SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- After shedding tens of thousands of jobs, wiping out shareholders and dumping employee pensions, United Airlines parent UAL Corp. is beginning anew Wednesday following more than three years in bankruptcy.

The company emerged on Feb. 1 as it had indicated in its restructuring plan.

The restructuring needed to get the No. 2 airline out of Chapter 11 protection caused ripples throughout the U.S. airline industry, pressuring peers to go as far as they can to cut costs in or outside of the bankruptcy courts.

Marc Richards, a bankruptcy attorney and senior partner at Blank Rome LLP in New York, said that the length of time the airline spent in bankruptcy isn't as significant as how far United management went during its restructuring.  Listen to the interview with Richards.

"Hopefully they fixed everything that had to be fixed, that was within their control," said Richards. "Obviously, they can't fix the price of oil at $68 a barrel but the other parts of their business...I think that they would say that they've scrubbed those costs and really gotten them down to a manageable level to support their revenue structure."

United says the cost cuts are good for $7 billion in savings a year.

"Overall, these new agreements and settlements have enabled United to reduce its non-fuel cost per available seat mile (cost per available seat mile ex-fuel) by approximately 22% during the three years while in bankruptcy," wrote Prudential Equity Group research analyst Bob McAdoo in a Jan. 30 research note.

The Elk Grove, Ill.-based airline's stock will be listed on the Nasdaq Feb. 2 as "UAUA" after being traded on the New York Stock Exchange before bankruptcy. The current bulletin-board traded stock "UALAQ" will stop trading after Wednesday.

The company's market cap with 125 million shares will be bigger than AMR Corp., according to Prudential.

Prudential's advice is to sell the new shares into any strength. The firm rates United's new stock underweight.

"Although shares may trade up temporarily, we anticipate they will eventually trade down to levels approaching AMR or $25 per share," McAdoo wrote.

As UAL exits, Delta Air Lines are before the bankruptcy judge trying to push back creditors and cut labor costs.

Whether any of the airlines' restructuring is deemed successful may have as much to do with jet fuel prices as it does corporate turnaround tactics. See full story.

Last year alone, United spent about $4 billion each on jet fuel and labor costs. In 2004, United's fuel bill was only $2.94 billion but labor expenses were $5.01 billion.

On Jan. 17, a barrel of jet fuel priced at $78.04 -- $11.68 a barrel more than a barrel of West Texas Intermediate crude oil, according to the Air Transport Association, and above last year's average of $72.32.

That difference in price, called the crack spread, is lower than the peak difference of over $43 in early October. But recently high oil prices are pushing up jet fuel.

Fares, meanwhile, are at historic lows as competition from new low-cost carriers and bankrupt players like United chase customers with discounts. Traffic is strong and planes are full but revenue isn't as strong as airline executives would like.

United's fourth-quarter results show the toll of bankruptcy, with a $17 billion loss -- including restructuring charges that go with finishing up a stint in Chapter 11. On an operating basis, the company's loss narrowed to $182 million. See full story.

Charges aside, the quarter showed the restructuring's benefits, Prudential's McAdoo noted.

"After removing the special bankruptcy charges from United, the last three quarters' results actually show that United has generated net income levels slightly better than American but not quite as good as Continental," McAdoo wrote.