RESOLUTION
WHEREAS, United, "Chicago's Hometown Airline," is celebrating its 90th Anniversary during 2016; and
WHEREAS, The Chicago City Council has been informed of this auspicious milestone by Alderman Edward M. Burke; and
WHEREAS, United traces its roots to Varney Air Lines air mail service which was established in 1926 by Walter Varney and became Varney Speed Lines in 1934; and
WHEREAS, Varney Airlines' first flight took off from Pasco, Washington and flew to Boise, Idaho on April 6,1926; and
WHEREAS, Following World War II, United prospered due to a boom in customer demand and saw its revenue jump five-fold in the 1950s and has continued to fly high over the ensuing decades; and
WHEREAS, An airline which has demonstrated visionary leadership within the airline industry, United was responsible for a series of historic "firsts"; and
WHEREAS, In 1930, the airline hired the first female flight attendant, Ellen Church, and thereby established the flight attendant profession; and
WHEREAS, In 1936 it introduced the first commercial flight kitchen and in 1955 United became the first U.S. airline to order jet aircraft for its fleet; and
WHEREAS, United was the first airline to introduce live television on planes in the 1960s; and
WHEREAS, In 1961 United merged with Capital Airlines, making it the largest U.S. airline at the time, and in 1985 United took over Pan Am's Pacific Division; and
WHEREAS, United currently operates more flights to Asia and the Pacific than any other U.S. airline; and
WHEREAS, In 2010, United and Continental board members acted to merge the two airlines' operations; and
WHEREAS, United became the first airline to operate the Boeing 777 in 1995; and
WHEREAS, In 1997, United formed the Star Alliance global airline partnership alongside Air Canada, Lufthansa, Scandinavian Airlines (SAS), and Thai Airways; and
WHEREAS, Today, the Star Alliance has 28 member airlines and is the world's largest global airline alliance; and
WHEREAS, United, operates out of nine hubs located in Chicago-O'Hare, Denver, Guam, Houston-Bush, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo-Narita, and Washington D.C-Dulles; and
WHEREAS, United operates an average of 5,000 daily flights to 342 destinations around the world, more than any other airline; and
WHEREAS, Chicago is proud to celebrate the rich history of United operates a fleet of more than 700 modern aircraft and employees more than 84,000 workers; now, therefore
BE IT RESOLVED, That we, the Mayor and the members of the Chicago City Council, assembled this eighteenth day of May, 2016, do hereby congratulate United on 90 years of exemplary service to the travelling public and do hereby express our best wishes for its continue success; and
Oscar Munoz, President ai
Alderman - 14th Ward
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED^Jhat a suitable copy of this resolution be presented to