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113-518: It was a hub for Continental Airlines , the original Frontier Airlines , People Express , United Airlines , and Western Airlines . Other airlines with smaller operations at Stapleton included Aspen Airways , today’s Frontier Airlines , and Rocky Mountain Airways , all three being based in Denver at the time. Stapleton International Airport was replaced by Denver International Airport in 1995; it

226-452: A Colorado anti-discrimination law to be applied to his case against Continental. Green flew with Continental for 13 years from 1965 until his retirement in 1978. His employment paved the way for the hiring of ethnic-minority pilots by all U.S. carriers, an industry milestone which was finally realized in 1977 after Southern Airways hired their first minority pilot. At Six's insistence, Continental (with Pan Am and Trans World Airlines )

339-541: A McDonnell Douglas DC-10 bound for London′s Gatwick Airport scheduled to depart at 8:30 pm but delayed– to take off from Stapleton at 9:27 pm. The aircraft was piloted by Captain Gary "Gomo" Greer, First Officer Scott Nutter and Second Officer Bob Horn. After Flight 34 cleared the runway at 9:39 pm, the airport was shut down, marking the end of 65 years of service. A convoy of ground service equipment and other vehicles (rental cars, baggage carts, fuel trucks, etc.) traveled to

452-555: A 17-cent-rate airmail contract between Pueblo and El Paso; it carried passengers as a sideline. Following cancellation of all domestic airmail contracts by the Roosevelt administration in 1934, Robert F. Six learned of an opportunity to buy into the Southwest Division of Varney Speed Lines which needed money to handle its newly won Pueblo-El Paso route. Six was introduced to Louis Mueller (who would serve as chairman of

565-414: A Western hub by the time Delta acquired that airline in 1987. In 1983 Arrow Air introduced transatlantic services to London and Manchester, and Condor flew a weekly charter to Frankfurt, Germany. Southwest Airlines and People Express tried low-cost service to Denver in the mid-1980s, but Southwest withdrew and People Express was acquired by Continental. In September 1982 the first revenue flight of

678-639: A broad expansion of its routes, thanks to a responsive CAB and persistent efforts by Six and Executive Vice President Harding Lawrence (who came to Continental in the Pioneer merger), who both frequently referred to his company as "the Airline that needs to grow." In 1958 Continental began turboprop flights with the Vickers Viscount on the new medium-haul routes. The British-manufactured Viscount four engine turboprop, which Continental referred to as

791-789: A contentious battle with Continental's management who were determined to resist Lorenzo. Management teamed with unions to create a planned Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) that would have doubled the number of outstanding shares without shareholder approval, thus diluting Texas Air's ownership stake and maintaining control of the airline. But management lost the legal battle to enact the ESOP without shareholder approval and with its 48.5 percent ownership stake, Texas Air could win any shareholder vote. During this struggle, in August 1981, Continental Airlines CEO Alvin Feldman died from suicide in his office and

904-577: A day each way. Pioneer's Executive Vice President Harding Luther Lawrence arrived at Continental as a result of the merger. Bob Six commented on more than one occasion that, "the reason we bought Pioneer was to get Harding." Harding Lawrence implemented several innovative changes at Continental as well as a flamboyant advertising campaign during his ten years as Six's protege. During Lawrence's tenure Continental grew by 500 percent. Lawrence left Continental in April 1965 to head Braniff Airways . Six petitioned

1017-419: A hub to a spoke city. Between 1993 and 1995, Continental experimented with an "airline within an airline" by launching CALite , later renamed Continental Lite , which provided all-economy, low-fare, no-frills service between primarily leisure destinations. Continental Lite operated with a dedicated fleet of 100 McDonnell Douglas DC-9-30 , Boeing 737-300 , and Boeing 737-500 aircraft, each repainted with

1130-523: A major competitive threat in 1983 when American Airlines was able to implement two-tier wage structures with its unions. American planned massive, rapid growth through new hires at starting pay 50 percent lower than existing contracts and equitable with low-cost, startup carriers and well below Continental's pay rates. American was already one of Continental's main competitors, operating a larger hub 250 miles north of Continental's southern hub in Houston and

1243-561: A major image change with a blue and gray livery and the "globe" logo that was adopted by the post-merger United Airlines. The airline also eliminated first class service—and only the second global carrier to take that action—giving business class passengers the same first class seats, a service change later to be marketed as Business First. On August 3, 1990, Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) and Texas Air announced that Jet Capital Corporation, which owned controlling interest in Texas Air,

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1356-512: A merger with US Airways . On May 2, 2010, the boards of directors at Continental and United approved a stock-swap deal that would combine them into the world's largest airline in revenue passenger miles . The new airline would take on United's name, Continental's logo and be based in United's hometown of Chicago. The new United would be run by Continental's CEO, Jeff Smisek, along with United's CEO, Glenn Tilton, serving as non-executive chairman of

1469-476: A mixture of Airbus and Boeing aircraft: Airbus A319s , Airbus A320s , Boeing 737s , Boeing 757s , Boeing 767s , Boeing 777s , and Boeing 787 Dreamliners with orders of Airbus A350s . At the time of the merger with United, Continental was the fourth-largest airline in the US based on passenger-miles flown and the fifth largest in total passengers carried. Continental operated flights to destinations throughout

1582-522: A more competitive route structure with routes radiating to every large U.S. city from major hubs at Denver and Houston. Continental also began developing its Midwest hub at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport in 1986, just as United Airlines began to transfer its Cleveland hub operations to Washington Dulles International Airport in Fairfax County, Virginia. In October 1986, American Airlines senior vice president Thomas G. Plaskett became

1695-463: A new airport. Adams County voters approved the plan in 1988, and Denver voters approved the plan in a 1989 referendum. To combat congestion, runway 18/36 was added in the 1980s and the terminal was again expanded with the $ 250-million (or $ 58-million according to the New York Times ), 24-gate Concourse E opening in 1988, despite Denver's replacement airport already being under construction. By

