National Aviation Day: 7 ways to celebrate
National Aviation Day falls on Saturday, August 19.
National Aviation Day was created in 1939 by President Franklin Delano Roosevelt to celebrate the birthday of Orville Wright and highlight the industry's achievements. In honor of this day, we've put together a list of seven things every AVGeek must do in his or her lifetime.
1. Go to a major air show
The must-attend show for all aviation enthusiasts is the Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture, the world's largest aviation celebration. Taking place on the last week of July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Wittman Regional Airport becomes the busiest in the world, handling over 10,000 aircraft movements. Attendees can see thousands of aircrafts on display, ranging from the Boeing 787 to a spectacular display of World War II aircrafts. You can also attend aviation-themed workshops, visit vendor booths, watch aerial shows, indulge in a plate of cheese curds and watch aviation-themed movies at the Fly-in Theater.
2. Visit an aviation museum
The Washington, D.C., area is home to two locations of the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. The downtown D.C. outpost is home to the Spirit of St. Louis, the Bell X-1 jet that General Chuck Yeager flew while breaking the speed of sound and the original studio model of the Starship Enterprise featured in the wildly popular 1960s television show Star Trek. The Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center, near Washington Dulles International, is home to an Air France Concorde, the Boeing 367-80 — a precursor to the 707 jet — and Space Shuttle Discovery.
Some other great aviation museums to consider visiting are:
- The Museum of Flight in Seattle, home to numerous aircraft, spacecraft and galleries.
- The Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, where you'll find museum exhibits and reproductions of the 1903 airplane and 1902 glider.
- The Pima Air & Space Museum in Tucson, Arizona, features a boneyard spanning 2,600 acres and containing 4,000 retired aircraft.
- The Air Museum of Flying in Palm Springs, California, is one of the few museums that allow its visitors to climb inside and explore the exhibits.
3. Take a general aviation discovery flight
Flight schools and general aviation airports across the country offer discovery flights for sightseeing and passengers curious about aviation. Most offer rides on a four-seat piston aircraft like a Cessna Skyhawk or a Piper Cherokee to view cities and towns from a higher view. A discovery flight on average can cost $99 but it is well worth it for a once-in-a-lifetime adventure. And who knows? It could be the start of your journey to becoming a pilot.
4. Fly in a hot air balloon
When thinking of aviation, people tend to forget about hot air balloons. They allow passengers to see a city like Palm Springs from a unique vantage point. Balloon Rides Across America offers more information on how to book a hot air balloon ride from certified operators all over the U.S.
5. Become a plane spotter
Airports across the country have great spots for aviation geeks to spot commercial aircraft, but the number-one plane-spotting destination is the Sunset Bar and Grill in St. Maarten, across from Princess Juliana International Airport. Planes swoop down so low on final approach that it's almost unreal. Other great plane-spotting locations include Gravelly Point, a grassy knoll where you can watch an aircraft's final approach coming into Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Washington, D.C., or if you like to eat while you plane spot, head to the In-N-Out Burger near Los Angeles International Airport.
6. Visit an aircraft manufacturing plant
It's a thrill for aviation geeks to visit an aircraft production line. The greatest to tour is the Future of Flight Aviation Center, home to the Boeing Factory Tour in Everett, Washington, just 20 minutes north of Seattle. Visitors can take a look at the 747, 777 and 787 jets on the production line during one of the aviation center's 90-minute tours. Or head down south to Piper Aircraft in Vero Beach, Florida, for a facility tour.
7. Fly on an airline's final or inaugural flight
United launched service between San Francisco and Munich, Germany on May 24, and it was quite a party. Airlines like United like to celebrate inaugural flights or new aircraft launches by holding formal ceremonies, throwing celebrations and providing certificates to mark the occasion. It's fun for both the passengers and the crew to participate in these milestone events.
If you go
Visit united.com or use the United app to plan your trip to these exhilarating aviation-themed destinations.
CHICAGO, Oct. 14, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United today announced the largest transatlantic expansion in its history, including 10 new flights and five new, vogue destinations – Amman, Jordan; Bergen, Norway; Azores, Portugal; Palma de Mallorca, Spain and Tenerife in the Spanish Canary Islands. All of the new routes – which are set to begin in Spring 2022 – are not served by any other North American carrier. Additionally, next year, United will add new flights to five popular European destinations: Berlin, Dublin, Milan, Munich and Rome. Lastly, United will launch seven routes that were interrupted due to the pandemic to Bangalore, Frankfurt, Tokyo's Haneda Airport, Nice and Zurich. Flights are subject to government approval.
