Good morning. It's Tuesday, April 26th, and I'm placing the call from Chicago.

We have spent a great deal of time and effort looking for alternative solutions to address our substantial pension liabilities.

The issue of replacing pensions is the most difficult decision that we have made in the restructuring of United, but, as we have said consistently, we cannot see nor find an acceptable alternative.

We know we cannot satisfy the requirements of exit financing unless we resolve, in some way, this significant pension liability. And, after discussions with our unions and the PBGC, no viable options have been found that seem to work.

Last Friday, the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, or the PBGC, agreed to terminate and become the trustee for our four plans. This means that we have reached an agreement with the PBGC to transition all of our defined benefit plans to the agency.

The PBGC is the federal agency responsible for insuring pensions, and reports to a board of directors that is chaired by the U.S. Secretary of Labor, and includes the Secretaries of Treasury and of Commerce.

We will file the agreement with the PBGC in bankruptcy court this week. Court review is scheduled for the 4th of May, and approval is necessary for the agreement to take effect.

The agreement also has a provision that would allow for an alternative to the termination and replacement if one can be found that works for all of us. Accordingly, we will continue to talk with our unions simultaneously.

This agreement, however hard to accept, is one of the most significant events in the restructuring, and it is essential for the future of United.

Our work is difficult and is very complex. But as I have said many times on this call, the fact that the work and the decisions may be difficult, does not mean that we get to choose to avoid them. We have been consistent; we are doing all of the work that we need to do in a way that ensures a viable, sustainable United for all employees going forward.

By putting our financial house in order, and removing one of the remaining barriers to our exit from Chapter 11, we are positioning the company to have a future.

We have retained a key network and our options are such that we can respond to the dramatically changing marketplace, both domestically and internationally. The work that we are doing every day to improve our performance is ensuring that we have the opportunity to be a significant player in the United States and abroad as this industry undergoes significant change.

As I mentioned on my last call, I spoke last week to the aviation summit hosted by the Chicago Council on Foreign Relations.

During the symposium, I outlined the work that United has done to date -- to reinforce that we are meeting our challenges as we know we must and securing a future for the company.

I also spoke about how important United and a strong airline industry are to the national economy and indeed to global commerce worldwide. That aviation does indeed “move the world” as the theme of the summit suggested.

We all know the U.S. aviation industry continues to be a hugely difficult environment for all of us. Unlike most of the rest of the world where profitability has been restored, we are still grappling with very serious and crippling, in some cases, financial issues in the U.S.

In the global marketplace, “supercarriers” are emerging outside of the country, to lead the industry in a way that U.S. carriers once did, but no longer do, as a result of the inconsistent U.S. regulatory environment.

I said that, just as we at United are building financial resilience and addressing our permanent challenges, so should our government pursue permanent, competitive solutions that will let U.S. carriers compete now and going forward.

In fact, as we saw just yesterday with the Air Canada announcement, airlines worldwide are investing in their futures by ordering aircraft and aligning themselves through strategic partnerships to take advantage of strong global demand. Air Canada exited bankruptcy just last September and yesterday ordered 32 Boeing widebody jets.

In the U.S., we should also be able to take advantage of such opportunities.

Investors who believe in the future of United will want to participate in a company and a U.S. industry that has the ability to invest and compete in an increasingly global and increasingly competitive environment.

We will continue our work and our focus on what we need to do to ensure that we have such a future. We suggest that others, including the government, do the same.

That's it for now. Until the next time, stay United.