United and Continental Announce New Leadership Team

HOUSTON and CHICAGO, July 27 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) and United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA), in communications to their employees today, announced the selection of the new senior leadership team of the combined airline, reporting directly to Jeff Smisek, who will serve as president and chief executive officer. The companies expect the board of directors of the new airline will elect the following senior officers as executive vice presidents at the close of the merger of the two companies:

Glenn Tilton, chairman and chief executive officer of United Airlines, who will serve as non-executive chairman of the combined airline, said, "We have exceptional executives across our two companies; this created a superb talent pool from which to determine the senior executive team to take the company forward - and, at the same time, we have equally talented people who will continue to contribute to successfully executing our individual performance agendas between now and close."

Smisek commented, "This outstanding team represents a great blend of experience and expertise at both airlines, and I look forward to working together with them as we create the world's leading airline."

The new leadership team will work with Smisek to design the overall officer-level organization and select the remainder of the leadership team. Concurrently, the companies are developing a talent-selection process for other management and clerical roles and refining the planned organizational structure. The companies expect the merger to close before year-end.

About Continental

Continental Airlines is the world's fifth largest airline. Continental, together with Continental Express and Continental Connection, has more than 2,700 daily departures throughout the Americas, Europe and Asia, serving 132 domestic and 137 international destinations. Continental is a member of Star Alliance, which overall offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries through its 26 member airlines. With more than 40,000 employees, Continental has hubs serving New York, Houston, Cleveland and Guam, and together with its regional partners, carries approximately 63 million passengers per year.

Continental consistently earns awards and critical acclaim for both its operation and its corporate culture. For nine consecutive years, FORTUNE magazine has ranked Continental as the top U.S. airline on its "World's Most Admired Companies" airline industry list. For more company information, go to continental.com.

About United

United Airlines, a wholly-owned subsidiary of UAL Corporation (Nasdaq: UAUA), operates approximately 3,400* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 230 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which overall offers 19,700 daily flights to 1,077 airports in 175 countries through its 26 member airlines. United's 46,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. United ranked No. 1 in on-time performance** for domestic scheduled flights for 2009 among America's five largest global carriers, as measured by the Department of Transportation and published in the Air Travel Consumer Report for 2009. United also ranked No. 1 in on-time arrivals among the five largest U.S. global carriers for the first six months of 2010 based on preliminary information. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com, and follow United on Twitter @UnitedAirlines.