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148-467: Ontario International Airport ( IATA : ONT , ICAO : KONT , FAA LID : ONT ) is an international airport 2 mi (3.2 km) east of downtown Ontario , in San Bernardino County, California , United States, about 38 mi (61 km) east of downtown Los Angeles and 18 mi (29 km) west of downtown San Bernardino . It is owned and operated under a joint-powers agreement with

296-452: 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 )

444-542: 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

592-621: 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

740-776: 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

888-573: 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

1036-419: 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

1184-518: 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

1332-556: 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,

1480-508: 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

1628-473: 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

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1776-515: 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

1924-550: A new airport is built, replacing the old one, leaving the city's new "major" airport (or the only remaining airport) code to no longer correspond with the city's name. The original airport in Nashville, Tennessee, was built in 1936 as part of the Works Progress Administration and called Berry Field with the designation, BNA. A new facility known as Nashville International Airport was built in 1987 but still uses BNA. This

2072-626: 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

2220-466: A nonstop to Chicago and American started flights to Dallas (and Chicago, for a short time). In September 1986, Ontario hosted the Concorde supersonic airliner during a promotional round-the-world flight. In 1981, a second east–west runway, 26L/8R, was built, necessitating the removal of the old NE-SW runway 3/21. Remnants of the 3/21 runway are visible in the present-day taxiways. With the completion of

2368-556: A number of nearby airports: Redlands Municipal Airport , Chino Airport , Brackett Field in La Verne , Cable Airport in Upland , or San Bernardino International Airport . Ontario has few noise restrictions/abatement rules, unlike other Southern California airports, such as John Wayne Airport , Hollywood Burbank Airport (Bob Hope), Long Beach Airport , and San Diego International Airport , which all have very strict policies. The airport

2516-922: 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

2664-543: 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

2812-641: A separate adjacent international arrivals facility with 2 arrival-only gates, totaling 28 gates. Terminal 2 has 265,000 sq ft (24,600 m) and 12 gates. Alaska Airlines , Avianca El Salvador , China Airlines , Delta Air Lines , Frontier Airlines , JetBlue , United Airlines , and Volaris are located in Terminal 2. Terminal 4 has 265,000 sq ft (24,600 m) and 14 gates. American Airlines , Hawaiian Airlines , and Southwest Airlines are located in Terminal 4. The international arrivals facility has two gates for arrivals only, containing

2960-836: 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

3108-415: 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

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3256-448: 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

3404-399: 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

3552-468: 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

3700-499: Is GSN and its IATA code is SPN, and some coincide with IATA codes of non-U.S. airports. Canada's unusual codes—which bear little to no similarity with any conventional abbreviation to the city's name—such as YUL in Montréal , and YYZ in Toronto , originated from the two-letter codes used to identify weather reporting stations in the 1930s. The letters preceding the two-letter code follow

3848-426: Is allowed to operate 24/7, but during the hours of 22:00 to 07:00, all aircraft must arrive from the east on runway 26L or 26R and take off to the east on runway 8R or 8L, depending on ATC instruction. This procedure is known as "Contra-Flow" operations and applies to turbojet or turbofan aircraft. This procedure is similar to the one employed by LAX, where all landings are conducted from the east and all takeoffs are to

3996-538: Is an alternate landing site for large aircraft destined for LAX. In 1923, a landing field was established east of Central Avenue (3 mi (4.8 km) west of the current airport) on land leased from the Union Pacific Railroad . The airfield was named Latimer Field after an orange-packing company next to the airstrip. An airport was built there by one of the first flying clubs in Southern California,

4144-544: Is available. However, many railway administrations have their own list of codes for their stations, such as the list of Amtrak station codes . Airport codes arose out of the convenience that the practice brought pilots for location identification in the 1930s. Initially, pilots in the United States used the two-letter code from the National Weather Service (NWS) for identifying cities. This system became unmanageable for cities and towns without an NWS identifier, and

