June 2, 2006 -- The Strength of Star

Glenn:

Hi, it’s Glenn and I’m calling from Japan, where it’s Friday, the second of June. I’m here this week with Mark Schwab and the United team in Tokyo, as well as Graham Atkinson, our senior vice president of Sales, for meetings with our alliance partners and for the opening of the new Star Alliance Terminal in Narita. I have asked Graham to join me on the call today.

More than any single event in recent years, the opening of the new terminal at Narita speaks to the commitment and the ability of the Star Alliance to work collaboratively for the benefit of all of our customers. It has taken more than three years to complete this project and there have been many difficulties and obstacles along the way that the Narita Airport Authority, with United, ANA and our other Star partners have confronted and overcome.

The strength of Star goes beyond routes and code share. The relationships between individual carriers and with airport authorities play a critical role in enabling and driving projects such as this one at Narita. In remarks I gave at the American Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo on Thursday, I talked about Star and its value for our customers. Specifically on this occasion of the opening of the new Star terminal, I was delighted to be able to recognize the role played by ANA Chairman, Mr. Ohashi and ANA President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Yamamoto, as well as Narita Airport Authority Chairman, Mr. Matsuhashi and their President, Mr. Kuurono.

In all our meetings and celebrations this week, the sense of achievement has been well deserved. The original terminal was notorious as a “bad experience” in just about every possible way. In contrast, the new terminal can compete with the best in Asia. This will make a significant difference to our customers, as they benefit from the improvements and enjoy an entirely new experience as they connect through Narita or begin and end their journey in Tokyo.

So I am going to ask Graham to join me on the call and give some more specific details. Graham...

Graham:

Thanks, Glenn. The events this week have really reinforced the fact that Japan continues to be one of the strongest economies in a dynamic, growing region, as well as the primary connection point for customers flying into Asia. Really, the numbers for United tell the story. Almost one quarter of our total capacity is deployed in the Asia-Pacific region with nearly 50 percent of that total in Japan. Our position here in Japan is also strengthened by our strong alliance relationship with the country’s home carrier, ANA.

With air traffic growing across the Asia Pacific region and major airport infrastructure investments complete in China and other markets, Japan has been working hard to try and keep pace with the increasing demand and strong competition from other regional hubs like Incheon and Hong Kong. That effort is most apparent here at Narita. This week, the airport took a huge step forward, with the opening of the new Star Alliance Terminal Complex.

As Glenn said, the terminal complex opened after more than three years of work by many people right across United, and I'm hugely impressed with the end result. Like all good public spaces, it is more than just the sum of its parts. It creates an experience for the people who travel through it, transforming our ability to deliver a quality product and service to our customers.

The showcase of the new airport is a dramatically redesigned departure lobby that is more than one and a half times the size of the old North Wing that we had previously used and boasts 126 common-user self-service check-in units that will feature EasyCheck-In. The new terminal gets the basics right, dramatically cutting connection times, driving improvements in the check-in experience and baggage transfer as well as shortening the walk between the flights.

It also delivers for our premium customers, with six departure lounges to chose from, and exclusive Star premium customer check-in areas. And with the airport’s Star carriers under one roof, our customers -- from flight to flight to flight -- travel smoothly, easily and with familiarity through the multiple points of their journey.

Just as important given United’s large cargo operation into Japan and Asia, the Narita airport also delivers for cargo customers, facilitating more efficient movement of shipped goods and mail through the airport and out into the rest of the region.

With all the careful work that went into the design and creation of the Star terminal, Narita is now a very competitive airport in the region. This advantage creates a great deal of potential for United and our partners to continue to find new ways to meet and indeed exceed our customers’ expectations.

Glenn…

Glenn:

Thanks very much, Graham.

It was early 2003 when you and I attended the ceremony that launched the work on the new airport. The Star complex delivers on the goals we set then and offers customers the experience they should expect from one of the world’s busiest aviation hubs.

With the opening of the terminal, solid relationships with our Star partners in the region, the growth in our network and our strong cargo operation, we have a whole range of opportunities in the Asia-Pacific region to continue to broaden and to improve our service to all of our customers.

You can read the remarks I gave at the American Chamber of Commerce in Tokyo… where we were also joined by many of our customers, partners, airport officials and others who have a stake in United and our success in Asia. You can read it on SkyNet, and we will attach it to the e-mail that we send out on this call as well.

I also wanted to take this opportunity to thank Jack Knox and our Narita employees that have worked tirelessly to ensure that our move to the new terminal would be seamless for our customers. And it was with United colleagues and staff from our alliance partners - approximately 600 of us in total - that we celebrated the opening of the Narita achievement on Wednesday evening.

Graham and I were treated to a truly unforgettable evening that showcased the talent and cultural diversity within the Alliance. Each alliance partner contributed to the event by providing a short performance - from flamenco to tap dancing to a moving song called "Arise Africa" from one of our newest alliance partners, South African Airways. United's Kaoru Imoarai from Narita Customer Service played the traditional Japanese Koto instrument and performed in kimono.

The performances celebrated not only the talent and the enthusiasm that exists within the Star Alliance family, but also underscores the achievement that can be united toward a common goal.

That’s all for now on this call. We'll be talking to you again soon. Until then, stay focused on our customers and on one another…and stay united.