CHICAGO, Dec. 9 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- UAL Corporation , the holding company whose primary subsidiary is United Airlines, today announced a sale and leaseback transaction that added approximately $150 million of cash to the company's unrestricted liquidity.
The company sold 15 Boeing 757 aircraft to East Shore Aircraft, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wayzata Opportunities Fund II, LP, for approximately $150 million. United Airlines will lease these aircraft back from East Shore Aircraft, LLC, and will continue to operate and maintain the aircraft.
With the completion of this transaction, United has raised more than $250 million of the $300 million of additional liquidity the company has said it expects to raise in the fourth quarter of 2008, on top of nearly $1.4 billion the company raised in the third quarter of this year.
"We are pleased to have successfully closed another financing transaction despite the tight credit markets. In this challenging economic environment, we are taking the right steps, with this financing and the significant cash United has raised in prior quarters this year, to ensure we have appropriate liquidity," said Kathryn Mikells, United's CFO. "At the same time, we are encouraged by the significant drop in fuel prices -- our largest cost -- which will better position United as we work to return to profitability next year."
About United
United Airlines operates nearly 3,000* flights a day on United and United Express to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 975 destinations in 162 countries worldwide. United's 52,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.
* Based on United's flight schedule between October 2008 and October 2009.