4292-518: Is different from the name in English, yet the airport code represents only the English name. Examples include: Due to scarcity of codes, some airports are given codes with letters not found in their names: The use of 'X' as a filler letter is a practice to create three-letter identifiers when more straightforward options were unavailable: Some airports in the United States retained their NWS ( National Weather Service ) codes and simply appended an X at

4440-650: Is governed by IATA Resolution 763, and it is administered by the IATA's headquarters in Montreal , Canada. The codes are published semi-annually in the IATA Airline Coding Directory. IATA provides codes for airport handling entities, and for certain railway stations. Alphabetical lists of airports sorted by IATA code are available. A list of railway station codes , shared in agreements between airlines and rail lines such as Amtrak , SNCF , and Deutsche Bahn ,

4588-513: Is in conjunction to rules aimed to avoid confusion that seem to apply in the United States, which state that "the first and second letters or second and third letters of an identifier may not be duplicated with less than 200 nautical miles separation." Thus, Washington, D.C. area's three airports all have radically different codes: IAD for Washington–Dulles , DCA for Washington–Reagan (District of Columbia Airport), and BWI for Baltimore (Baltimore–Washington International, formerly BAL). Since HOU

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4736-555: Is located about 38 miles (61 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, 18 miles (29 km) west of downtown San Bernardino , and 14 miles (23 km) northwest of downtown Riverside . Motorists can use the San Bernardino Freeway ( Interstate 10 ), Ontario Freeway ( Interstate 15 ), or the Pomona Freeway ( State Route 60 ). Omnitrans , San Bernardino County's main public transportation agency, operates three routes near

4884-532: Is not followed outside the United States: In addition, since three letter codes starting with Q are widely used in radio communication, cities whose name begins with "Q" also had to find alternate codes, as in the case of: IATA codes should not be confused with the FAA identifiers of U.S. airports. Most FAA identifiers agree with the corresponding IATA codes, but some do not, such as Saipan , whose FAA identifier

5032-416: Is used for William P. Hobby Airport , the new Houston–Intercontinental became IAH. The code BKK was originally assigned to Bangkok–Don Mueang and was later transferred to Suvarnabhumi Airport , while the former adopted DMK. The code ISK was originally assigned to Gandhinagar Airport (Nashik's old airport) and later on transferred to Ozar Airport (Nashik's current airport). Shanghai–Hongqiao retained

5180-648: 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

5328-561: The Canadian transcontinental railroads were built, each station was assigned its own two-letter Morse code : When the Canadian government established airports, it used the existing railway codes for them as well. If the airport had a weather station, authorities added a "Y" to the front of the code, meaning "Yes" to indicate it had a weather station or some other letter to indicate it did not. When international codes were created in cooperation with

5476-474: 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

5624-634: 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

5772-563: The Reconstruction Finance Corporation ; others were at Albuquerque AAF , New Mexico ; Altus AAF , Oklahoma ; Kingman AAF , Arizona ; and Walnut Ridge AAF , Arkansas . In 1946, Ontario Municipal Airport was renamed "Ontario International Airport" because of the trans-Pacific cargo flights originating there. On 17 May 1946, two Army surplus steel hangars arrived at the airport, which the Ontario city council had authorized

5920-494: 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

6068-465: The $ 50,000 purchase of just the previous week. City officials were pleased to have secured a bargain. Thought to be the only pair available in the U.S., City Manager Harold J. Martin observed that even if they could be acquired at a later date, the cost would be several times that afforded by prompt action. A Pacific Overseas Airlines flight from Shanghai arrived at Ontario on 18 May 1946, "which inaugurated regular round-trip air passenger service between

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6216-709: 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

6364-510: 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

6512-730: 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:

6660-466: The 4,700 ft (1,400 m) northeast–southwest runway cost $ 350,000 (equivalent to $ 6,530,000 in 2023). On 27 February 1942, an Army Air Corps plane made the first landing at the new airport. By 1943, the airport was an Army Air Corps Lockheed P-38 Lightning training base and North American P-51 Mustang operating base. After the war, it was one of the five large storage, sales, and scrapping centers for Army Air Forces aircraft established by

