United Airlines formally, and finally, exited bankruptcy yesterday after 1,150 days during which it cut annual costs by approximately $7 billion including more than $3 billion in concessions from labor unions, reduced and reconfigured its fleet to fly more profitable international routes and launched its low-cost subsidiary Ted."Today, we have the business platform we need to compete with the strongest carriers and a clear strategy of offering the right service to the right customer at the right price," Chairman, President and CEO Glenn Tilton said in a statement. "As we move ahead, United is committed to continuous improvement in costs, revenue and operations to optimize our resources and sustain competitive margins."

The Air Line Pilots Assn. held its own news conference Wednesday, calling upon United's executives to execute effectively the reorganization plan reached at such a high cost. "The indisputable fact is that the resolve of the employees of United Airlines is the major reason the airline exited bankruptcy, and the pilots we represent are a huge part of that group," said Mark Bathurst, chairman of United's MEC. "How did United Airlines move from the threshold of the scrap heap of failed airlines to the front of the pack? We did it the old-fashioned way, through hard work, and because the employees made enormous sacrifices."

ALPA urged the company to consider revisiting some givebacks, especially those connected with quality of life and work rules issues, and to help improve morale by bringing back more furloughed pilots.

According to media reports, the US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. hired Deutsche Bank AG to sell a 10% stake in UA.