April 12, 2006 – Star Alliance Welcomes New Members

Hi, it's Glenn and it's Wednesday the 12th  of April.  I'm calling today from Chicago, having returned yesterday from Johannesburg, South Africa.

I was with Graham Atkinson, our senior vice president of Worldwide Sales and Alliances, who is also the chairman of the Management Board of the Star Alliance, and we joined many of the CEOs and Graham's colleagues representing our Star Alliance partners.

We meet on a regular basis to discuss Star direction and Star strategy, and Johannesburg was the second stop in a two-part meeting which began in Zurich.

The reason we were in South Africa was to welcome South African Airways to the Star Alliance.

It was, in very many ways, an extraordinary celebration.  This is a significant partnership for South Africa that now connects it to the rest of the world by a global network of international airlines.  United is playing a key role, providing access throughout the U.S. and other destinations out of our Dulles hub.

The significance of that was reflected in the remarks of  South Africa's President Mbeki, during his private meeting with the Star chief executive officers, as he talked of the critical role global connectivity plays in the economic development of South Africa and the African continent.

It was reflected in the pride and the enthusiasm of the South African Airways employees crowded into a huge hangar at Johannesburg Airport for the Star ceremony.  They're very proud of their airline and to be a part of the larger group which makes up the Star Alliance.

In return, South African Airways is an important addition to the alliance, providing connections not only to South Africa, but also to places such as Mauritius, Mozambique, Namibia and Botswana.

We will be promoting travel from the United States to South Africa in an initiative later this year and looking for other ways to build on this relationship.

We'd flown to Johannesburg from Zurich, where we welcomed Swiss International into the Star Alliance.  In addition to Swiss, we are able to code share with their regional subsidiary Swiss European Air Lines.

This brings more than a dozen destinations beyond Zurich, such as Mumbai, Dubai and Rome, for our Dulles-Zurich flight, further strengthening the reach of the Star network and its benefits to United.

In the meetings with our Star partner chief executive officers, we talked primarily about three key initiatives underway for more than a year:

• Ensuring that the Star brand value proposition aligns with the value proposition that we individually build for our customers.
• Coordinating the different business models of our 18 members.
• Looking hard at future market changes, so that we can position our members out in front of the future trends.

The results of research and analysis, conducted for Star, mirror our own research at United.  These are the findings that in large part have driven our decisions on customer segmentation, products and services.

The Star findings on business travelers were also consistent with what we at United have found is important to them, and what they value and expect when they travel internationally.

Being associated with some of the world's leading premium service carriers, gives us a competitive benchmark more in line with the service that we intend to provide to our customers at United.  As we continue to do the work to differentiate ourselves from most of our U.S. competitors, we are committed to improving service and making investments such as upgrading our premium cabins.

When I began this trip in Zurich last Thursday, my first stop was a luncheon with some of our key customers in Zurich.  Whether through research or through such direct customer feedback, we'll continue to listen to our customers and make informed decisions that better meet their needs.

Just as I did when I met with our employees in Zurich, we'll take the time to listen and talk within the company to one another about how best to deliver on those needs.

As we all now know, it is all of us that can make the difference between a good or a bad impression or an experience on United.

To that point, I'd like to thank Darryl Da Gama, one of our flight attendants, nominated to represent United, who traveled with us to Johannesburg and Zurich and was an excellent ambassador for our company.

I'd also like to thank Captain Claudia Gerstle and First Officer Bud Potts who represented United in the Star videos for the Swiss and the South African celebrations. 

That's it for now. I'll be talking to you again soon. Until then, stay focused on our customers, stay focused on one another and stay united.