1808-636: A new terminal building opened in 1964; runway 17L opened sometime between 1975 and 1980. Stapleton adopted the "International" name in 1964, but its first nonstop international flight came in 1968, when Western began flights to Calgary . The Boeing 747 was introduced to Stapleton on Continental's Los Angeles route in 1970. In the early 1970s Frontier was in Concourse A, United occupied most of Concourse B, and Western and Continental occupied most of Concourse C. United and TWA served both coasts nonstop, while Continental and Western nonstop flights only extended to

1921-635: A nonstop service from Newark to Hong Kong , operating over the North circumpolar route. It was the first nonstop long-haul route for any airline with flying duration exceeding 16 hours. The service initiated a brief dispute between Continental, United Airlines and Cathay Pacific over rights to nonstop flights between Hong Kong and New York. On September 13, 2004, Continental entered the SkyTeam alliance along with Northwest/KLM and CSA. In 2005, Continental expanded service from Newark to Beijing after being awarded

2034-444: A pedestrian-oriented design rather than the automobile-oriented designs found in many other planned developments. Denver sought tenants for Stapleton's terminal and concourses, but these buildings proved ill-suited for alternative uses. A July 1997 hailstorm punched several thousand holes in the roofs of the old terminal and concourses, causing water damage, which compelled the city to tear them down. The airport's 12-story control tower

2147-946: A route for Continental from Los Angeles to Australia via Honolulu , American Samoa , Fiji, New Zealand and Australia. The South Pacific service began May 1, 1979. After the 1978 passage of the Airline Deregulation Act Continental embarked on a route expansion. October 1978 saw Continental begin flights from the New York area airports to Houston and Denver, and from Denver to Phoenix . That month Continental started DC-10 flights between Los Angeles and Taipei , via Honolulu and Guam . Service between Houston and Washington, D.C., began in January 1979. In June 1979 Continental linked Denver with Washington, D.C., Las Vegas, San Francisco and San Jose and also began Houston-Tampa service. The airline suffered in 1979 when

2260-554: A second gateway in India with the announcement of daily nonstop service to Mumbai . With the establishment of Mumbai service, Continental offered the most nonstop flights by any carrier from the United States to India. By May 2006, the carrier's passenger traffic surpassed that of Northwest Airlines , and Continental became the fourth-largest U.S. carrier. The Wall Street Journal reported on December 12, 2007, that Continental

2373-850: A share, netting proceeds of $ 149.8 million. Continental had been a principal shareholder in Copa. In June 2008, due to national and international economic conditions, Continental cut 3,000 jobs and the CEO and president had reduced salaries for the remainder of the year. The airline also reduced capacity and eliminated 67 mainline aircraft from its fleet by the end of 2009, retiring all of Continental's 737-300s and all but 35 of its 737-500s. Continental also announced that it planned to withdraw from SkyTeam and would join Star Alliance in order to cooperate more extensively with United Airlines and other Star Alliance airlines. The new Continental-United relationship

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2486-415: A single operating certificate by 2012. Continental's air operator's certificate (AOC) was retained, while those of United and Continental Micronesia were surrendered. On the other hand, United's maintenance certificate remained while Continental's did not. On October 1, 2010, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines completed the planned merger and changed the name to United Continental Holdings. Although

2599-451: A single operating certificate from the FAA on November 30, 2011. That day, all Continental flights began to use the "United" callsign in air traffic control communications which marked the end of Continental Airlines. The new United is the third largest airline in terms of fleet size, behind American Airlines and Delta. The combined airline houses a fleet of over 1,280 aircraft that features

2712-399: A substantial premium for Frontier's high-cost operation. The acquisition, funded by debt, did not seem rational to industry observers from either the route integration or the operating philosophy points of view. On August 24, 1986, Frontier filed for bankruptcy and ceased operations. With PeopleExpress losing money, Texas Air announced the acquisition of PeopleExpress on September 15, 1986, at

2825-473: A total cost of $ 64 million for the Boeings, Viscounts and DC-7Bs—was launched in 1955 when the carrier's net worth amounted to $ 5.5 million.") During the late 1950s and early 1960s, Six was the airline industry's leading lower-fare advocate. He predicted that increased traffic, not higher fares, was the answer to the airline industry's problems. To amazement from the industry, he introduced the economy fare on

2938-667: The Los Angeles Times , and, "... clearly, the finest in the airline industry" by the Chicago Tribune . In the early 1960s, Continental added flights from Los Angeles to Houston, nonstop as well as via Phoenix, Tucson, El Paso, Midland-Odessa, Austin, and/or San Antonio. In 1963, the company headquarters moved from Denver to Los Angeles. By late 1963, Continental had discontinued service to most of its smaller cities in Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas with

3051-615: The Boeing 767 arrived at Stapleton, a United flight from O'Hare International Airport in Chicago. During the energy boom of the early 1980s, several skyscrapers were built in downtown Denver, including Republic Plaza (Denver's tallest at 714′). Due to Stapleton's location 3 miles (4.8 km) east of downtown, the Federal Aviation Administration imposed a building height restriction of 700'-715' (depending on

3164-484: The Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB) for longer routes to larger cities, hoping to transform the regional into a trunkline like United Airlines , TWA , and American Airlines . He was discussing with Boeing for Continental to become one of the first to operate the soon-to-be-launched 707 . The timing was crucial, since new routes would justify the 707s, and vice versa. Continental Airlines had seen

3277-662: The Great Plains states; Western's strengths were in the California intrastate market, Alaska, Mexico, and the Intermountain West . Both airlines served the Pacific Northwest and Rocky Mountain states, but along different routes from Los Angeles, Denver, San Francisco, Seattle and Phoenix. The merger attempt failed when Texas Air Corporation interceded with its acquisition of Continental. With

