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United Looks to Consolidate Facilities

Posted on: Wednesday, 10 May 2006, 21:06 CDT

By DAVE CARPENTER

CHICAGO - United Airlines parent UAL Corp. said Wednesday it is looking to consolidate its facilities - a process that could end with the company deciding to move its headquarters from Chicago's suburbs, according to a Chicago development official.

The company is considering relocating its corporate base from the current location in Elk Grove Village, Ill., to downtown or possibly Denver, said Paul O'Connor, executive director of World Business Chicago, which has been involved in talks aimed at keeping United in Illinois.

UAL spokeswoman Jean Medina declined to comment specifically about a possible headquarters move and said only that the company is examining all its facilities and "reviewing our options."

"We are looking at how best to optimize and consolidate our facilities," she said. "It's premature to speculate what that might mean."

O'Connor said UAL has been scouting for 150,000 to 160,000 square feet of office space in Chicago or Denver to house about 350 headquarters employees. City and state officials have been working for more than two weeks on incentives to persuade the airline company to stay, he said.

"They're a great Chicago company and fundamental to the business health of the city," O'Connor said.

World Business Chicago is an economic development corporation that works to recruit and retain large companies. Five years ago Wednesday, it succeeded in landing Boeing Co. headquarters from Seattle.

John Huggins, Denver's economic development director, said the city has periodic discussions with United, but declined to comment about a possible move. United operates a hub at Denver International Airport and has about 5,000 employees in the Denver metro area.

The possible headquarters move was first reported online Wednesday by Crain's Chicago Business, citing unidentified sources.

United, which bills itself locally as "Chicago's hometown airline," has endured hard times in recent years, including a three-year bankruptcy restructuring that ended in February. But it remains one of the most prominent corporations in the metropolitan area along with such others as Boeing, McDonald's Corp., Motorola Inc., Allstate Corp., Sears Holdings Corp. and Walgreen Co.

Unprofitable since 2000, the company announced a widened first-quarter loss this week amid higher fuel prices and other challenges but reported strong revenue gains and passenger totals.

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On the Net:

http://www.united.com

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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