Last year, United launched our first brand campaign in nearly a decade: Good Leads The Way.
You’ve likely seen those four simple words in airport terminals, on TV, and across social media. They not only reflect our role as a force for good and a leader among our peers, but also a commitment to blaze new trails.
We’ve brought our campaign to life with real actions that inspire pride among our employees and customers; so far, that has included making historic investments to fight climate change, training more women and people of color to become pilots, planning to hire 50,000 new people, and upgrading our fleet with 500 new planes that are outfitted with oversize bins, a screen in every seat, and other features that our customers love. And we’re just getting started!
Good Leads The Way is also our approach to the communities we serve and doing the right thing. This month, we kick off our annual September of Service, during which thousands of United employees donate their time and talent to charitable causes in nearly 100 local communities around the world. We’re also organizing events in our airports. So, when you see groups of volunteers packing meals for the local food bank, upcycling dozens of nonprofits, such as Sesame Workshop. Whether you have 1,000 or 100,000 miles to give, you can help charities that rely on air travel to do good—across the country or around the world. Finally, this month we’re extending our partnership with World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals in response to crises around the world. I’m thrilled by the many ways we’re helping: We’ve increased our annual donation to nearly $1.5 million in cash and travel; we’ve set up a simple way to help fly World Central Kitchen personnel, equipment, and resources to the front lines of communities in need quickly and safely; and we’re making it easier for our employees to volunteer at World Central Kitchen activations as they occur. We’re proud of what Good Leads The Way means for our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve. During a time of unprecedented demand in amenity kits for disaster relief, or even donating blood, feel free to stop by and say hello (or pitch in to help if you have a little time before your flight!).
September is also National Preparedness Month, and we’re partnering with Sesame Workshop to raise miles donated by United MileagePlus members for Welcome Sesame, an early education program that supports people in need around the world by delivering early learning and nurturing care to children and caregivers in crisis. Sesame Workshop has set an ambitious goal to raise five million MileagePlus miles, and we’ll match the first million miles raised this year.
To view a list of all our nonprofit partners and find one that you’d like to support, visit our Miles on a Mission website at united.com/donate. It’s the airline industry’s first crowdsourcing platform where anyone with MileagePlus miles can support dozens of nonprofits, such as Sesame Workshop. Whether you have 1,000 or 100,000 miles to give, you can help charities that rely on air travel to do good—across the country or around the world.
Finally, this month we’re extending our partnership with World Central Kitchen, a nonprofit organization that provides fresh meals in response to crises around the world. I’m thrilled by the many ways we’re helping: We’ve increased our annual donation to nearly $1.5 million in cash and travel; we’ve set up a simple way to help fly World Central Kitchen personnel, equipment, and resources to the front lines of communities in need quickly and safely; and we’re making it easier for our employees to volunteer at World Central Kitchen activations as they occur.
We’re proud of what Good Leads The Way means for our employees, our customers, and the communities we serve. During a time of unprecedented demand in air travel, we can all be inspired by acts of kindness and service—both large and small—that can make a positive impact.
Thanks again for choosing United.
Josh Earnest,
Chief Communications Officer
