On Monday, United Airlines celebrated its 100-year anniversary. We have been in the 100-year airline era, as Delta Air Lines celebrated its 100th birthday last year. As you may know, I’m a big Delta fan and have only flown on one other airline, for one flight, since 2014. That airline is United.

United was, in fact, my first favorite airline as I spent my single digit years as the son of a United employee in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1990s. During the 1990s and 2000s, United was the leading airline in the U.S. It had iconic commercials, an excellent fleet of aircraft, a leading route network and alliance, and one of my all-time favorites, Channel 9. The first airline mileage program that I joined was United MileagePlus. I still have my membership card and ticket stubs from the 2000s when the iconic Saul Bass tulip logo and brand were still around.

Above is an image of the United Airlines San Francisco International Airport (SFO/KSFO) Maintenance Hanger. Photo by David Aughinbaugh II.

In a coincidence, I ended up at Orlando International Airport to drop off someone for a United flight this week. That same day, United released the Rhapsody In Flight Vinyl Record to celebrate 100 years. I was able to secure two of them and will likely be giving one of them away. During the late 1980s, United adopted Rhapsody in Blue as its theme song, which joined the Saul Bass logo as an icon for the airline. Thankfully, Rhapsody in Blue continued on as the theme song after the merger with Continental Airlines in 2012.

United’s 100-year anniversary brings back a lot of memories of the 1990s and 2000s. United gave me my first view into the aviation industry and the friendly skies.

With Rhapsody in Blue on in the background, congratulations to United Airlines on 100 years in the sky!

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