"Given our big expectations for a rebound in travel to Europe for summer, this is the right time to leverage our leading global network in new, exciting ways," said Patrick Quayle, senior vice president of international network and alliances at United. "Our expansion offers the widest range of destinations to discover – introducing new, trendy locales that our customers will love, as well as adding more flights to iconic, popular cities."
Amman, Jordan
United will begin new capital to capital service between Washington, D.C. and Amman, Jordan starting May 5. Customers will be able to explore the numerous historical sites in and around Amman, as well as visit Jordan's other top destinations including Petra, the Dead Sea and the Wadi Rum desert. United will be the only North American carrier flying direct to Amman with service three times weekly with a Boeing 787-8 Dreamliner.
Ponta Delgada, Azores, Portugal
United will add a third Portuguese destination to its global network with brand new flights between New York/Newark and Ponta Delgada in the Azores beginning May 13. The carrier will offer the most flights between the U.S. and Portugal of any North American airline and will be the only airline to fly to the Azores from the New York metro area. This daily service joins United's existing flights to Porto, which will return in March, and Lisbon, which the airline is currently operating from New York/Newark and will resume from Washington, D.C. next summer. United will fly a brand-new Boeing 737 MAX 8 aircraft featuring United's new signature interior with enhanced seat back entertainment with Bluetooth connectivity and overhead bin space for every customer.
Bergen, Norway
Beginning May 20, United will become the only U.S. carrier to fly to Norway with flights launching between New York/Newark and Bergen. United will offer three times weekly service on a Boeing 757-200, allowing customers to experience Bergen's surrounding mountainous landscape and breathtaking fjords. United will be the only carrier to fly to Bergen from the U.S.
Palma de Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
United is expanding its Spanish beach getaway destinations with three times weekly flights between New York/Newark and Palma de Mallorca in the Balearic Islands, launching June 2 with a Boeing 767-300ER. This will be the first and only flight between the U.S. and Mallorca and will add to United's existing service to Madrid and Barcelona.
Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
Travelers looking for an additional new beach destination can enjoy the stunning black and white sand beaches of Spain's Canary Islands with United's new flight from New York/Newark to Tenerife. United will be the only airline to fly direct between the Canary Islands and North America with three-times weekly service launching June 9 with a Boeing 757-200. Along with the new service to Palma de Mallorca, United will fly to more Spanish destinations from North America than any other airline.
Expanded European Service
United is also adding flights to some of Europe's most iconic cities in anticipation of a resurgence in visitors. Next spring United will add:
- New daily flights between Denver and Munich – joining existing service from Denver to Frankfurt and London which is expected to resume in March. United is the only U.S. airline to offer transatlantic service from Denver.
- New daily flights between Chicago and Milan, joining existing seasonal flights between Chicago and Rome. United will be the only airline to offer a direct flight between Chicago and Milan, adding to its existing service between New York/Newark and Milan.
- New daily capital to capital service between Washington, D.C. and Berlin, joining our other service to Berlin from New York/Newark. United is the only U.S. airline with direct flights to Berlin.
- An additional daily flight from New York/Newark to Dublin and Rome.
In addition to these new routes, United will begin seven routes that were interrupted by the pandemic:
- Daily flights between San Francisco and Bangalore beginning May 26
- Daily flights between New York/Newark and Nice beginning April 29
- A second daily flight between New York/Newark and Frankfurt beginning April 23
- Daily flights between Chicago and Zurich beginning April 23
- Flights from Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and New York/Newark to Tokyo's Haneda airport by March 26
Committed to Ensuring a Safe Journey
United is committed to putting health and safety at the forefront of every customer's journey, with the goal of delivering an industry-leading standard of cleanliness through its United CleanPlusSM program. United has teamed up with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic to redefine cleaning and health safety procedures from check-in to landing and has implemented more than a dozen new policies, protocols and innovations designed with the safety of customers and employees in mind. To manage entry requirements in different destinations, and find places to get tests, customer can visit United's Travel Ready Center.
United Next
United is more focused than ever on its commitment to customers and employees. In addition to today's announcement, United has recently:
- Launched an ambitious plan to transform the United customer experience by adding and upgrading hundreds of aircraft as well as investing in features like larger overhead bins, seatback entertainment in every seat and the industry's fastest available Wi-Fi.
- Announced a goal to create 25,000 unionized jobs by 2026 that includes careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents, technicians, and dispatchers.
- Announced that United will train at least 5,000 pilots by 2030 through the United Aviate Academy, with the plan of at least half being women and people of color.
- Required all U.S. employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
- Became the first airline to offer customers the ability to check their destination's travel requirements, schedule COVID-19 tests and more on its mobile app and website.
