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Private company

Ted

Low-cost airline of the United States (2003–2009)

Ted was one of two airline divisional brands of United Airlines. It targeted vacation locations primarily served by the low cost airline market, in contrast to the company's high-end premium transcontinental brand, United p.s. (which focused on business travelers between United's two California hubs and New York City).2 It is headquartered in Denver.1 It is part of UAL Corporation.1 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2003Founded1
  • HeadquartersDenver1
  • Legal formLimited Liability Company3
  • LEI5493004ZYS0LYBJQ9L533
  • StatusActive3
  • LEI statusLapsed (not renewed)3
  • Registered addressC/O THEODORE E DIXON, 95037 Morgan Hill, United States3
  • Registered withSecretary of State, 2001198100873

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Ted A320-232 (N470UA) taxiing at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport
Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Choster assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY 2.5, via Wikimedia Commons5

Ted was one of two airline divisional brands of United Airlines. It targeted vacation locations primarily served by the low cost airline market, in contrast to the company's high-end premium transcontinental brand, United p.s. (which focused on business travelers between United's two California hubs and New York City). "Ted" comes from the last three letters in the United brand name. United marketed Ted anthropomorphically and attempted to personify Ted; it used phrases such as Meet Ted or I've Met Ted.2

Corporate structure

Ted is part of a group headed by UAL Corporation. 40 entities, 5 countries on record. Switch between the flow chart and the network, and select any entity to see its details.

  • UAL Corporation 77 West Wacker Drive
    • Ted Morgan Hill, California, United States
    • United Airlines Subsidiary · Wilmington, Delaware, United States
      • CommuteAir Subsidiary · Westlake
      • Shuttle by United Subsidiary
      • United Club Subsidiary
      • United Airlines Holdings, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Air Wis Services, Inc. Subsidiary · Wisconsin, United States
      • ● Air Wisconsin, Inc. Subsidiary · Wisconsin, United States
      • ● CAL Cargo, S.A. de C.V. Subsidiary · Mexico
      • ● CALFINCO Caymans Ltd. Subsidiary · Cayman Islands
      • ● CALFINCO Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Century Casualty Company Subsidiary · Vermont, United States
      • ● Continental Airlines de Mexico, S.A. Subsidiary · Mexico
      • ● Continental Airlines, Inc. Supplemental Retirement Plan for Pilots Trust Agreement Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Covia LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Domicile Management Services, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets Aggregator, Ltd. Subsidiary · Cayman Islands
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets GP S.à r.l. Subsidiary · Luxembourg
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets Holdings MIP, Ltd. Subsidiary · Cayman Islands
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets Holdings UIP, Ltd. Subsidiary · Cayman Islands
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets Lux 1 SCS Subsidiary · Luxembourg
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets Lux 2 SCS Subsidiary · Luxembourg
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets SPV Partner, Ltd. Subsidiary · Cayman Islands
      • ● Mileage Plus Intellectual Property Assets, Ltd. Subsidiary · Cayman Islands
      • ● Mileage Plus Marketing, Inc. Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • ● Mileage Plus, LLC Subsidiary · Delaware, United States
      • and 12 more

Built from parent and subsidiary links from GLEIF, the Global Legal Entity Identifier Foundation (CC0); subsidiaries listed in Exhibit 21 of annual reports filed with the SEC; subsidiaries, stakes and holdings from Wikidata (CC0); major holders from Schedules 13D and 13G. Each entity in the chart links to its source.

The story

Ted's creation was announced November 12, 2003, and service began February 12, 2004. It began service out of United's hub in Denver International Airport to compete with JetBlue Airways. The airline had 56 Airbus A320-200s with 156 all-economy seats, allowing United to compete with low-cost airlines such as Frontier Airlines. All Ted flights were operated by United crews flying under the UAL operating certificate, as Ted was not actually a certificated airline, but rather a brand name applied to differentiate the all-economy service from United's mainline flights. Therefore, because of operational needs, it was possible for Ted aircraft to be utilized for mainline United flights; in the reverse, more often mainline United aircraft operated as Ted flights because of equipment substitutions.

During its brief existence, Ted was the subject of a popular joke that "Ted" stood for "the end of United." This usually led to related jokes that American Airlines would start its own low-cost brand called "Can" and Northwest Airlines would start "West".

Ted ceased all operations on January 6, 2009 and its components were transferred back to UA mainline operations.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ted (airline), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Products and brands

Destinations

At the time of its integration back into mainline United, Ted flew to 23 destinations throughout the United States, including Puerto Rico, and Mexico. Ted's primary hub was at Denver International Airport, and the airline maintained focus cities at Chicago's O'Hare International Airport, San Francisco International Airport, and Dulles International Airport near Washington, DC.

Fleet

United dedicated 56 of its 99 Airbus A320-200 aircraft to Ted operations.

From Wikipedia’s article on Ted (airline), shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.4

Subsidiaries and ownership

Parent company

From Wikidata.1

Timeline

  1. Jan 6, 2009Dissolved Dissolved1
  2. 2003Founded Founded1

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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