United Airlines, Continental Airlines | featured news

This weekend, the Continental-United merger is expected to hit a significant milestone that both airlines hope travelers won’t even notice.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. is about to take on Delta, Virgin America and JetBlue in a major way. Despite being later than some to the in-flight Wi-Fi game, the merged United and Continental partnership will soon sprout internet in the skies. Panasonic Avionics Corporation has been chosen to provide Wi-Fi connectivity on more than 300 United Airlines and Continental Airlines mainline aircraft beginning in mid-2012. Panasonic's Ku-band satellite technology offers faster speed than air-to-ground technology (ATG) and will provide connectivity on flights worldwide. The system will also enable wireless streaming of video content.

United and Continental are the latest airlines to ditch heavy paper flight manuals for iPads.

The most recent attempt by U.S. airlines to boost fares has been cut in half by pressure from discount carriers. Last week, the big network carriers including United, Continental, Delta and American raised many domestic fares by $20 a round trip. By Monday afternoon, the increase had been cut to $10.

Shareholders of United and Continental airlines voted Friday to approve a combination of their companies that would create the world's biggest airline and could have far-reaching effects on where they fly and how much they charge passengers.

United Airlines is buying Continental in a $3 billion-plus that would create the world's largest carrier with a commanding position in several top U.S. cities....

Continental Airlines and UAL are expected to announce Monday that they are merging to form the world's largest airline by traffic.

US Airways Group Inc said on Thursday it had dropped out of merger discussions with United Airlines parent UAL Corp, immediately raising the stakes for similar talks involving United and Continental Airlines Inc.