3390-494: The "Jet Power Viscount II", was the first turbine powered aircraft operated by the airline with Continental claiming it was "First in the west with jet-power flights". The CAB permitted Continental to drop service at many smaller cities, enabling the carrier's new aircraft to operate more economically on longer flights. In 1960 Continental flew more than three times the passenger-miles it had in 1956. ( Aviation Week June 22, 1959: "Continental's current re-equipment program—involving

3503-725: The 'Lite' livery and stripped of its first class cabin. The service was based primarily at Continental's existing hub in Cleveland as well as a new hub established in Greensboro, North Carolina . The experiment proved unsuccessful and was dissolved in 1995. Continental's short-lived Greensboro hub was dismantled in the process. During this time period Continental was the subject of hostile takeover bids submitted by Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines . Former Boeing executive Gordon Bethune became president and CEO in October 1994 and

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3616-521: The 100 Best Companies to Work for in America for six consecutive years. In his final year piloting the airline Fortune magazine ranked Continental 2004's No. 1 Most Admired Global Airline, a title it earned again in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008. While at Continental, Bethune created the Go-Forward plan, to fix problems with the airline, which included employee morale, the quality of the product, and

3729-746: The 1970s; the DC-10s took over most flights between Denver and Chicago, Los Angeles, Houston and Seattle, and between Houston and Los Angeles. During the 1970s, Denver served as the airline's main hub. The 747s were focused on the Chicago-Los Angeles-Honolulu routes, with one daily round trip through Denver. The DC-10s served large markets (Los Angeles to Chicago, Denver, Houston and Honolulu; and from Denver to Chicago, Los Angeles, Seattle and Houston). DC-9s and 727s predominated elsewhere and added frequencies on DC-10 routes. Next to Braniff , Continental operated fewer aircraft types (four:

3842-410: The 707 maintenance program. It developed the "progressive maintenance" program, which enabled Continental to fly its 707 fleet seven days a week, achieving greater aircraft utilization than any other jet operator in the industry. Six, not being satisfied with 707 service, introduced innovations and luxe cuisine on Continental's 707 flights which were described as, "... nothing short of luxurious" by

3955-498: The 747, DC-10, 727-200, and DC-9-10 ) during this period than any U.S. trunkline, affording savings in parts, maintenance, and crew training. The DC-10 enabled the airline to capitalize on traffic growth in the west. Continental saw market share grow annually in each DC-10 market through the 1970s, until relative market parity was achieved with United, the principal competitor on most of the DC-10 routes. The same innovations introduced on

4068-527: The 747s appeared on Continental's DC-10s, including the "Polynesian Pub", but after the 1973 oil crisis more seats were needed and the DC-10 pubs were removed. Continental phased out its 747s in 1978 in favor of the DC-10s (747s would return to Continental during the Lorenzo era, flying Newark to London and Paris). From the mid-1970s until it merged with Texas International, Continental operated only DC-10s, 727-100s, and 727-200s. From 1961 to 1982, Continental

4181-620: The Airline Deregulation Act the world changed for Continental as noted by Smithsonian historian R.E.G. Davies: "Unfortunately, the policies that had been successful for more than forty years under (Robert) Six's cavalier style of management were suddenly laid bare as the cold winds of airline deregulation changed all the rules -- specifically, the balance between revenues and expenditures." In 1981, Texas Air Corporation , an airline holding company controlled by U.S. aviation entrepreneur Frank Lorenzo , acquired Continental after

4294-565: The Chicago-Los Angeles route in 1962. He later pioneered a number of other low or discount fares which made air travel available to many who could not previously afford it. One of Continental's early innovations was a system-wide economy excursion fare which cut the standard coach fares by more than 25%. Continental took delivery of the first of five 707-124s in spring 1959, and started Chicago-Los Angeles nonstop on June 8. Having so few jets, Continental needed radical innovations to

4407-461: The China route. Among U.S. airlines, only Delta (with its extensive network of legacy routes dating from Delta's acquisition of Pan American's European network) served more European destinations than Continental. In 2005, service to Asia was expanded as Continental introduced daily nonstop service between Newark and New Delhi , India. The success of this Newark-New Delhi route presaged establishment of

4520-474: The DC-10 was grounded nationwide following the crash of American Airlines Flight 191 . Continental Airlines only operated the DC-10 and the 727 at the time, so flights to Hawaii were cancelled during the grounding. By the time of the Texas Air Corp. acquisition in 1981, Continental's post-deregulation growth had allowed it to penetrate every major U.S. airline market (and all of the regional markets) from

4633-751: The Transpacific Case, but they were cancelled by the Nixon Administration. During the Vietnam War , Continental provided extensive cargo and troop transportation for United States Army and Marine Corps forces to Asian and the Pacific bases. Continental's long range Boeing 707-324Cs were the most common non-military aircraft transiting Saigon Tan Son Nhat airport; in 1967, 39% of CO's passenger-miles were on scheduled flights. With Continental's experience in Pacific operations,

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4746-584: The U.S., Canada, Latin America, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific regions. Principal operations were from its four hubs at Newark Liberty International Airport , George Bush Intercontinental Airport ( Houston ), Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Antonio B. Won Pat International Airport in Guam. The only Continental hubs to be rebranded are Cleveland Hopkins International Airport and Houston's George Bush Intercontinental Airport . The Newark hub began

4859-532: The Viscount fleet with Douglas DC-9-10s and then added Boeing 727-100s and 727-200s . The DC-9 and 727 were to become the workhorses of the fleet from the late 1960s. The DC-9s were phased out by the late 1970s (although the type reappeared after mergers in the 1980s with an example being Texas International Airlines DC-9s which were added to the CO fleet); the 727-200 was the mainstay of its narrow-body fleet until

