United and the Association of Flight Attendants Start Expedited Mediation Process

CHICAGO, Sept. 2, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- The Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) and United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) announced today that they have agreed on a new expedited mediation process modeled on the National Mediation Board's Expedited Mediation Program.

The company and the AFA will start an intense mediation focusing on limited issues. The negotiations will aim to reach agreement for a new contract covering approximately 12,000 flight attendants working at the United Airlines subsidiary.  An agreement is already in effect covering flight attendants at the Continental subsidiary.

"We are committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to our co-workers and fair to the company," said Sam Risoli, senior vice president of Inflight for United. "This action is a good step forward and serves the immediate and long-term interests of our flight attendants and the company."

"We are ready to embark on an innovative approach to reach a new contract, and this process provides an opportunity to put our negotiations on a fresh path," said Greg Davidowitch, President – Master Executive Council for the AFA at United. "While we are optimistic about Expedited Mediation, we don't underestimate the challenges before us.  We are confident that this process affords us the best opportunity to move forward together."

After reaching an agreement for the United flight attendants, the company and AFA have agreed on a time frame to begin negotiations on a joint contract for all flight attendants. The AFA represents more than 21,000 flight attendants at the United and Continental subsidiaries.

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.

About the Association of Flight Attendants

The Association of Flight Attendants is the world’s largest Flight Attendant union. Focused 100 percent on Flight Attendant issues, AFA has been the leader in advancing the Flight Attendant profession for over 65 years.

Serving as the voice for Flight Attendants in the workplace, in the aviation industry, in the media and on Capitol Hill, AFA has transformed the Flight Attendant profession by raising wages, benefits and working conditions.  Nearly 60,000 Flight Attendants at 23 airlines come together to form AFA, including almost 25,000 flight attendants at United.  Visit us at www.unitedafa.org.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.