Boeing 757

The Boeing 757 is a mid-size, narrow-body twin-engine jet airliner that was designed and built by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. It is the manufacturer's largest single-aisle passenger aircraft and was produced from 1981 to 2004. The twinjet has a two-crew member glass cockpit, turbofan engines of sufficient power to allow takeoffs from relatively short runways and higher altitudes, a conventional tail and, for reduced aerodynamic drag, a supercritical wing design. Intended to replace the smaller three-engine 727 on short and medium routes, the 757 can carry 200 to 295 passengers for a maximum of 3,150 to 4,100 nautical miles (5,830 to 7,590 km), depending on variant. The 757 was designed concurrently with a wide-body twinjet, the 767, and owing to shared features pilots can obtain a common type rating that allows them to operate both aircraft.

The 757 was produced in two fuselage lengths. The original 757-200 entered service in 1983; the 757-200PF, a package freighter (PF) variant, and the 757-200M, a passenger-freighter combi model, debuted in the late 1980s. The stretched 757-300, the longest narrow-body twinjet ever produced, began service in 1999. Passenger 757-200s have been modified to special freighter (SF) specification for cargo use, while military derivatives include the C-32 transport, VIP carriers, and other multi-purpose aircraft. Private and government operators have also customized the 757 for research and transport roles. All 757s are powered by Rolls-Royce RB211 or Pratt & Whitney PW2000 series turbofans.

American Airlines

American Airlines, Inc. (AA) is a major American airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas. Operating an extensive international and domestic network, American Airlines is the world's largest airline by fleet size and revenue, and the second largest by number of destinations served, after United Airlines. It operates from its main hub at Dallas/Fort Worth, and its hubs at Charlotte, Chicago-O'Hare, Los Angeles, Miami, New York-JFK, New York-LaGuardia, Philadelphia, Phoenix, and Washington, D.C., while its primary maintenance base is at Tulsa International Airport. Its primary competitors are United Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines.

American Airlines is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, and coordinates fares, services, and scheduling with British Airways, Iberia, and Finnair in the transatlantic market and with Japan Airlines in the transpacific market. Regional service is operated by independent and subsidiary carriers under the brand name American Eagle.

United Airlines

United Airlines, Inc., commonly referred to as United, is a major American airline headquartered in Chicago, Illinois. It is the world's largest airline when measured by number of destinations served, and the second largest when measured by scheduled passenger-kilometres flown. United operates a comprehensive domestic and international route network, and has significant presence in the Asia-Pacific region. In the late 1920s, just prior to the use of the United Airlines name, The Boeing Company, currently one of the world's largest aircraft manufacturers, operated a predecessor airline.

United is a founding member of Star Alliance, the world's first and largest global airline alliance. Regional service is operated by independent carriers under the brand name United Express. Its main competitors are American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, and Southwest Airlines.

United operates out of nine airline hubs located in Houston, Chicago, Newark/New York, Denver, San Francisco, Washington, D.C., Los Angeles, Guam, and Tokyo. United also operates maintenance bases in Cleveland and Orlando in addition to the maintenance locations located at United's hubs. George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston is United's largest passenger carrying hub handling 16.6 million passengers annually with an average of 45,413 passengers daily, while Chicago-O'Hare is its largest hub in terms of daily departures. The company employs over 88,500 people while maintaining its headquarters in Chicago's Willis Tower (formerly known as Sears Tower). Through the airline's parent company, United Continental Holdings, it is publicly traded under NYSE: UAL with a market capitalization of over $18 billion as of September, 2014.