United worked tirelessly throughout that period to help develop the industry’s position. The key, according to Quiello, is not only meeting the security requirements, but ensuring that the safeguards are implemented with a sensitivity to the impact on the millions of customers that United, and all airlines, serve every year. He also points out that while commercial airlines compete for the flying public’s business, they collaborate on issues related to safety and security. “We all learn from incidents no matter where they happen and work diligently with the TSA and other regulatory agencies around the world to focus our efforts on the best interests of the public,” he notes.

Quiello emphasizes that United is intensely focused on the day-to-day safety of its employees, which requires a highly regimented approach, with the ultimate goal of providing customers safe travel around the clock.

“Safety is truly the responsibility of every employee at United—from our customer service representatives to our flight crews—and we expend considerable resources to provide the support, tools and training our people need to create the safest possible work environment,” he says.

United’s pilots, for example, receive world-class training, including recurrent sessions with state-of-theart flight simulators that re-create everything from adverse weather to complex emergencies. They also follow rigorous and standardized preflight safety procedures. When customers look out the plane’s window and see a pilot walking around the aircraft, for example, they’re observing a standard visual inspection process in which the captain or first officer makes a final evaluation of the fuselage, engines and landing gear.

As part of the safety team onboard the aircraft, United’s flight attendants vigilantly monitor the cabin to ensure compliance with FAA regulations as well as to identify any potential concerns.

“United’s maintenance teams are highly skilled veteran technicians who focus on our fleet twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week,” Quiello notes. “And we have teams of mechanics that take care of our ground equipment, loading bridges and the airport lobby and gate areas as well. Safety doesn’t begin when a person boards our aircraft; it begins when they enter the airport itself.”

The airline’s ground employees who load baggage and cargo, as well as skillfully guiding the planes into and out of the gates, are also well trained to carefully steer their equipment in the midst of the very busy and crowded environments that all major airports represent. “The handling of our aircraft is a highly orchestrated operation,” Quiello explains. “We want to ensure our employees remain injury free, and it’s also important not to damage the aircraft in any way, even if it’s just a slight bump. If the aircraft needs to be taken out of service for repair, it impacts operations and therefore customers.

“No pun intended, but great safety performance is no accident,” Quiello says, without cracking a smile. “We have in place an entire Safety Management System that ensures all safety regulations and policies are understood and followed,” he goes on. “At the core of the system is identifying and mitigating potential risks well before they become an issue.” Under Quiello’s leadership, rather than reacting to incidents, United takes a predictive approach using current data not only to improve safety performance, but the overall performance of the operations as well.

“The FAA monitors our safety compliance, of course, but we continuously self-audit and hold ourselves and our regional United Express and Star Alliance partner airlines accountable beyond IOSA standards,” he adds, referring to the International Air Transport Association’s Operational Safety Audit standards, the world’s most stringent.

“The job is never complete when it comes to the safety and security of our customers and employees,” Quiello adds. “There are only starting points. It is all about continuous improvement. As an airline, safety represents our most profound responsibility, and we take it very, very seriously.”