It is Thursday morning, July 28th, and I'm calling today from Chicago.

Today, we reported our financial results for the second quarter, and they are solidly competitive. Despite the fact that fuel costs were $262 million higher than in the second quarter of last year, we earned an operating profit of $48 million.

Of the major network carriers, only three – ourselves, American and Continental – reported an operating profit this quarter. Delta and Northwest reported operating losses.

Our mainline unit revenue was up 5 percent, and mainline costs, excluding fuel, were down 3 percent, year-over-year. These performance measures also put United in line with our leading network competitors.

Three years ago, Continental was viewed as the leading network carrier in terms of costs per available seat mile. In the time we have been in restructuring, we have virtually closed the mainline cost gap -- excluding fuel -- going from a 16 percent disadvantage to virtual parity today.

Although by no means sufficient, these results show significant progress for the company, particularly given the dramatically uncompetitive position we were in three years ago.

In this quarter we have taken a predominantly non-cash charge of $1.4 billion for reorganization items, covering the transfer of pensions to the PBGC, the rejection of aircraft and other creditor claims.

This non-cash charge will receive some attention and can be confusing, but because non-cash charges do not affect our operations or our liquidity, the important number to focus on is our operating earnings, which is the correct measure of the underlying strength of our business. The non-cash items will be addressed in the normal bankruptcy process as we exit from Chapter 11.

During the second quarter we also achieved ratified, consensual collective bargaining agreements with AMFA and the IAM -- meaning that we now have ratified contracts with all our labor groups.

We also have replacement retirement plans in place for all of United's union and non-union groups, with the exception of the AFA.

We sustained our strong operational performance during the quarter, improved productivity and reliability, and continued to see the benefits of aircraft utilization efforts, with a significant improvement. This means that we have been able to reduce the size of our fleet by 13 percent while maintaining 97 percent of our available seat miles for the public.

These results make clear that we have put in place a solid foundation, and we are ready to move ahead as a much more competitive company.

This progress was made evident by the fact that we were able to increase the size and reduce the interest rate of our debtor-in-possession financing agreements in the second quarter.

And, we will soon file United's plan of reorganization -- or POR -- and our disclosure statement with the court.

The POR filing is not a business plan – it is a court document designed to initiate the formal process towards exit from Chapter 11. The POR will be supplemented with additional information when it is filed at a later date. This information will include a high-level financial forecast for the next five years, which we are currently discussing with major financial institutions interested in providing the company with exit financing.

We have used the bankruptcy process to build a competitive foundation for the future. We now have the opportunity to continue to build on that foundation and to move toward our goal of becoming the best network carrier in the United States.

We have earned the opportunity to compete, and that's exactly what we're going to do.

That's all for now on this call. Until next time, stay United.