- Invested in emerging technologies that are designed to decarbonize air travel, like an agreement to work with urban air mobility company Archer, an investment in aircraft startup Heart Aerospace and a purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic.
- Committed to going 100% green by 2050 by reducing 100% of our greenhouse gas emissions without relying on traditional carbon offsets, including a recent agreement to purchase one and a half times the amount of all of the rest of the world's airlines' publicly announced Sustainable Aviation Fuel commitments combined.
- Eliminated change fees for all economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." In 2019, United and United Express® carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more about how to join the United team, please visit united.com/careers and more information about the company is at united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, 872.825.8640, media.relations@united.com
CHICAGO, Oct. 11, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines today announced the promotion of Ankit Gupta to Senior Vice President of Domestic Planning and United Express, and Patrick Quayle to Senior Vice President International Network and Alliances. Both Gupta and Quayle will continue to report directly to Andrew Nocella, United's Chief Commercial Officer.
In addition to these promotions, United also named former United Express Senior Vice President Sarah Murphy to lead the airline's new Global Sourcing organization as Senior Vice President of Global Sourcing and Chief Procurement Officer. Murphy will now report to Gerry Laderman, United's Chief Financial Officer.
Ankit Gupta
"As we work to deliver the best customer experience in North America with a dramatic increase in premium seats, Ankit's leadership in developing the United Next vision has us poised to exceed our customers' expectations as we meet the resurgence in air travel," said Nocella. "He has helped us execute network strategies that would ordinarily take years to develop in a matter of months. And as we play an ongoing and key role in the U.S. economic recovery, we will continue to shape our domestic network with a fleet that spans the CRJ-550 to cutting-edge mainline narrowbody aircraft."
Gupta, formerly Vice President of Network Planning and Scheduling, will now assume responsibility for the operation and strategy of the United Express network in addition to leading the domestic planning team. By linking the United Express operation more closely with the airline's domestic planning team, United expects to better optimize its network and deliver a better, more consistent experience with the products and services it offers.
Patrick Quayle
"Patrick continues to be instrumental in enhancing the alliances that benefit both United and our partners by helping us reach destinations each carrier is unable to serve with its fleet alone," said Nocella. "He led the design and interior configuration for more than 1,000 of our aircraft, including United Polaris, United Premium Plus and our high-premium Boeing 767-300ER aircraft and continues to reshape our network in the midst of a radically different demand environment, making the most of rapidly changing economic and passenger trends."
Quayle, also a former Vice President on United's network planning team, played a key role for the airline through the pandemic, leading the airline from just 10 daily international flights in early 2020 to now becoming the flag carrier of the U.S. as the largest international carrier in the country, with the largest trans-Atlantic and trans-Pacific networks, as well as holding the position as the number one carrier to Central America.
Sarah Murphy
As the new leader of the Global Sourcing team, Murphy will leverage her experience leading teams in United's finance and operating groups and will build upon the procurement team's track record of success in driving efficiencies among the airline's vendors and suppliers to deliver for United's employees, customers and the communities it serves.
"With Sarah's extensive operating and capital budget expertise, and her deep knowledge of our operations, she is uniquely positioned to enhance our ability to source the goods and services we need in order to transform the customer experience and change the way people think about United while protecting the company's bottom line," said Laderman.
United Next
United is more focused than ever on its commitment to customers and employees. In addition to today's announcement, United has recently:
- Launched an ambitious plan to transform the United customer experience by adding and upgrading hundreds of aircraft as well as investing in features like larger overhead bins, seatback entertainment in every seat and the industry's fastest available Wi-Fi.
- Announced a goal to create 25,000 unionized jobs by 2026 that includes careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents, technicians, and dispatchers.
- Announced that United will train at least 5,000 pilots by 2030 through the United Aviate Academy, with the plan of at least half being women and people of color.
- Required all U.S. employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
- Became the first airline to offer customers the ability to check their destination's travel requirements, schedule COVID-19 tests and more on its mobile app and website.
- Invested in emerging technologies that are designed to decarbonize air travel, like an agreement to work with urban air mobility company Archer, an investment in aircraft startup Heart Aerospace and a purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic.
- Committed to going 100% green by 2050 by reducing 100% of our greenhouse gas emissions without relying on traditional carbon offsets, including a recent agreement to purchase one and a half times the amount of all of the rest of the world's airlines' publicly announced Sustainable Aviation Fuel commitments combined.
- Eliminated change fees for all economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." In 2019, United and United Express® carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more about how to join the United team, please visit united.com/careers and more information about the company is at united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
CHICAGO, Oct. 7, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- United today announced that it will fly its biggest domestic schedule since the start of the pandemic to meet an expected surge in holiday travel, with an emphasis on connecting the Midwest to warm weather cities like Las Vegas and Orlando as well as offering nearly 70 daily flights to ski destinations, including new service between Orange County and Aspen.
