The
following email from Alexandria Marren, United’s Senior Vice
President Onboard Service, was distributed to employees on May 7,
2010.
May 7,
2010
Dear
colleagues,
This was
an exciting and exhilarating week for United and each one of us. We
announced our intent to merge with Continental and to create the world’s leading
airline with the most comprehensive network for our customers.
This is a
merger of equals, due primarily to your hard work and dedication to deliver the
best on-time performance, better customer satisfaction and better cost
management. The combined company will be named United Airlines and be
based in Chicago, continuing our rich tradition as the hometown airline.
The new company will use Continental’s livery, logo and colors. When
the merger occurs, our goal is to continue to leverage the strengths of each
organization to create not only a stronger, more efficient airline, but also the
best new airline.
Continental’s
CEO, Jeff Smisek, will be CEO of the new United Airlines after we close the
agreement, and Glenn Tilton will become non-executive chairman of the board of
directors for approximately two years. As we dive deeply into planning for
the integration of the two companies over the coming months, we will communicate
about leadership, benefits (including travel privileges), schedules and more as
information becomes available. There are many legal and regulatory steps
before we can officially conclude the merger, but we expect to close sometime in
the fourth quarter.
That is
one commitment I personally make to each of you: open, honest and frequent
communication about the status of the merger as well as decisions that affect
you and your work. In addition, I encourage you to visit the merger
website www.unitedcontinentalmerger.com
and SkyNet for updates. SkyNet will post answers to frequently asked
questions on a regular basis and includes a link to submit your own questions.
Many
officers visited dozens of locations in the first 48 hours after the
announcement early Monday morning to share the news and answer questions.
We attended briefings; chatted with employees in hallways, at gates and in
break rooms; and hosted town halls and conference calls. I visited EWR,
LGA and JFK, hosted calls with our domicile managers and pursers, and met with
pursers at our annual recurrent event here in Chicago. Mostly, I was
impressed with the positive reaction and the welcoming spirit extended to our
future colleagues at Continental.
The very
first person I spoke with, at 0530 local time, was Carol Greco, a cheerful
United customer service agent in the lobby of Newark, a huge hub for
Continental. Carol said, “I’m so excited!”
I realize
that you have many questions about how the merger will affect your flying,
seniority, travel privileges and many other work rules and benefits. The
announcement this week was the first step, and there are many more to occur
before the official merger transaction closes, followed by a multiyear
integration process across all areas. We are committed to positively
working through answers to these questions with all our union leaders and
stakeholders in accordance with the merger timeline.
We remain
two separate companies until close and, in fact, expect some healthy competition
over the next months. Please continue to do what you do best:
delivering extraordinary service to our customers and making every journey
a safe and pleasant travel experience.
If you
have not yet seen the new livery, it’s available on www.unitedcontinentalmerger.com
as are the new logo and marketing campaign for the combined company: “Let’s Fly
Together.”
Thank you
for your contributions in bringing us to this significant moment in United’s
84-year history, and let’s look forward to the next chapter and opportunities
ahead.
Alex
Marren
Senior
Vice President
Onboard
Service
Important
Information For Investors And Stockholders
This communication does not constitute
an offer to sell or the solicitation of an offer to buy any securities or a
solicitation of any vote or approval. The proposed merger of equals transaction
between UAL Corporation (“UAL”) and Continental Airlines, Inc. (“Continental”)
will be submitted to the respective stockholders of UAL and Continental for
their consideration. UAL will file with the Securities and Exchange
Commission (“SEC”) a registration statement on Form S-4 that will include a
joint proxy statement of Continental and UAL that also constitutes a prospectus
of UAL. UAL and Continental also plan to file other documents with the SEC
regarding the proposed transaction. INVESTORS AND SECURITY HOLDERS OF
CONTINENTAL ARE URGED TO READ THE JOINT PROXY STATEMENT/PROSPECTUS AND OTHER
RELEVANT DOCUMENTS THAT WILL BE FILED WITH THE SEC CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR
ENTIRETY WHEN THEY BECOME AVAILABLE BECAUSE THEY WILL CONTAIN IMPORTANT
INFORMATION ABOUT THE PROPOSED TRANSACTION. Investors and stockholders
will be able to obtain free copies of the joint proxy statement/prospectus and
other documents containing important information about UAL and Continental, once
such documents are filed with the SEC, through the website maintained by the SEC
at http://www.sec.gov. Copies of the documents filed with
the SEC by UAL will be available free of charge on UAL’s website at www.united.com under the tab “Investor Relations” or
by contacting UAL’s Investor Relations Department at (312) 997-8610.
Copies of the documents filed with the SEC by Continental will be
available free of charge on Continental’s website at www.continental.com under the tab “About Continental” and
then under the tab “Investor Relations” or by contacting Continental’s Investor
Relations Department at (713) 324-5152.
UAL,
Continental and certain of their respective directors and executive officers may
be deemed to be participants in the solicitation of proxies from the
stockholders of Continental in connection with the proposed transaction.
Information about the directors and executive officers of Continental is
set forth in its proxy statement for its 2010 annual meeting of stockholders,
which was filed with the SEC on April 23, 2010. Information about the
directors and executive officers of UAL is set forth in its proxy statement for
its 2010 annual meeting of stockholders, which was filed with the SEC on April
30, 2010. These documents can be obtained free of charge from the sources
indicated above. Other information regarding the participants in the proxy
solicitation and a description of their direct and indirect interests, by
security holdings or otherwise, will be contained in the joint proxy
statement/prospectus and other relevant materials to be filed with the SEC when
they become available.
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Cautionary Statement
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This communication contains
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of
the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are not limited to
historical facts, but reflect Continental’s and UAL’s current beliefs,
expectations or intentions regarding future events. Words such as “may,”
“will,” “could,” “should,” “expect,” “plan,” “project,” “intend,” “anticipate,”
“believe,” “estimate,” “predict,” “potential,” “pursue,” “target,” “continue,”
and similar expressions are intended to identify such forward-looking
statements. These forward-looking statements include, without limitation,
Continental’s and UAL’s expectations with respect to the synergies, costs and
other anticipated financial impacts of the proposed transaction; future
financial and operating results of the combined company; the combined company’s
plans, objectives, expectations and intentions with respect to future operations
and services; approval of the proposed transaction by stockholders and by
governmental regulatory authorities; the satisfaction of the closing conditions
to the proposed transaction; the timing of the completion of the proposed
transaction; and other factors that are set forth in the “Risk Factors” section,
the “Legal Proceedings” section, the “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of
Financial Condition and Results of Operations” section and other sections of
UAL’s and Continental’s Annual Reports on Form 10-K, subsequent Quarterly
Reports on Form 10-Q, recent Current Reports on Form 8-K, and other SEC filings.
All subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements concerning
Continental, UAL, the proposed transaction or other matters and attributable to
Continental or UAL or any person acting on their behalf are expressly qualified
in their entirety by the cautionary statements above. Neither Continental
nor UAL undertakes any obligation to publicly update any of these
forward-looking statements to reflect events or circumstances that may arise
after the date hereof.
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