In 1926, Walter Varney began an air mail service, essentially starting commercial air transportation as well as United Airlines. The following year brought limelight to air travel as Lindbergh made his historic flight across the Atlantic. In this same year, United delivered its first coast-to-coast paying customers. Henry Ford, previously known for his automobile manufacturing, had started manufacturing aircraft and William Boeing, aircraft magnate, was also making his start.
In 1930, Boeing (a predecessor subsidiary of United) introduced the concept of stewardesses, which originally were nurses who served sandwiches and coffee and comforted nervous fliers. In 1933, a United flight bound for Chicago crashed; investigators concluded the accident (which killed 7) had been the result of a bomb planted on the plane. This was the first known act of commercial aviation air sabotage. In 1936, United opened an in-flight kitchen and became the originators of flight food.
During 1941-1945, United diverted efforts to the war era, training 7,000 ground crew members for Navy and Army air force units, and modifying bombers at its maintenance facilities. About 1,500 United employees joined the armed forces. United flew Alaska/Pacific airlifts and transported military personnel.
United unveiled full cabin pressurization in 1947. That same year, it began service to the Hawaiian Islands with a San Francisco-Honolulu flight. Also that same year, United unrolled the first in-flight magazine. The next year, Denver was established as United Airlines' hub.
"Executive Flights" for men became a popular program of United, running from 1953 until 1970. The flights featured free steaks, cocktails, cigars, and business publications. In 1954, coast-to-coast flight time was cut from 10 hours to just seven-and-a-half with the new DC-7 aircraft.
In 1965, United launched the "Fly the Friendly Skies" slogan, which stayed with the brand until 1996, making it the longest running marketing brand in the industry. In 1966, United applied for approval to extend into Japan, its first attempted foray into international operations; it was not permitted an overseas route until 1983. United did step outside of America by unveiling service to Toronto in 1967.
Tough times hit United in 1970, when it posted a loss despite having made record profits just two years prior. In the next two decades, it went through a string of leadership changes, changed its name, its logo, and its color scheme.
In 1981, United launched Mileage Plus, its frequent flier program. Three years after being approved for its first overseas route, in 1986 United bought PanAm's Pacific routes.
Deregulation helped United in the beginning of the 1990s. It expanded operations and made the largest aircraft purchase in the history of commercial aviation, buying PanAm's London routes. Then fuel prices hit record highs in 1991 and United posted record losses. In 1994, United became employee-owned and posted record profits the next three years. Things continued well for United until September 11th and rising fuel prices hit; United filed for bankruptcy the following year. After extensive cutbacks and finding investors, United continued operations and got back on its feet.
