United Airlines is a major American airline that was founded by Walter Varney (former military pilot) on April 6, 1926 in Boise, Idaho as an air mail carrier named ‚Varney Air Lines‘ (VAL). Its headquarters are in Chicago, Illinois (Willis Tower). In 2010 United Airlines merged with Continental Airlines.

In 1973, United Airlines became the first civil airline to carry an active American president – Richard Nixon. He flew in a McDonnell Douglas DC-10 from Washington D.C. to Los Angeles. The aircraft received the callsign „Executive One“.