United and Continental Assessing Impact of Hurricane Irene at New York Airports

CHICAGO, Aug. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines and Continental Airlines are assessing the impact of Hurricane Irene at its New York airports and support facilities, including its hub at Newark Liberty International Airport, John F. Kennedy International Airport and LaGuardia Airport. New York airports remain closed and United and Continental suspended all flights to these airports through Sunday. The airlines anticipate resuming service to these New York airports starting Monday no earlier than noon EDT, with the time depending on facility conditions and access.

The airlines are also working with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, as well as city and county emergency management officials to assess critical infrastructure. Once this assessment is complete, United and Continental will update employees, customers and other stakeholders regarding the status of its operations.

United and Continental also suspended flights to several other airports along the East Coast, including White Plains, N.Y., Boston, Mass., Hartford, Conn., Providence, R.I., Portland, Maine, Manchester, N.H., and Albany, N.Y., through Sunday.

Checking Flight Status and Changing Travel Plans

Customers on flights to, from or through the affected areas through August 30, may reschedule their itinerary with a one-time date or time change, and airlines will waive the change fees.  Customers may request a refund in the original form of payment for canceled flights. Complete details and eligible travel dates are available at united.com and continental.com.

The fastest and most convenient way to change travel plans is via united.com or continental.com. Customers should continue to manage their reservations on the respective carrier's website from which they purchased their ticket.  Customers may also book a new reservation, change an existing reservation or check flight status by calling United Reservations at 800-UNITED-1 or Continental Reservations at 800-525-0280 or their travel agent.

About United Continental Holdings, Inc.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is the holding company for both United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Together with United Express, Continental Express and Continental Connection, these airlines operate an average of 5,765 flights a day to 377 airports on six continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark Liberty, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. United and Continental are members of Star Alliance, which offers more than 21,200 daily flights to 1,185 airports in 185 countries. United and Continental's more than 80,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. For more information about United Continental Holdings, Inc., go to UnitedContinentalHoldings.com. For more information about the airlines, see united.com and continental.com or follow on Twitter and Facebook.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.