Hello. This is Jane Allen with an update for Friday, December 9, 2005 .

We held local Purser meetings in San Francisco and Dulles this week. I'm told there was lots of good dialog around how we are performing and what our competition is doing. As we prepare to exit bankruptcy in February 2006, these conversations are increasingly important for us to have. It is very telling that we're having more conversation around our customers and our competition than the intricacies of bankruptcy.

There's much to discuss where our competition is concerned. Southwest said this week that it expects strong revenue growth in 2006 and projects that it will improve earnings by 15 percent. Meanwhile, Frontier is seeking additional gates in Denver to support its growth plans. And Virgin has applied for a license with the Department of Transportation to begin flying within the U.S. by mid-2006, which would add yet another discount airline within our domestic market.

Given the progress we've made since we've been in restructure, we've truly earned the right to compete outside of bankruptcy protection. And while no one expects the path to be easy, we are getting set to emerge with our network in place, with good customer demand for our routes and our various products, and several months of solid financial performance, excluding fuel – all of which creates momentum as we head into the new year.

But before we turn our attention to 2006, the 2005 holiday season is upon us. It's a wonderful time of year, but it promises to be another busy one for us. Given the high load factors we've been running for most of the year, this will be a particularly challenging holiday for our operations.

The good news is that we're ready for it. Our scheduling group has worked hard since last year's holiday period to plan and prepare. For example, our recall schedule during the course of the year was timed to ensure that we would have all returning flight attendants back and ready in time for the season.

In addition, the scheduling team also factored in higher assumptions for irregular operations to provide us with coverage in the event we have the kind of weather that we experienced at the end of this week in the Midwest and on the East Coast. On a daily basis, Mark Kilayko and his scheduling team are monitoring operational impacts, managing scheduling liabilities, forecasting the impact on scheduling later in the month and making adjustments to do all that we can to keep adequate reserve coverage intact.

The reason for all of this great work by our scheduling team is to avoid what we experienced last holiday season when we had to declare critical coverage. This is a last resort that causes a great deal of stress on everyone, and it's a step we don't want to take.

But making this work is really a team effort. The scheduling team plans, prepares and makes adjustments, but lost time absences are one of the variables that can cause us to use up reserve coverage during the month. In addition, anytime we operate a flight below planned staffing levels, it creates additional work for those flight attendants working the flight, particularly at a time when we are flying with high customer load factors.

Most importantly, any situation that impacts our ability to operate smoothly can affect our customers. The holiday season is a major opportunity to serve large numbers of customers and retain them as United customers based on the service we provide them.

So, as we move into the second half of December, please make a commitment to your fellow flight attendants and to the company to work your scheduled trips unless illness or injury prevents you from doing so. Our busy season comes at a time when many of you have holiday preparations and celebrations, but, if we all do our part, we help increase the odds of having a smooth season and avoid declaration of critical coverage.

Please fly safely. The news of the Southwest incident at Midway Airport in Chicago this week reminds us of the importance of following all safety procedures and being prepared for the affects of winter weather.

That's all for today. Thanks for listening.