You might want to mark this day on your calendar.  Earlier today, we received word that Judge Wedoff ruled to confirm United’s Plan of Reorganization.  This clears the way for the company to exit bankruptcy as scheduled.

In confirming the plan, Judge Wedoff, who has overseen our efforts to restructure the company, said, “This outcome is the product of hard work, creative thinking and a willingness to compromise.”

Many airlines have found it necessary to enter bankruptcy, but few have emerged.  Not only are we are emerging, but we are doing so with significant positive momentum and from a position of strength.  As I mentioned in my letter to everyone earlier this month, we are today the world’s second largest airline and the largest U.S.-based international carrier.  We have the industry’s second largest Frequent Flyer program with 40 million members, and fly more than 3,500 flights a day on a route network that spans the globe.  And the average age of our fleet is among the youngest in the industry at 11 years.

These are all incredibly positive aspects of our business that give us the ability to compete aggressively.  Particularly among U.S. legacy carriers, we are extremely well-positioned to continue to improve our performance and become an even better airline on behalf of our customers, our employees, and – soon – our investors.

Judge Wedoff acknowledged this today when he said that United, “once again… has the potential to be a profitable investment, a reliable business partner and a stable employer.”

We have come a long way.  And each of you should take great pride in our collective accomplishments.  Hard work and compromise have certainly been part of the equation.  I also believe that pride and a genuine desire to take care of our customers, even in challenging times, has played an important part.

And there was more good news earlier this week.  The company and the AFA reached an agreement in principle on a replacement retirement plan for our flight attendants.  AFA will be sending the tentative agreement out to the membership for a ratification vote.  We are very pleased to have gotten to this point.

We now have a solid foundation on which to build a great future for our airline.  As all of you know, that wasn’t the case even one year ago.  In doing the hard things necessary to make this happen, we have created an opportunity for us to work together to make United successful for years to come.

In order to do so, we can’t be satisfied with where we are today.  Maintaining the momentum we have built for ourselves will require us to continue to improve.  As well positioned as we are relative to most U.S. legacy carriers, we will continue to be challenged by international carriers, low cost carriers and start-ups that are offering customers a different travel experience and great levels of service.   

Additionally, it will be incumbent upon us to continuously improve our financial performance.  We have earned the right to compete, and, similarly, we must earn the right to invest in our business by attracting investors to the company.

This week, we communicated to you information on the company’s resource optimization project, which is focused on how we, as a company, can make the best use of all our resources, including our planes, our gates and our facilities.  One outcome of this project will be shorter turn times for aircraft.  We’ll begin implementing these tighter turn times on February 8 at all Ted stations and for all domestic flights at San Francisco.

There will be significant benefits that will come out of this work, but there will be challenges and changes.  While procedures for flight attendants are not expected to change substantially, it will be important that we keep to standard operating procedures, including pre-flight safety checks, boarding procedures and announcements.  With shorter turn times, orchestrating all the tasks that need to be done to turn an aircraft will require a greater level of coordination among yourselves, customer service and ramp operations.

On the flip side, we also expect this change will drive a greater percentage of crews that will remain with the same aircraft during their duty period, and we could see reduced sit times between flights.  These are products of more efficient operations and are in addition to the economic benefits that we will see in terms of better utilized airplanes that should result in getting more flight segments out of the same fleet.

We’ll continue to provide you with more information on the resource optimization project as it progresses.
  
In the meantime, I hope all of you take time today and over the next several days to congratulate yourselves and your co-workers on today’s confirmation of our Plan of Reorganization.  Our formal exit from bankruptcy is in sight!

Just as importantly, we should thank our customers and continue to provide them with safe and attentive service.  We wouldn’t have made it over these last three years without customers who continued to do business with us.

That’s all for today. Fly safely, and I’ll talk with you next week.