6808-410: 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

6956-494: 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

7104-522: 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

7252-610: 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

7400-556: 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

7548-457: 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

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7696-467: 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

7844-673: The Friends of Ontario Airport. In 1929, the city of Ontario purchased 30 acres (12 ha), now in the southwest corner of the airport, for $ 12,000 (equivalent to $ 213,000 in 2023), and established the Ontario Municipal Airport . In 1941, the city bought 470 acres (190 ha) around the airport and approved construction of new runways, which were completed by 1942, with funds from the Works Progress Administration . The 6,200 ft (1,900 m) east–west runway and

7992-474: The Los Angeles regional airports system in 1967. In 1968, the airport had its first scheduled jet flights. In 1969, Continental Airlines started Boeing 720B nonstops to Denver and Chicago; Air California started Boeing 737 flights to San Jose ; Pacific Southwest Airlines started San Francisco flights; and Western began 737 nonstops to Sacramento and Salt Lake City . In 1970, United Airlines started

8140-723: 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,

8288-487: The U.S. For example, several airports in Alaska have scheduled commercial service, such as Stebbins and Nanwalek , which use FAA codes instead of ICAO codes. Thus, neither system completely includes all airports with scheduled service. Some airports are identified in colloquial speech by their IATA code. Examples include LAX and JFK . Continental Airlines Continental Airlines (simply known as Continental )

8436-574: 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

8584-496: The United States and the Orient." In 1949, Western Airlines began scheduled flights; in 1955, Bonanza Air Lines flights started. Western and Bonanza nonstops did not reach beyond Las Vegas . In 1962, Western began nonstop flights to San Francisco (one Electra daily). In 1967, Bonanza began nonstop F27 flights to Phoenix . Ontario and Los Angeles entered into a joint-powers agreement, making Ontario International Airport part of

8732-481: The United States, because "Y" was seldom used in the United States, Canada simply used the weather station codes for its airports, changing the "Y" to a "Z" if it conflicted with an airport code already in use. The result is that most major Canadian airport codes start with "Y" followed by two letters in the city's name (for example, YOW for O tta w a , YWG for W innipe g , YYC for C algar y , or YVR for V ancouve r ), whereas other Canadian airports append

8880-524: 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

9028-486: 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

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9176-639: 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

9324-633: The administration and the USO. In 2005 and 2006, runway 26R/8L was repaved and strengthened, and received storm drains and better runway lighting, and additional improvements to taxiway intersections were made. In 2006, Ontario International Airport became LA/Ontario International Airport . The "LA" portion was added to remind fliers of Greater Los Angeles and to avoid confusion with the province of Ontario in Canada. The airport's traffic peaked in 2005 with 7.2 million passengers, and remained steady through 2007. Around

9472-554: 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

9620-466: 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

9768-575: The airport are currently in the process of trying to implement a tunnel with autonomous, zero-emission vehicles on an "on-demand" basis from the Metrolink San Bernardino Line 's Rancho Cucamonga station to Ontario International Airport. Initially, The Boring Company proposed constructing a single 2.8-mile (4.5 km) tunnel similar to the Las Vegas Convention Center Loop that would cost $ 60 million. However,

9916-440: The airport itself instead of the city it serves, while another code is reserved which refers to the city itself which can be used to search for flights to any of its airports. For instance: Or using a code for the city in one of the major airports and then assigning another code to another airport: When different cities with the same name each have an airport, they need to be assigned different codes. Examples include: Sometimes,

10064-443: The airport operated alongside Ontario Air National Guard Station , which was closed as a result of the 1995 Base Realignment and Closure Commission . In 1998, the new and larger airport terminal opened, designed by DMJM Aviation . Two older terminals, west of the current terminal, the main terminal and a small terminal were discontinued when the new Terminal 2 and Terminal 4 facilities were opened. The old terminals currently house