According to United, holiday travel flight searches on united.com and the airline's app are up 16%, compared to 2019. The airline expects the busiest travel days for the Thanksgiving holiday will be Wednesday, November 24 and Sunday, November 28, while popular days for winter holiday travel are expected to be Thursday, December 23 and Sunday, January 2.
The airline plans to offer more than 3,500 daily domestic flights in December, representing 91% of its domestic capacity compared to 2019.
"We're seeing a lot of pent-up demand in our data and are offering a December schedule that centers on the two things people want most for the holidays: warm sunshine and fresh snow," said Ankit Gupta, vice president of network planning and scheduling at United. "We know families and friends are eager to reunite this holiday season, which is why we're thrilled to add new flights that will help them connect and celebrate together."
In December, United will begin new direct flights to Las Vegas and Phoenix from Cleveland, and to Orlando from Indianapolis. The carrier also will resume eight popular direct flights from Midwest cities, including routes to Fort Lauderdale, Fort Myers, Orlando and Tampa, offering the most mainline departures the airline has flown from Cleveland since 2014 including direct service to Nassau and Cancun. United will offer up to 195 daily flights to 12 destinations in Florida this winter, the most flights to the Sunshine State in company history. United is also resuming direct flights from Columbus, Indianapolis, Milwaukee and Pittsburgh to Fort Myers – which were some of the airline's most popular point-to-point flights last winter.
Customers who prefer fresh powder can enjoy more flights to ski destinations with United than any other carrier. The airline offers 66 daily flights to over a dozen ski destinations across the U.S., including brand new service beginning this December between Orange County and Aspen. This winter season, United will have flights to Aspen/Snowmass, Bishop/Mammoth, Bozeman/Big Sky, Eagle/Vail, Kalispell, Gunnison/Crested Butte, Hayden/Steamboat Springs, Jackson Hole, Montrose/Telluride, Reno/Tahoe, Sun Valley from its hub airports.
Earlier this year, United announced that it will add 150 flights to warm-weather destinations this winter season. All of these flights and more are available now on united.com and United's mobile app.
Committed to Ensuring a Safe Journey
United is committed to putting health and safety at the forefront of every customer's journey, with the goal of delivering an industry-leading standard of cleanliness through its United CleanPlus℠ program. United has teamed up with Clorox and Cleveland Clinic to redefine cleaning and health safety procedures from check-in to landing and has implemented more than a dozen new policies, protocols and innovations designed with the safety of customers and employees in mind. Customers can review COVID-19 entry requirements, find local testing options and upload any required testing and vaccination records for domestic and international travel, all in United's Travel Ready Center. United was the first airline to integrate all these features into its mobile app and website.
United Next
United is more focused than ever on its commitment to customers and employees. In addition to today's announcement, United has recently:
- Launched an ambitious plan to transform the United customer experience by adding and upgrading hundreds of aircraft as well as investing in features like larger overhead bins, seatback entertainment in every seat and the industry's fastest available Wi-Fi.
- Announced a goal to create 25,000 unionized jobs by 2026 that includes careers as pilots, flight attendants, agents, technicians, and dispatchers.
- Announced that United will train at least 5,000 pilots by 2030 through the United Aviate Academy, with the plan of at least half being women and people of color.
- Required all U.S. employees to receive a COVID-19 vaccination.
- Became the first airline to offer customers the ability to check their destination's travel requirements, schedule COVID-19 tests and more on its mobile app and website.
- Invested in emerging technologies that are designed to decarbonize air travel, like an agreement to work with urban air mobility company Archer, an investment in aircraft startup Heart Aerospace and a purchase agreement with Boom Supersonic.
- Committed to going 100% green by 2050 by reducing 100% of our greenhouse gas emissions without relying on traditional carbon offsets, including a recent agreement to purchase one and a half times the amount of all of the rest of the world's airlines' publicly announced Sustainable Aviation Fuel commitments combined.
- Eliminated change fees for all economy and premium cabin tickets for travel within the U.S.
About United
United's shared purpose is "Connecting People. Uniting the World." In 2019, United and United Express® carriers operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 162 million customers. United has the most comprehensive route network among North American carriers, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. For more about how to join the United team, please visit united.com/careers and more information about the company is at united.com. United Airlines Holdings, Inc. is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol "UAL".
SOURCE United Airlines
For further information: United Airlines Worldwide Media Relations, +1-872-825-8640, media.relations@united.com
