My first flight was on United in November of 1969. It was on a DC-8 stretch. Not sure of the exact "dash" number. The fare was a $19 youth standby fare from PIT to ORD. They served breakfast. I was 16. On de-planing at ORD the DC-8 parked sideways to the terminal, and there was a jetway at both the front and back of the plane. I flew to to Chicago to see my late brother graduate from basic training at the Naval Training Center in Waukegan.

My mother and two sisters and brother's girl friend drove there in a 1969 Malibu. My father had to work and did not go, but drove me to the airport.

A few years later I flew on a UAL 737 on a $10 flight-seeing flight that United offered once a year.

I flew again in 1993 from MIA to MEX, round-trip on a 737, and did not fly United again until "the merger."

United was the airline that I always wanted to fly on, but never flew to any of my destinations until the merger.

My first CO flight was in 1986 from MIA to MSY (New Orleans), on a 727. CO had forced Pride Air out of business and operated the route.