CHICAGO (Map) - CHICAGO, Jan. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- United Airlines today reported its preliminary mainline traffic results for December 2008. The company reported a December mainline passenger load factor of 79.9 percent. Total scheduled mainline revenue passenger miles (RPMs) decreased in December by 11.5 percent on a capacity decrease of 12.7 percent in scheduled mainline available seat miles (ASMs) compared with the same period in 2007.

About United

United Airlines (Nasdaq: UAUA) operates nearly 3,000* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 975 destinations in 162 countries worldwide. United's 52,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.

*Based on United's flight schedule between October 2008 and October 2009. 2008 2007 YOY December December Change MAINLINE SCHEDULED SERVICE ONLY: REVENUE MILES FLOWN (000) 52,837 62,048 -14.8% ACTUAL NUMBER OF DEPARTURES 37,210 43,801 -15.0% REVENUE PASSENGERS BOARDED (000) 4,658 5,129 -9.2% REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000): NORTH AMERICA 4,703,599 5,199,839 -9.5% PACIFIC 1,812,297 2,231,540 -18.8% ATLANTIC 1,343,633 1,453,423 -7.6% LATIN AMERICA 344,903 381,277 -9.5% SYSTEM 8,204,432 9,266,079 -11.5% AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000): NORTH AMERICA 5,767,415 6,692,469 -13.8% PACIFIC 2,358,522 2,813,484 -16.2% ATLANTIC 1,680,861 1,756,285 -4.3% LATIN AMERICA 457,056 499,715 -8.5% SYSTEM 10,263,854 11,761,953 -12.7% PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR (PERCENT): NORTH AMERICA 81.6 77.7 3.9pts PACIFIC 76.8 79.3 -2.5pts ATLANTIC 79.9 82.8 -2.9pts LATIN AMERICA 75.5 76.3 -0.8pts SYSTEM 79.9 78.8 1.1pts CARGO TON MILES (000): FREIGHT 95,703 141,625 -32.4% MAIL 25,209 30,215 -16.6% SYSTEM 120,912 171,840 -29.6% TOTAL MAINLINE SYSTEM INCLUDING CHARTER (000): REVENUE PASSENGER MILES 8,216,730 9,268,472 -11.3% AVAILABLE SEAT MILES 10,281,664 11,767,208 -12.6% REVENUE PSGR. KM. 13,223,184 14,915,752 -11.3% AVAILABLE SEAT KM. 16,546,282 18,936,968 -12.6% TOTAL REVENUE TON MILES 942,585 1,098,686 -14.2% TOTAL AVAIL. TON MILES 1,539,671 1,896,609 -18.8% TOTAL REV. TON KM. 1,366,618 1,593,303 -14.2% TOTAL AVAIL. TON KM. 2,247,920 2,769,049 -18.8% YEAR TO DATE YEAR TO DATE YOY 2008 2007 Change MAINLINE SCHEDULED SERVICE ONLY: REVENUE MILES FLOWN (000) 714,026 754,870 -5.4% ACTUAL NUMBER OF DEPARTURES 509,635 550,438 -7.4% REVENUE PASSENGERS BOARDED (000) 63,070 68,363 -7.7% REVENUE PASSENGER MILES (000): NORTH AMERICA 63,865,584 69,853,107 -8.6% PACIFIC 23,837,043 26,431,222 -9.8% ATLANTIC 18,289,889 17,058,375 7.2% LATIN AMERICA 3,810,642 4,032,742 -5.5% SYSTEM 109,803,158 117,375,446 -6.5% AVAILABLE SEAT MILES (000): NORTH AMERICA 77,328,074 83,915,989 -7.9% PACIFIC 30,750,862 32,462,745 -5.3% ATLANTIC 22,483,420 20,389,876 10.3% LATIN AMERICA 4,918,243 5,059,031 -2.8% SYSTEM 135,480,599 141,827,641 -4.5% PASSENGER LOAD FACTOR (PERCENT): NORTH AMERICA 82.6 83.2 -0.6pts PACIFIC 77.5 81.4 -3.9pts ATLANTIC 81.3 83.7 -2.4pts LATIN AMERICA 77.5 79.7 -2.2pts SYSTEM 81.0 82.8 -1.8pts CARGO TON MILES (000): FREIGHT 1,646,320 1,780,944 -7.6% MAIL 274,839 230,894 19.0% SYSTEM 1,921,159 2,011,838 -4.5% TOTAL MAINLINE SYSTEM INCLUDING CHARTER (000): REVENUE PASSENGER MILES 110,060,717 117,398,638 -6.3% AVAILABLE SEAT MILES 135,860,327 141,889,743 -4.3% REVENUE PSGR. KM. 177,120,712 188,929,628 -6.3% AVAILABLE SEAT KM. 218,640,024 228,343,163 -4.3% TOTAL REVENUE TON MILES 12,927,232 13,751,679 -6.0% TOTAL AVAIL. TON MILES 21,849,279 22,744,094 -3.9% TOTAL REV. TON KM. 18,745,756 19,940,949 -6.0% TOTAL AVAIL. TON KM. 31,899,947 33,206,377 -3.9%