The End is Near for Continental

Continental is going the way of Pan Am, PSA, and TWA. It merged with United in 2010, and the two carriers have since been slowly and steadily transitioning into a single entity. Some of the biggest changes are set to happen in coming weeks. 

Jeff Smisek, CEO of United Continental Holdings, told the Houston Chronicle that Continental will officially operate as United starting the first week of March. Said Smisek, “We’re going to have one frequent flier program, we’re going to have one website, we’ll actually be one airline from our customers’ perspective, which is really valuable to the customers and will give them much better customer service.” United Continental Holdings officially received a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration in November, but for now the two carriers are still using different booking systems, as well as separate frequent-flyer programs.

We contacted United for details on specific dates, but have yet to receive a response at the time publication. However, according to a timeline linked from the United Hub website, the official digital changeover will happen on March 3; from this point forward, United and Continental flights will be booked on one reservation system, and the Continental website will redirect to www.united.com.

Also on March 3, members of United’s MileagePlus and Continental’s OnePass programs will begin to use a new single system—MileagePlus 2012. Members of both programs will be able to log on to the MileagePlus website to check balances and get more information. Read more about what’s in store for Continental and United frequent flyers here.

The changes don’t stop there. Planes are being repainted. And Continental ticket counters are in the process of being rebranded, erasing virtually every trace of the former legacy airline that had been in business since the 1930s.

Will you miss Continental?

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(Photo: Shutterstock/Songquan Deng)