10212-417: The airport's U.S. Customs and Border Protection facility. International flights depart from the main terminals. Avianca , China Airlines , and Volaris are the only airlines with international arrivals that operate this terminal. A USO is housed in the old terminal complex near the international arrivals facility. Remote parking is located on the east end of the airport (moved from its former location at

10360-418: The airport's former name, such as Orlando International Airport 's MCO (for Mc C o y Air Force Base), or Chicago's O'Hare International Airport , which is coded ORD for its original name: Or char d Field. In rare cases, the code comes from the airport's unofficial name, such as Kahului Airport 's OGG (for local aviation pioneer Jimmy H ogg ). In large metropolitan areas, airport codes are often named after

10508-1025: The airport. The airport's continuing traffic decline reversed in early 2017, when the airport experienced faster growth than LAX for the first time since 2007. On September 30, 2017, it was announced that China Airlines would begin nonstop flights from Ontario to Taipei, which started in spring 2018. On July 14, 2023, New Pacific Airlines (formerly known as Northern Pacific Airways) commenced operations and made its first flight to Harry Reid International Airport in Las Vegas , Nevada , and started flights to Reno–Tahoe International Airport , also in Nevada, and Nashville International Airport in Tennessee . Also on that day, Volaris added flights to El Salvador. On January 1, 2024, they ended flights to Las Vegas and subsequently discontinued all scheduled service altogether. Ontario International Airport has two terminals with 26 gates and

10656-457: The airport. A group of local government officials, led by Ontario city council member Alan Wapner, began a campaign to transfer control of the airport away from Los Angeles World Airports . Wapner argued that the City of Los Angeles had no interest in maintaining service at an airport well beyond its borders. In 2013, LAWA offered to return the airport to local control for a purchase price of $ 474M, which

10804-571: The airport. Route 380, also called ONT Connect, provides non-stop daily service every 35 to 60 minutes between the airport and Rancho Cucamonga station , where passengers can connect to Metrolink's San Bernardino Line , which operates daily with service to Los Angeles Union Station . Route 61 operates daily between Pomona–Downtown station , Ontario station , the airport, and Fontana station . Both routes 61 and 380 operate from stops located east of baggage claim at terminals 2 and 4. Route 81 operates Monday through Saturday on Haven Avenue which runs along

10952-585: The airport. Upon transfer of ownership, the airport would be operated by the Ontario International Airport Authority, formed under a joint-powers agreement between the city of Ontario and San Bernardino County". The Ontario International Airport Authority took over control of operations in November 2016, and the airport's operating name was reverted to Ontario International Airport, since the City of Los Angeles no longer oversaw operations of

11100-721: 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

11248-653: 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

11396-520: 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

11544-498: 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

11692-468: 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

11840-502: The city of Ontario and San Bernardino County. The airport covers 1,741 acres (705 ha) and has two parallel runways . It is the West Coast air and truck hub for UPS Airlines and is a major distribution point for FedEx Express . As of September 2018, ONT has more than 64 daily departures and arrivals. Since Ontario's longest runway (runway 8L/26R) is longer than three of the four runways at Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), it

11988-491: The code SHA, while the newer Shanghai–Pudong adopted PVG. The opposite was true for Berlin : the airport Berlin–Tegel used the code TXL, while its smaller counterpart Berlin–Schönefeld used SXF; the Berlin Brandenburg Airport has the airport code BER, which is also part of its branding. The airports of Hamburg (HAM) and Hannover (HAJ) are less than 100 nautical miles (190 km) apart and therefore share

12136-490: The company eventually dropped out of the project because they refused to submit another refined proposal. Despite this, the SBCTA moved forward with plans on the project. The new plans for the project include two 4.2-mile (6.8 km) tunnels that will cost roughly $ 492 million. The SBCTA selected HNTB as their new contractor to design, build, and maintain the project. IATA airport code The assignment of these codes