4972-489: The Web for all their travel needs. Continental was the first airline to use this technology. On January 1, 2010, Jeff Smisek, former president and COO, became the CEO of Continental Airlines. Continental also planned to start seasonal nonstop service between Portland International Airport (PDX) and Ted Stevens International Airport (ANC) , putting Continental in direct competition with former partner Alaska Airlines . The route

5085-644: The acquisition, UAL Corporation changed its name to United Continental Holdings. During the integration period, each airline ran a separate operation under the direction of a combined leadership team, based in Chicago . The integration was completed on March 3, 2012. Although the merged airline retained the United name, it uses Continental's operating certificate and livery. On June 27, 2019, United changed its parent company name from United Continental Holdings to United Airlines Holdings . Varney Speed Lines (named after one of its initial owners, Walter T. Varney , who

5198-562: The airline industry, which would dissolve the CAB and for the first time in industry history allow U.S. carriers to determine without government supervision where they would fly, and how much they could charge. Continental began flights from Denver to Miami/Ft. Lauderdale and Tampa/St. Petersburg in Florida. That year, President Carter authorized Continental to begin daily round trips between Air Micronesia destination Saipan and Japan, and approved

5311-531: The airline should have its headquarters in a large city with a potential base of customers. Continental moved its headquarters to Los Angeles in July 1963. The airfield was renamed Stapleton Airfield on 25 August 1944, in honor of Mayor Stapleton, who had served from 1923-1931 and from 1935 until 1947. Stapleton's modern horseshoe-shaped terminal design was announced in 1946, and was shelved in 1947 by incoming mayor James Newton. The original administration building

5424-471: The airline's merger with PeopleExpress Airlines in 1987. With that merger came significant customer service issues, especially in the Northeast, for a period of time. In October 1985, Texas Air Corp. made an offer for a Denver-based regional carrier, Frontier Airlines , opening a bidding war with PeopleExpress , which was headed by Lorenzo's former Texas International associate Don Burr . PeopleExpress paid

5537-446: The airport's largest carrier. On the other hand, despite leaving Stapleton in the 1980s due to congestion, the new Denver International Airport would eventually become Southwest's largest base. On February 27, 1995, Delta Flight 569 from Dallas/Ft.Worth was the last revenue flight to land at Stapleton, scheduled for 7:59 pm. Later that evening, air traffic controller George Hosford cleared the last revenue flight – Continental Flight 34,

5650-672: The arrangements, Air Canada would have 24 percent of the voting stock, while Air Partners would hold 41 percent of voting interest in the reorganized Continental. Continental emerged from bankruptcy in April 1993. In March 1993, the airline cancelled its services to nine U.S. destinations and six non-U.S. destinations, including all 24 weekly services between the United States and Australia and New Zealand in addition to its flights between Guam and Australia, effective October 31 of that year. In 1994, Continental substantially reduced its jet services in Denver and terminated all turboprop operations, which had been unprofitable, reducing Denver from being

5763-659: The balance between revenues and expenditures." In 1981, Texas International Airlines acquired a controlling interest in Continental. The companies were merged in 1982, moved to Houston, and grew into one of the country's largest carriers despite facing financial and labor issues, eventually becoming one of the more successful airlines in the United States. Continental and United Airlines merged in an $ 8.5 billion all-stock merger of equals on October 1, 2010. Continental's shareholders received 1.05 per share in United stock for each Continental share they owned. Upon completion of

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5876-524: The board of Continental until February 28, 1966). Mueller had helped found the Southwest Division of Varney in 1934 with Walter T. Varney. As an upshot of all this, Six bought into the airline with US$ 90,000 and became general manager on July 5, 1936. The carrier was renamed Continental Air Lines (later changed to "Airlines") on July 8, 1937. Six relocated the airline's headquarters to Denver Union (later Stapleton) Airport in Denver in October 1937. Six changed

5989-498: The board. The deal received approval from US and European regulators in the summer of 2010. The shareholders of both airlines approved the deal on September 17, 2010. Both airlines had been reporting losses in the recession and expected the merger to generate savings of more than $ 1 billion a year. In August 2010, Continental and United revealed a new logo that was used after the merger was complete. Both carriers planned to begin merging operations in 2011 and were expected to receive

6102-504: The building's position). This allowed an unimpeded glide slope for runways (8L/26R) and (8R/26L). The height restriction was lifted in 1995, well after the city's skyscrapers had been erected. By the 1980s, plans were under way to replace Stapleton, which had a number of problems, including: The Colorado General Assembly brokered a deal in 1985 to annex a plot of land in Adams County into the city of Denver, and use that land to build

6215-471: The carrier formed subsidiary Air Micronesia in May 1968, inaugurating island hopping routes between Yap / Saipan / Guam , Majuro , Rota, Truk , Ponape ( Pohnpei ) and Honolulu. "Air Mike", as it was known, initially operated with Boeing 727-100 aircraft with open-ocean survival gear, doppler radar, and a large complement of spare parts (including tires). A senior mechanic flew on every Air Mike flight until

6328-553: The company's existing business as consumers were for the first time able to choose lower fares over Continental's better service. In 1978 Continental and Western Airlines , which held a nearby headquarters and similar fleet, began a nearly three-year attempt to merge. The route systems would have been complementary, with little overlap; although they both served the Western states, Continental had strength in Hawaii, southern-tier and

6441-410: The company's reorganization. They were later successful in working to persuade Congress to pass a new bankruptcy law preventing bankrupt companies from terminating contracts as Continental had successfully done, but the law was too late to affect Continental. Chapter 11 saved the company from liquidation, but required substantial reorganization, which began immediately. Following bankruptcy, Continental

