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, Unit...
Click here for full text