Continental-United Airlines merger Since the beginning of time, man has always dreamed of flight and over the centuries he has made many failed attempts. Some of the earliest evidence of flight attempts dates back to ancient Greek times, when Daedalus and Icarus failed catastrophically. Finally, at the beginning of the 1900s, the Wright brothers had what it took and created the first flying powered airplane, thus the world of aviation was born. When it comes to aviation the main purpose is obviously to travel and move from point A to point B in a very short time. During the early days of flying, air travel was very primitive in nature and could be downright dangerous; because not only were there very few rules and regulations, but there were no legitimate air carriers specifically engaged in transporting passengers. Soon after the advent of flying, many people saw how profitable aviation could be and took advantage of the market in its infancy, creating airlines as we know them today. One of those airlines was Varney Airlines. United Airlines and Continental Airlines have a very interesting, rich and almost ironic history. Varney Airlines and airmail service were started by Walter Varney in the early 1920s and became the first fully functioning airline in the United States of America. During the early 1930s, Varney Airlines began operating in El Paso, Texas with only six employees consisting of just two pilots. After Varney moved his headquarters several times, he finally settled in Denver in 1937. According to the Texas State Historical Association, “Robert F. Six became president in 1938 and held the position for more than 20 years” (Odintz). This made him one of the company's longest-serving presidents... center of paper... choose from. Today there are not so many airlines to choose from, which creates an almost monopolistic feeling in the airline industry. Now there are maybe two or three airlines to choose from that create an oligopoly. According to the Huffington Post, “In a situation of oligopolistic competition, prices move tightly, even without open (and illegal!) collusion between the parties” (Neches). So, in the end, the merger doesn't look very good for the airline industry. The merger is not only good for the industry, but also for the company. Merging two broken companies will not produce a strong company. Everything from computer system malfunctions, to union problems and aircraft malfunctions, plagued every single phase of this merger. The United-Continental merger may have made them the largest airliner in the world, but it didn't make them the best.