12284-544: 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

12432-410: 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

12580-537: 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

12728-471: The eastern edge of the airport between Chaffey College and Ontario–East station , where passengers can connect to Metrolink's Riverside Line , which operates during weekday peak periods. As a cost-effective solution compared to the proposed extension of the Foothill Extension project from Montclair Transcenter to Ontario International Airport, estimated at around $ 1-1.5 billion, the SBCTA and

12876-874: The end. Examples include: A lot of minor airfields without scheduled passenger traffic have ICAO codes but not IATA codes, since the four letter codes allow more number of codes, and IATA codes are mainly used for passenger services such as tickets, and ICAO codes by pilots. In the US, such airfields use FAA codes instead of ICAO. There are airports with scheduled service for which there are ICAO codes but not IATA codes, such as Nkhotakota Airport/Tangole Airport in Malawi or Chōfu Airport in Tokyo, Japan. There are also several minor airports in Russia (e.g., Omsukchan Airport ) which lack IATA codes and instead use internal Russian codes for booking. Flights to these airports cannot be booked through

13024-436: 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

13172-403: 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,

13320-457: 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

13468-557: The first three letters of the city in which it is located, for instance: The code may also be a combination of the letters in its name, such as: Sometimes the airport code reflects pronunciation, rather than spelling, namely: For many reasons, some airport codes do not fit the normal scheme described above. Some airports, for example, cross several municipalities or regions, and therefore, use codes derived from some of their letters, resulting in: Other airports—particularly those serving cities with multiple airports—have codes derived from

13616-425: The following format: Most large airports in Canada have codes that begin with the letter "Y", although not all "Y" codes are Canadian (for example, YUM for Yuma, Arizona , and YNT for Yantai , China), and not all Canadian airports start with the letter "Y" (for example, ZBF for Bathurst, New Brunswick ). Many Canadian airports have a code that starts with W, X or Z, but none of these are major airports. When

13764-593: The form of " YYZ ", a song by the rock band Rush , which utilizes the Morse code signal as a musical motif. Some airports have started using their IATA codes as brand names , such as Calgary International Airport (YYC) and Vancouver International Airport (YVR). Numerous New Zealand airports use codes that contain the letter Z, to distinguish them from similar airport names in other countries. Examples include HLZ for Hamilton , ZQN for Queenstown , and WSZ for Westport . Predominantly, airport codes are named after

13912-560: 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

14060-421: 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

14208-439: 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

14356-419: 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

14504-482: The international air booking systems or have international luggage transferred there, and thus, they are booked instead through the airline or a domestic booking system. Several heliports in Greenland have 3-letter codes used internally which might be IATA codes for airports in faraway countries. There are several airports with scheduled service that have not been assigned ICAO codes that do have IATA codes, especially in

14652-417: 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,

14800-568: 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

14948-528: 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

15096-612: The name of the airport itself, for instance: This is also true with some cities with a single airport (even if there is more than one airport in the metropolitan area of said city), such as BDL for Hartford, Connecticut 's B ra dl ey International Airport or Baltimore's BWI, for B altimore/ W ashington I nternational Airport ; however, the latter also serves Washington, D.C. , alongside Dulles International Airport (IAD, for I nternational A irport D ulles) and Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport (DCA, for D istrict of C olumbia A irport). The code also sometimes comes from

15244-578: 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

15392-547: 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

15540-408: The new runway, the existing runway 25/7 became 26R/8L. In 1985, the city of Los Angeles acquired Ontario International Airport outright from the city of Ontario. In 1987, Runway 26R/8L was extended to the east to bring the two runway thresholds side by side, so aircraft would be higher over neighborhoods. 26R/8L became the main departing runway and 26L/8R the main arrival runway. For a number of years,

15688-401: 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

15836-416: The one they are located in: Other airport codes are of obscure origin, and each has its own peculiarities: In Asia, codes that do not correspond with their city's names include Niigata 's KIJ , Nanchang 's KHN and Pyongyang 's FNJ . EuroAirport Basel Mulhouse Freiburg , which serves three countries, has three airport codes: BSL, MLH, EAP. Some cities have a name in their respective language which