6554-537: The early 1950s, Continental began several interchange routes with American, Braniff, and United Airlines. Routes were operated on American from Los Angeles and San Francisco to El Paso continuing onto Continental's route to San Antonio and Houston. Continental's Denver to Kansas City route would interchange onto St. Louis with Braniff Airways and United's routes from Seattle and Portland to Denver would interchange with Continental's routes onto Wichita and Tulsa. These interchange routes continued for many years until Continental

6667-526: The early 1990s, Concourses A and B were exclusively used by United and United Express; Continental used most of Concourses C and D, and most other airlines moved to Concourse E. In the early 1990s, several charter services to the United Kingdom were introduced, and Martinair inaugurated services to Amsterdam until Stapleton's closure. Continental closed its Stapleton pilot and flight attendant bases in October 1994, reducing operations and making United

6780-436: The exception of Lawton, OK and Wichita Falls, TX which continued operating with DC-9 and 727 jets until 1977. Total passenger-miles in 1967 were more than five times greater than in 1960, but 61% of the 1967 total was on unscheduled flights (mostly transpacific charters). During the late 1960s the company disposed of the last of its turboprop and piston-powered aircraft—one of the first U.S. airlines to do so. Continental replaced

6893-403: The first U.S. carrier to inaugurate scheduled service between New York and Shanghai , China, with daily nonstop flights from Newark. In June 2009, Continental Airlines took delivery of another new Boeing 737-900ER, which was painted with a retro livery to commemorate the airline's 75th anniversary. The livery, which was originally used on aircraft beginning in 1947 and is called The Blue Skyway,

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7006-457: The first airline to launch a mobile boarding pass service to London's Heathrow. The service allowed customers to receive boarding passes electronically on their mobile phones or PDAs. Continental Airlines left the SkyTeam alliance on October 24, 2009, and joined Star Alliance on October 27, 2009. In February 2008, UAL Corporation and Continental Airlines began the advanced stages of merger talks and were expected to announce their decision in

7119-571: The growth that was funded by the lower pay rates was larger than all of Continental at the time. In 1983, Continental went to its unions to restructure labor costs to compete with the startup carriers and American's Plan B labor costs. After 19 months of negotiations, the International Association of Mechanics and Aerospace Workers went on strike in August 1983, even though the company was offering 20 percent pay raises in return for substantial productivity improvements. Continental

7232-421: The hubs in Denver and Houston, with the corresponding expansion of facilities at both of these airports. But that growth came at the cost of continuing losses. In Denver, Continental's rapid growth provided the final impetus for the construction of the new Denver International Airport , which would be completed almost fifteen years later. While deregulation allowed Continental to expand into new areas, it hurt

7345-439: The immediate aftermath of a definitive merger agreement between rival Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines . The timing of the events was notable because Northwest's golden shares in Continental (that gave Northwest veto authority against any merger involving Continental) could be redeemed, freeing Continental to pursue a marriage with United. On April 27, 2008, Continental broke off merger negotiations with United and stated it

7458-419: The initial stages of bankruptcy, with no legal agreement that would allow travel agents to book flights, passengers could only book directly with the airline. And, with no credit card agreements, Continental could only accept cash for travel. Continental began offering flights for only $ 49 for each nonstop segment, raising it later to $ 75 on any segment. In the federal courts, the unions unsuccessfully sued to stop

7571-417: The largest of which was Chicago/Los Angeles. However, deregulation in 1978 changed the competitive landscape and realities, as noted by Smithsonian Airline Historian R. E. G. Davies , "Unfortunately, the policies that had been successful for more than forty years under (Robert) Six's cavalier style of management were suddenly laid bare as the cold winds of airline deregulation changed all the rules—specifically,

7684-568: The late 1970s. Air Micronesia operated as subsidiary Continental Micronesia until 2010. In September 1969, Continental began flights from Los Angeles to Honolulu/Hilo and one month later from Albuquerque to Chicago, San Antonio, and San Francisco. In 1970, Continental was awarded routes from Seattle and Portland to San Jose, Hollywood-Burbank Airport, and Ontario, California—all of them growing markets. In 1963, Continental denied employment to African-American pilot and Air Force veteran, Marlon D. Green . A United States Supreme Court decision allowed

7797-534: The late 1980s. In 1968 a new livery was launched: orange and gold cheatlines on a white fuselage; and a black "jetstream" logo (by Six's friend, the noted graphic designer Saul Bass ) on the iconic "Golden Tails" of the airline's aircraft. The slogans adopted in 1968 and used for more than a decade were, "The Airline That Pride Built" and, "The Proud Bird with the Golden Tail". 1960s saw international routes awarded to Continental (to New Zealand and Australia) in

7910-590: The name to "Continental" because he wanted the airline name to reflect his desire to have the airline fly all directions throughout the United States. During World War II, Continental's Denver maintenance base converted Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses , Boeing B-29 Superfortresses and North American P-51 Mustangs for the United States Army Air Forces . Profits from military transportation and aircraft conversion enabled Continental to contemplate expansion and acquisition of new airliners after

8023-420: The new Denver International Airport (DEN) , which opened at 12:01 am on February 28. When it closed in 1995, Stapleton had six runways (two sets of three parallel runways) and five terminal concourses. The runways at Stapleton were then marked with large yellow "X"s, which indicated it was no longer legal or safe for aircraft to land there. The IATA and ICAO airport codes of DEN and KDEN were transferred to

8136-406: The new DIA, to coincide with the same changes in airline and ATC computers, to ensure that flights to Denver would land at the new DIA. The main reason the decision was made to close the airport was because the runways were too close together. This would mean air traffic controllers would have to stagger airplane movements. Also, most of the runways were too short, considering the fact that the airport

