United, Continental hammering out details on merger

By Richard N. Velotta (contact)

Monday, Oct. 25, 2010 | 11:41 a.m.

NEW ORLEANS – United Airlines, the third busiest air carrier at McCarran International Airport, next spring will begin announcing details of how service will change with its merger with Continental Airlines, one of the airline’s executives said today.

Cindy Szadokierski, vice president of operations planning and international operations for United, said 30 teams in June began working on different aspects of the merger that closed Oct. 1 and formed the world’s largest airline.

Szadokierski discussed United’s future at the three-day 15th annual Boyd Group International Aviation Forecast Summit here. Company officials are hoping to receive a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration by October 2011.

Szadokierski said seamless customer policies and procedures – particularly on frequent-flier programs – and the merging of the corporate culture of the two airlines are high on the priority list for blending the two carriers.

“If anything keeps me up at night about the merger, it’s learning the culture,” Szadokierski said, adding that she expects United will learn more from Continental’s ways because Continental has a better reputation for customer service than United. “The one thing we’re hearing is that we want to serve our customers well.”

When the integration is completed, the new United will serve 378 airports with hubs in 10 cities with 5,811 daily departures and an estimated 144 million passengers a year.

The merger is expected to bolster the new airline’s international presence, with United strong in Asia and Continental a market leader in Micronesia and Latin America. After the merger, the company will have 148 international destinations in 59 countries.

United hasn’t determined whether it would have three-class or four-class service on international routes. Szadokierski said one thing customers have made clear to the new United – they don’t want the company to end its Economy Plus product, a class of service that offers slightly more leg room.

Szadokierski didn’t give details of United’s domestic strategy, other than to confirm that it would aggressively compete with Southwest Airlines at its hub at Denver International Airport.

In Las Vegas, United competes with Southwest on the Denver route and also offers nonstop flights to and from Los Angeles, San Francisco, Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport and Washington’s Dulles International Airport.

Szadokierski also said the new United would keep Continental’s Cleveland hub intact. Analysts had speculated that the merged airline would jettison Cleveland as a hub because of the close proximity of Chicago.