OREANDA-NEWS. Nearly 100 United Airlines employees who served in the armed forces received a special honor this Veterans Day. As a thank you for their service and sacrifice, the company flew these military veterans - representing pilots, flight attendants, maintenance technicians, ramp workers, customer service representatives and other work groups - from Seattle to its Chicago O'Hare hub on the delivery flight of a brand-new Boeing 737-900ER. In addition to the passengers on board, the entire cockpit and inflight crews on the commemorative flight also served in the military.

"Our employees are the key ingredient to our success, and we are honored to have thousands of men and women throughout our company who served, or are currently serving, in the armed forces," said Mike Ellis, United's senior vice president of Human Resources and a veteran of the U.S. Marine Corps. "We are dedicated to supporting these courageous individuals, and take great pride in the skills, training and dedication they bring to the job every day."

The delivery flight was organized by United for Veterans, the company's business resource group established in 2013 to support the airline's efforts to recruit, retain and train highly skilled veterans.