8249-547: The new airline startups then emerging and thriving in the southwestern U.S. By the end of 1984, Continental had grown back to be a larger airline than pre-bankruptcy and that year recorded a $ 50 million profit. Continental was the first airline to largely gradually replace a pilot workforce and the working pilots ultimately voted the union out. On April 28, 1985, Continental inaugurated its first scheduled service to Europe with flights from Houston to London/Gatwick. Additional service from Newark to London and Paris started after

8362-823: The new airport's opening, Denver had been served by a number of smaller facilities, including an airstrip along Smith Road in Aurora (first used in 1911), an airfield at 26th Avenue and Oneida Street, Lowry Field near 38th Avenue and Dahlia Street, and Denver Union Airport at 46th Avenue east of Colorado Boulevard. In the late 1930s the facilities consisted of two hangars and a small administration building mainly used for air mail processing. United Airlines and Continental Airlines began service in 1937. The March 1939 Official Aviation Guide (OAG) shows nine weekday departures: seven United and two Continental. Continental moved its headquarters from El Paso, Texas , to Denver in October 1937, as airline president Robert F. Six believed that

8475-401: The northeastern markets. In July 1987, Plaskett resigned and Lorenzo returned to the position of CEO. 1987 saw the creation of Continental's OnePass frequent flier program (jointly with Eastern Airlines ); and, in 1988, Continental formed its first strategic partnership (and the first international airline alliance of its kind) with Scandinavian Airlines System (SAS) . Continental also made

8588-455: The president and CEO of Continental Airlines. On February 1, 1987, People Express , Frontier , New York Air , and several commuter carriers were merged into Continental Airlines to create the sixth largest airline in the world and became the largest low-fare airline by introducing the industry's first non-refundable airfares, initially called MaxSavers. The mergers and the aggressive marketing led to Continental becoming an even larger player in

8701-493: The rebranding process on October 19, 2011, with all United-operated ticket counters and gates to be rebranded in Phase One; Phase Two of rebranding at Newark began in 2012 with Continental ticket counters and gates to be rebranded. On November 30, 2011, Continental officially merged with United and no longer operates as a separate airline. On March 3, 2012, Continental's passenger reservation system and frequent flyer program

8814-463: The required nine-month notice. Additionally, Continental joined the Star Alliance, as Delta and Northwest merged. United was reported to be in serious merger discussion with US Airways in early April 2010. A New York Times report indicated that a deal was close. Union consent was cited as a major hurdle for negotiators to clear. On April 22, 2010, United announced that it would not pursue

8927-409: The resultant Gulf War , which had prompted a dramatic increase in the price of jet fuel, Continental filed for bankruptcy. In mid-1991 Harris was replaced as CEO by Robert Ferguson, who had been a Texas Air executive. In November 1992, Continental accepted a $ 450 million buyout offer from an investor group composed of Air Partners, an investor from Texas led by Texas Pacific Group, and Air Canada. Under

9040-475: The route structure, among others. Bethune began by ordering new aircraft in an effort to convert to an all-Boeing fleet. Beginning in 1998, Continental again embarked on a program to expand its international operations. It inaugurated services to Ireland and Scotland, and in October 1998 the airline received its first Boeing 777-200ER aircraft, allowing nonstop flights from Newark and Houston to Tokyo–Narita , and from Newark to Tel Aviv, Israel . Continental in

9153-619: The same time gaining Frontier, whose strong network in the Great Plains and intermountain West reinforced Continental's already formidable Denver hub. The PeopleExpress acquisition also provided the option to acquire Terminal C at Newark Liberty International Airport and allow Continental to build a formidable hub in the New York market. With a reorganization plan that repaid creditors 100 percent, Continental emerged from bankruptcy on June 30, 1986, with improved asset and cash flow positions and

9266-406: The same year launched partnerships with Northwest Airlines , Copa Airlines , Avant Airlines , Transbrasil , and Cape Air , and Continental and America West Airlines became the first two US airlines to launch interline electronic ticketing. In 1999, Continental Airlines started service between Newark and Zurich, Switzerland, and from Cleveland to London. On March 1, 2001, Continental launched

9379-487: The standard for service in the western U.S. On June 1, 1972, Continental's widebody DC-10 service began. Six had insisted that Continental place a large order for DC-10s with manufacturer McDonnell Douglas . This decision again proved prescient, since the publicity associated with Continental's splashy 747 service Chicago-Denver-Los Angeles-Honolulu had stimulated increased market share and increased traffic for all carriers. Denver, Houston and Seattle were growing rapidly in

9492-695: The two airlines remained separate until the operational integration was completed by mid-2012, as of that day both airlines were corporately controlled by the same leadership. On June 27, 2019, United changed its parent company name from United Continental Holdings to United Airlines Holdings . On December 22, 2010, Continental Airlines merged operating certificates with Continental Micronesia. All Continental Micronesia flights were then branded and operated by Continental Airlines. Both carriers began merging their operations in 2011. On March 22, UCH announced that they had plans to offer Wi-Fi Service on more than 200 domestic Boeing 737 and 757 aircraft. The airlines attained

9605-696: The value of its fuel hedges. In January 2009, Continental became the first commercial carrier to successfully demonstrate the use of sustainable biofuel to power an aircraft in North America. During the demonstration flight, Continental's test pilots successfully conducted a number of flight maneuvers, and the biofuel met all performance requirements as compared with traditional jet fuel. The biofuel blend included components derived from algae and jatropha plants, both sustainable, second-generation sources that do not impact food crops or water resources or contribute to deforestation. In March 2009, Continental became

9718-666: The war. Among those were the Douglas DC-3 , the Convair 240 and the Convair 340 . The Convairs were Continental's first pressurized airliners. The airline's early route was El Paso to Albuquerque and Denver, with routes being added during the war from Denver, Albuquerque, and El Paso eastward across Kansas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, and Texas. In 1946 Continental flew Denver to Kansas City, Wichita, Tulsa, and to Oklahoma City, and from El Paso and Albuquerque to San Antonio. Each route included stops in several of 22 smaller cities. In

