United, Continental Merge to Become World's No. 1

United and Continental closed a deal on Friday that will create a new No. 1 airline in the world, ending Delta’s two-year hold on the top spot.

The transaction puts the two airlines in the same holding company, United Continental Holdings Inc., which will spend the next year combining them into a single airline. The combined airline will be called United Airlines, with Continental’s colors and globe logo on the tail.

For now, Continental customers will continue to check in through Continental’s website or at Continental airport counters. The same is true for United customers. Their frequent flier programs will stay separate for now, too.

The company said travelers should begin to see a more unified product in the spring. It expects to get a single operating certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration in early 2012.

United Continental Holdings is being run by former Continental CEO Jeff Smisek. It’s based in United’s headquarters in Chicago.

Under the deal, Continental shareholders received 1.05 shares of United stock for every share of Continental. The old Continental shares have stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

Shares in the new company will trade on the NYSE under the ticker symbol “UAL,” which was United’s old ticker symbol before filing for bankruptcy protection in 2002. It emerged in 2006 and traded under the symbol “UAUA.”

DAVID KOENIG, JOSHUA FREED, AP Airlines Writers and AP Airlines Writers