15984-455: 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

16132-488: 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

16280-456: 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

16428-409: 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

16576-475: 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

16724-501: The same first and middle letters, indicating that this rule might be followed only in Germany. Many cities retain historical names in their airport codes, even after having undergone an official name/spelling/transliteration change: Some airport codes are based on previous names associated with a present airport, often with a military heritage. These include: Some airports are named for an administrative division or nearby city, rather than

16872-609: 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

17020-406: 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

17168-487: 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

17316-497: The station code of Malton, Mississauga , where it is located). YUL is used for Montréal–Trudeau (UL was the ID code for the beacon in the city of Kirkland , now the location of Montréal–Trudeau). While these codes make it difficult for the public to associate them with a particular Canadian city, some codes have become popular in usage despite their cryptic nature, particularly at the largest airports. Toronto's code has entered pop culture in

17464-461: The time of the 2008 financial crisis , JetBlue suspended service to ONT, and major legacy carriers significantly decreased their passenger volume at the airport. Southwest Airlines transferred a significant portion of its Ontario capacity to Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), making LAX fares more competitive with ONT, while being coupled with more attractive frequencies and a wider range of destinations. The surrounding Inland Empire region

17612-695: 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

17760-504: The two-letter code of the radio beacons that were the closest to the actual airport, such as YQX in Gander or YXS in Prince George . Four of the ten provincial capital airports in Canada have ended up with codes beginning with YY, including: Canada's largest airport is YYZ for Toronto Pearson (as YTZ was already allocated to Billy Bishop Toronto City Airport , the airport was given

17908-529: The use of two letters allowed only a few hundred combinations; a three-letter system of airport codes was implemented. This system allowed for 17,576 permutations, assuming all letters can be used in conjunction with each other. Since the U.S. Navy reserved "N" codes, and to prevent confusion with Federal Communications Commission broadcast call signs , which begin with "W" or "K", the airports of certain U.S. cities whose name begins with one of these letters had to adopt "irregular" airport codes: This practice

18056-689: 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

18204-655: 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

18352-455: The west (known as "over-ocean" operations) between 00:00 and 06:30. Both of these procedures are employed as long as weather and/or construction activity permits. This is done in an effort to be better neighbors and minimize the noise impact to the surrounding communities as much as possible. Residents of cities west of the airport have complained of increased noise as a result of the airport's refusal to abide by noise abatement rules. The airport

18500-402: The west end). On the east end is a ground transportation center that consolidates the rental car companies in one central location. The Omnitrans 61 bus traverses the airport, providing connections to each of the terminals, rental car and remote parking lots, and public transit stops. General aviation is located at the south side of the airport, although most general-aviation pilots tend to use

18648-488: 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,

18796-551: 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

18944-458: 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

19092-519: 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

19240-467: 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

19388-424: 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

19536-686: 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

19684-435: 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

19832-448: 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

19980-454: 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

20128-652: 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

20276-525: Was hit hard by the financial crisis, with the nearby city of San Bernardino declaring bankruptcy. The airport suffered a 40% decline in traffic between 2007 and 2012, during which time traffic at LAX recovered to surpass prerecession levels. Ownership and control of the airport became an issue in late 2010, when the city of Ontario, supported by the Southern California Association of Governments , criticized and questioned LAWA's operation of

20424-741: 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

20572-495: 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.,

20720-535: 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

20868-544: 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

21016-451: Was rejected. Local groups then sued the city of Los Angeles, a suit that was temporarily suspended when both sides agreed to attempt to work together. In 2015, Los Angeles World Airports agreed to turn over ownership of Ontario Airport to the city of Ontario. LAWA was "to be reimbursed for its investments in the facility, job protection for the facility's 182 employees and the settlement of a lawsuit in which Ontario sought to regain control of

21164-569: 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

21312-556: 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

21460-413: 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

21608-708: 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

21756-468: 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

21904-424: 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

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