9831-409: The western half of the country. Concourse D was built in 1972. After deregulation , Denver's four major airlines developed hubs at Stapleton. United occupied Concourse B, Continental and Western occupied Concourse C and Frontier occupied Concourse D. Western flew nonstop between Denver and London in 1981 and 1982, but then shifted resources to Salt Lake City and Los Angeles ; Denver had ceased to be

9944-495: Was a major airline in the United States that operated from 1934 until it merged with United Airlines in 2012. It had ownership interests and brand partnerships with several carriers. Continental started out as one of the smaller carriers in the United States, known for its limited operations under the regulated era that provided very fine, almost fancy, service against the larger majors in important point-to-point markets,

10057-551: Was able to operate through the strike because many mechanics crossed picket lines and Continental hired new mechanics. The company continued to negotiate with the pilots and flight attendants and management gave a final proposal to its pilots in mid-September, which would have provided ownership by the pilots and other employees of 35 percent of the company's stock in return for meaningful wage and productivity changes. With no agreement, Continental filed Chapter 11 bankruptcy on September 24, 1983, and shut down for three days. Continental

10170-462: Was able to secure routes of its own between each city. In 1955, Continental merged with Pioneer Air Lines , gaining access to 16 more cities in Texas and New Mexico. In August 1953, Continental flew to 35 airports and Pioneer flew to 19, but Continental's network didn't reach beyond Denver, El Paso, Houston and Kansas City until April 1957 when it started Chicago-Denver-Los Angeles, two Douglas DC-7 Bs

10283-534: Was also a founder of United Airlines ) was formed in 1934, operating airmail and passenger services in the American Southwest over a route originating from El Paso and extending through Albuquerque , Santa Fe , and Las Vegas, New Mexico , to Pueblo, Colorado . The airline commenced operations with the Lockheed Vega , a single-engine plane that carried four passengers. Varney was awarded

10396-472: Was an agreement to link international networks and share technology and passenger perks. This agreement was termed a "virtual merger" as it included many of the benefits of a merger without the actual costs and restructuring involved. The alliance took effect about a year after Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines completed their merger, as that released Continental from the SkyTeam contract and allowed for

10509-564: Was at 5,333 ft above sea level. Denver International Airport runways are all at or over 12,000 feet in length (runway 16/34L is 16,000 feet). While Denver International was being built, planners began to consider how the Stapleton site would be redeveloped. A private group of Denver civic leaders, the Stapleton Development Foundation, convened in 1990 and produced a master plan for the site in 1995, emphasizing

10622-424: Was changed to United Airlines, Inc. The designer Saul Bass designed the Continental "Jet Stream" logo in the late 1960s. In the 1990s, the design agency Lippincott introduced the globe logo. Before it merged, Continental's livery consisted of a white fuselage, with the globe in blue and gold, and a gray underside. The combined United Airlines adopted the pre-merger Continental Airlines livery and logo following

10735-694: Was characterized as a "virtual merger" in some circles. In September 2008, Continental announced that it would commence providing seasonal non-stop service between Houston and Rio de Janeiro . The new nonstop flight was timed to provide roundtrip flight connections at Continental's Houston hub to more than 160 cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Central America, Europe, and Asia. Continental renewed its lease for around 450,000 square feet (42,000 m ) in Continental Center I . Continental announced that its fourth quarter 2008 net loss widened to $ 266 million on costs for pilot retirement and reducing

10848-485: Was closed and the property redeveloped as the commercial and residential neighborhood of Central Park , which was named Stapleton until 2020. The Stapleton International Airport codes were transferred to the new airport, which continues to use them today. Stapleton opened in 1929 as Denver Municipal Airport on October 17. The development of the airport was spearheaded by Denver mayor Benjamin F. Stapleton and Improvements and Parks Department manager Charles Vail. Prior to

10961-435: Was elected chairman of the board of directors in 1996. Continental went from being ranked last in most performance categories to winning more J.D. Power and Associates awards for Customer Satisfaction than any other airline. BusinessWeek magazine named Bethune one of the top 25 Global Managers in 1996 and 1997. Under his leadership Continental's stock price rose from $ 2 to over $ 50 per share. Fortune named Continental among

11074-939: Was extended with new wings in the early 1950s, and replaced entirely in 1954. DC-4 nonstop flights to Chicago, San Francisco and Los Angeles began in 1946; DC-6 nonstops to Washington DC began in 1951 and to New York in 1952. Denver then had five airlines: United flew across the country, Continental flew south and east, Braniff flew to Texas, Frontier flew to smaller cities north and south from Denver, and Western connected Denver to Minneapolis and to Edmonton in Canada. TWA and Central arrived in 1956. The April 1957 OAG shows 38 daily United departures, 12 for Continental, 7 Braniff, 7 Frontier, 7 Western, 5 TWA and 1 Central. The jet age arrived in May 1959 when Continental began operating Boeing 707s to Stapleton, initially under weight restrictions due to Stapleton's runway weight capacity. (Scheduled 707s started in August 1959.) Runway 17/35 and

11187-448: Was freed of its contractual obligations and imposed a series of new labor agreements on its union workers, sharply reducing the airline's labor costs. Continental's senior management also reduced their salaries to those of the pilots. The pilot strike was ultimately unsuccessful due to Continental pilots and new hires who crossed the picket line, and customers who voted with their pocketbook. Continental became vastly more competitive with

11300-458: Was going to stand alone. Despite ending merger talks, Continental announced that it would join United in the Star Alliance. United and US Airways were in advanced merger talks in late April 2008, following the announcement that Continental had broken off talks with United. In June 2008, the CEOs of both United and Continental signed an alliance pact that led to their eventual merger. The alliance

