United Airlines Top Flyer Tom Stuker Reaches 1 Million Miles In A Calendar Year

CHICAGO, Dec. 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- United Airlines' most frequent flyer, Tom Stuker, this month became the first United customer to fly 1 million miles on United and United Express in a calendar year, reaching the mark on Dec. 6 onboard United flight 949 between London and Chicago.

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This is the latest travel milestone for Stuker, who in July 2011 was the first person to fly 10 million miles on United and United Express. With more than 13 million miles flown, Stuker is one of commercial aviation's highest-mileage travelers.

"We congratulate Tom on another remarkable achievement," said Tom O'Toole, president of MileagePlus. "We look forward to having him fly with us for the next million miles and beyond."

"It has been a phenomenal year flying with United," said Stuker. "Everyone at the airline, from the customer service agents to the flight attendants to the ramp workers, has made my travels feel effortless."

Stuker estimates he has flown more than 6,000 flights on United, including about 400 flights this calendar year alone. To equal the distance that Stuker achieved this year, a traveler would need to trek around the world about 40 times. Cruising at 570 miles per hour, a single nonstop flight of 1 million miles would land 73 days after takeoff. Stuker's 11 million miles flown on United would also put him about a third of the distance from Earth to Mars.

Stuker, an automotive sales consultant who – when not in-flight – lives in suburban Chicago and New Jersey, began clocking his miles after joining United's MileagePlus loyalty program in 1983. Since then, he has logged most of his miles flying to Asia and Australia and has flown to all fifty U.S. states.

About United
United Airlines and United Express operate an average of 5,557 flights a day to 378 airports on six continents from the airline's hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. In 2011, United carried more traffic than any other airline in the world, and operated more than two million flights carrying 142 million passengers. United is upgrading its cabins with more flat-bed seats in first and business class and more extra-legroom economy-class seating than any other airline in North America. United now has 180 airplanes featuring DIRECTV®, offering customers more live television access than any other airline in the world. United operates nearly 700 mainline aircraft and has orders for more than 270 new aircraft deliveries through 2022. In 2012, United was the first North American airline to take delivery of new Boeing 787 Dreamliner aircraft. United was rated the world's most admired airline on FORTUNE magazine's 2012 airline-industry list of the World's Most Admired Companies. Readers of Global Traveler magazine have voted United's MileagePlus program the best frequent flyer program for eight consecutive years. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 27 member airlines. More than 85,000 United employees reside in every U.S. state and in countries around the world. For more information, visit united.com or follow United on Twitter and Facebook. The common stock of United's parent, United Continental Holdings, Inc., is traded on the NYSE under the symbol UAL.

SOURCE United Continental Holdings, Inc.