Good morning. I've had an encouraging and often inspiring first week on the job, and I wanted to report that to you. I also want to thank everyone I've met from San Francisco to World Headquarters to O'Hare for the very open and warm reception you've given me. I've met more employees than I thought possible in the first four days.

I took the opportunity to meet with a coalition of union leadership on Wednesday, Sept. 4, and I appreciate the open and constructive dialogue during that first meeting last week.

I also appreciate the opportunity I had to meet with the assembled leadership of the pilots and flight attendants during their scheduled meetings. Then there were the impromptu meetings, which were also very important. Those meetings in the cafeteria and the hallways of World Headquarters, and along the concourse at San Francisco and O'Hare. In the break rooms and baggage-handling areas of both airports. And of course, during my flights to and from Chicago and back again earlier this week

Wherever I went I was struck by the pride and affection of our employees for their company. It's very obvious to me that we all want our company to recover and then to prosper. We all recognize that we face very significant challenges. There is absolutely no doubt in my mind that we are in a very tough situation. As I mentioned in my first message, we have some critical decisions to make and there is no room for error. Our decisions need to the be the best we have ever made because there's so much at stake.

Once we make the decisions that enable us to pull together, we're going to have to commit to a business strategy and plan that will enable us to compete and to win.

We'll do so by offering our customers a superior value proposition at a competitive price, backed by a team committed to passenger safety, operational excellence and a very personal relationship with our customers.

Which brings me to a point of genuine pride. Operationally, United is performing tremendously. For the first time in its history, our airline came in first on the DOT's list of on-time performance in July. That's a testimony to the commitment and resolve of you, our employees, despite the distractions of these difficult times. For United to recover, the decisions we all make in the days and weeks ahead need to be just as good as our on-time performance.

If they are, I'm confident we're going to be successful.

I am looking forward to meeting and working with each of you as we confront our challenges together as a United team and as we recover and prosper in the years ahead. Before I sign off, I'd like to close by pausing to remember and honor our colleagues. passengers and all of those who lost their lives a year ago Sept. 11. I will have the privilege of participating in commemorative ceremonies in New York and Washington, D.C., this week and I will do so as a very proud new member of the United family. Thank you very much and have a good week.