11413-665: Was headquartered at the west end of the Los Angeles International Airport on World Way West. The facility included the general offices, system operations control, the central maintenance facility, flight kitchen, and Los Angeles crew bases. In 1974, after years of delays and legal proceedings, Continental started flights between Houston and Miami, and on May 21, 1976, Continental was authorized to operate long-sought routes between San Diego and Denver. President Jimmy Carter and Civil Aeronautics Board chairman Alfred Kahn had been promoting deregulation of

11526-747: Was in merger discussions with United Airlines. Of issue would be Continental's golden share held by Northwest Airlines and the divestiture of Continental's Guamanian hub. A deal was not "certain or imminent", with the talks being of a preliminary nature. In April 2008, at the height of oil prices, Northwest announced a merger with Delta Air Lines. This allowed Continental to buy back the golden share from Northwest Airlines, which it did. Continental then renewed merger talks with United Airlines, but broke them off again that same month. In May 2008, Continental Airlines sold its remaining 4.38 million share investment in Panamanian flag carrier Copa for $ 35.75

11639-502: Was merged into United. The last Continental Airlines flight taking off was "Continental Flight 1267", flying from Phoenix to Cleveland, and arriving into the latter as "United Flight 1267". United Airlines, Inc. merged into Continental Airlines, Inc., with Continental Airlines, Inc. being the surviving corporate entity and a wholly owned subsidiary of the UAL Corporation, on March 31, 2013. The name of Continental Airlines, Inc.,

11752-540: Was no progress with the other unions. On October 31, 1982, following approval by shareholders of both companies, Continental merged operations with Texas International , retaining the Continental identity and offering service to four continents (North and South America, Asia and Australia) with a fleet of 112 aircraft. Continental launched its frequent flyer program, initially called Travel Bank, in September 1982, following that of Texas International Airlines in 1979, which

11865-496: Was one of the three launch airlines for the Boeing 747 . On June 26, 1970, Continental became the second carrier (after TWA) to put the 747 into U.S. domestic service. Its upper-deck first class lounge and main deck "Polynesian Pub" won awards worldwide for the most refined cabin interior among all airlines, as did meal services developed by Continental's Cordon Bleu-trained executive chef, Lucien DeKeyser. Continental's 747 services from Chicago and Denver to Los Angeles and Honolulu set

11978-476: Was retained and served for a time as part of the new Punch Bowl Social, a restaurant and social gathering spot. The office building attached to the tower housed the kitchens and social areas; the tower is closed to public access but is available for private tours. Most of Stapleton's airport infrastructure has been removed, except for the control tower and some hangars, used by Denver Police Academy and by Arise Church Denver among others. The final parking structure

12091-569: Was scheduled to start on June 10, 2010. On February 16, Continental, along with its wholly owned subsidiary Continental Micronesia , announced that it applied for nonstop flights to Tokyo-Haneda as part of an open-skies agreement between the US and Japan. Continental planned to begin services to Tokyo-Haneda from its New York/Newark hub in late October 2010, and Continental Micronesia planned to start service to Haneda Airport from its Guam hub. However, Haneda slots were awarded to American, Delta, and Hawaiian Airlines instead. Continental Airlines became

12204-556: Was selected by Continental employees. Continental flew the aircraft to its three hubs for anniversary celebration events for employees and retirees. Post-merger, United maintained the livery, but on a different 737-900ER than the aircraft originally carrying it. In July 2009 Continental began to offer DirecTV , giving customers the choice of 95 channels of live television programming, more channels than any other carrier. Continental also launched Virtual Expert technology on their website at continental.com, offering customers 24-hour support on

12317-413: Was selling its interest to SAS. Under the agreements, Lorenzo would be leaving the active management of the airline as CEO for the first time in 18 years and would remain on the board of directors for two further years. At the same time, Hollis Harris , formerly President of Delta Air Lines, was named chairman and chief executive officer. On December 3, 1990, due to the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait and

12430-712: Was succeeded by George Warde. In three letters left to his children, Feldman said he had been depressed since the death of his wife the previous year. Lorenzo became Continental Chairman and CEO in March 1982. He and his team viewed the company as stuck in the pre-deregulation era and in need of serious changes to be competitive. Continental was experiencing significant financial challenges both before and after Texas Air's takeover, and management showed how Continental could not compete and survive with its cost structure. The pilots union agreed to some cost reductions in mid-1982, primarily through modest productivity improvements, but there

12543-471: Was the first airline to file for bankruptcy with a plan to continue operating as it did continuously starting September 27, 1983. Airline unions fought Continental at every step. On October 1, 1983, the pilots and flight attendants joined the IAM, which was still on strike. When Continental resumed service three days after filing Chapter 11, it initially served 25 cities versus the more than 70 cities previously. In

12656-424: Was the industry's first frequent flyer program, and American Airlines AAdvantage program in 1981. In mid-1983, Continental relocated its headquarters to Texas International's base in Houston, Texas, which resulted in a large expansion of its hub at Houston Intercontinental Airport and extensive new routes to Mexico and the south central U.S. Even with the cost reductions from the pilots in 1982, Continental faced

12769-917: Was torn down to make room for the "Central Park West" section of the housing development in May 2011. While not part of the former airport, United —Stapleton's former largest carrier and current largest airline at Denver International—does operate a training center in the former Stapleton grounds. At the time of its decommissioning, the airport covered 4,700 acres (7.3 sq mi; 19.0 km) and had six runways: The terminal had five concourses: Several major incidents occurred at Stapleton: The Final Hours of Stapleton Intl. Airport - TV News Compilation - 1995 (YouTube TV news compilation video). February 27, 1995 . Retrieved November 20, 2022 . [REDACTED]  This article incorporates public domain material from the Air Force Historical Research Agency Continental Airlines#Early history Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental )

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