Capital Airlines (1930 – June 1, 1961)
On June 1, 1961 United Airlines completed its merger with Capital Airlines, absorbing 7,000 employees and all of Capital’s routes and aircraft to become the world’s largest commercial airline.
To learn more about Capital, see Wikipedia and a website put together by a former Capital employee at baesel.net.
Pan American World Airways (1927 – December 9, 1991)
On February 11, 1986 United Airlines began service to 13 Pacific cities after the purchase of Pan American World Airways’ Pacific Division for $715 million. After continued financial losses, Pan Am sold its routes between the United States and London to United. On December 9, 1991, Pan American ceased operations after 64 years. United acquired its Latin American operations for $135 million.
The Historical Exhibit’s timeline plaque dates the Pacific Division sale to April 1985 and the London routes to 1990; see the timeline. Sources differ on these dates.
To learn more about Pan Am, visit panam.org and everythingpanam.com.
Continental Airlines
On October 1, 2010 the merger between United Airlines and Continental was approved and finalized.