Exhibit 99.1

UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC. ANNOUNCES

THIRD-QUARTER 2011 PROFIT

UAL REPORTS $773 MILLION THIRD-QUARTER PROFIT EXCLUDING SPECIAL ITEMS;

$653 MILLION PROFIT ON GAAP BASIS

CHICAGO, Oct. 27, 2011 – United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) today reported third-quarter 2011 net income of $773 million or $2.00 per diluted share, excluding $120 million of net special items consisting primarily of integration-related costs. On a GAAP basis, UAL reported third-quarter 2011 net income of $653 million or $1.69 per diluted share.

“Our solid financial performance in the third quarter was due to the hard work and focus of my co-workers,” said Jeff Smisek, UAL’s president and chief executive officer. “Our merger integration is going well as we approach two significant milestones: our single operating certificate, which we expect to achieve by the end of this year, and our single passenger service system, which we expect to implement by the end of the first quarter of next year.”

UAL results for the third quarter include the financial results of its two operating subsidiaries, United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Prior to the merger on Oct. 1, 2010, UAL results included only the financial results of United. Pro forma results that consolidate the financial results for Continental for the third-quarter 2010 and nine months ended Sept. 30, 2010, are included for meaningful year-over-year comparisons.

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Third-Quarter Revenue and Capacity

For the third quarter of 2011, total revenue was $10.2 billion, an increase of 8.7 percent compared to the pro forma results for the same period in 2010. Consolidated passenger revenue for the third quarter rose 9.2 percent to $9.0 billion, compared to the pro forma results for the same period in 2010.

Consolidated revenue passenger miles (RPMs) for the third quarter of 2011 decreased 1.5 percent year-over-year on a pro forma basis, while capacity (available seat miles or ASMs) decreased 0.8 percent year-over-year on a pro forma basis, resulting in a third-quarter consolidated load factor of 85.3 percent.

Consolidated yield for the third quarter of 2011 increased 10.9 percent year-over-year on a pro forma basis. Third-quarter 2011 consolidated PRASM increased 10.1 percent compared to the pro forma results for the same period in 2010.

Mainline RPMs in the third quarter of 2011 decreased 1.6 percent on a mainline capacity decrease of 0.9 percent year-over-year on a pro forma basis, resulting in a third-quarter mainline load factor of 86.1 percent. Mainline yield for the third quarter of 2011 increased 10.8 percent over the pro forma results for the same period in 2010. Third-quarter 2011 mainline PRASM increased 10.1 percent year-over-year on a pro forma basis.

“I want to thank my co-workers for delivering good revenue results in a challenging economic environment,” said Jim Compton, UAL’s executive vice president and chief revenue officer. “As we continue to integrate the two networks, we will stay focused on investing in our product to drive customer satisfaction and revenue growth.”

Passenger revenue for the third quarter of 2011 and period-to-period comparisons of related pro forma statistics for UAL’s mainline and regional operations are as follows:

Cargo and other revenue in the third quarter of 2011 increased 4.9 percent, or $53 million, year-over-year on a pro forma basis.

Third-Quarter Costs

Total operating expenses, including special items, increased $962 million, or 11.6 percent, in the third quarter compared to the pro forma results for the same period of 2010. Third-quarter fuel costs, excluding the impact of fuel hedges, increased $1.0 billion year-over-year. Third-quarter 2011 operating expenses, excluding fuel, profit sharing and special items, increased $58 million, or 1.0 percent, year-over-year on a pro forma basis.

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Consolidated costs per available seat mile (CASM), excluding special items, increased 11.7 percent and mainline CASM, excluding special items, increased 11.3 percent in the third quarter of 2011 compared to the pro forma results for the same period last year. Third-quarter consolidated and mainline CASM, including special items, increased 12.5 and 12.4 percent year-over-year on a pro forma basis, respectively.

The company has hedged approximately 56 percent of its expected remaining fuel needs for 2011.

In the third quarter, consolidated and mainline CASM, excluding special items and holding fuel rate and profit sharing constant, increased 0.7 percent and 1.0 percent, respectively, compared to the pro forma results for the same period of 2010.

“Despite the difficult fuel price environment, the team did a good job managing costs in the third quarter,” said Zane Rowe, UAL’s executive vice president and chief financial officer. “We have more work to do to achieve our integration goals, but this quarter’s results highlight our continued progress.”

Third-Quarter Liquidity and Cash Flow

UAL ended the third quarter of 2011 with $8.4 billion in unrestricted cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments. During the third quarter, the company generated $385 million of operating cash flow and had gross capital expenditures of $196 million. The company made scheduled debt and net capital lease payments of $299 million and prepaid $170 million of debt and capital leases in the third quarter. During the first nine months of the year, the company made $2.1 billion of debt and capital lease payments, including prepayments.

Integration Progress

During the quarter, United and Continental made steady progress integrating the two airlines and remain on track to achieve a single operating certificate by year end. The company announced a $550 million investment in its onboard product, including installing flat-bed seats on additional long-haul aircraft, expanding Economy Plus seating and Channel 9 air traffic control audio to Continental aircraft, nearly doubling overhead storage space on the Airbus fleet, adding Wi-Fi to its mainline fleet and completely retrofitting the p.s. fleet. United also introduced its 2012 MileagePlus loyalty program, which provides new benefits and services for United’s and Continental’s most-frequent flyers and more options for members to redeem miles.

The carriers have co-located check-in, ticket counter and gate facilities at 53 airports since closing the merger and now have a single area for check-in at 283 airports systemwide. More than half of the total fleet, or 692 aircraft, is now repainted in the new United livery.

Notable Third-Quarter 2011 Accomplishments

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About United Continental Holdings, Inc.

United Continental Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: UAL) is the holding company for both United Airlines and Continental Airlines. Together with United Express, Continental Express and Continental Connection, these airlines operate an average of 5,717 flights a day to 376 airports on six continents from their hubs in Chicago, Cleveland, Denver, Guam, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark Liberty, San Francisco, Tokyo and Washington, D.C. United and Continental are members of Star Alliance, which offers more than 21,200 daily flights to 1,185 airports in 185 countries. United and Continental’s more than 80,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. For more information about United Continental Holdings, Inc., go to UnitedContinentalHoldings.com. For more information about the airlines, see united.com and continental.com or follow United on Twitter and Facebook.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: Certain statements included in this release are forward-looking and thus reflect our current expectations and beliefs with respect to certain current and future events and financial performance. Such forward-looking statements are and will be subject to many risks and uncertainties relating to our operations and business environment that may cause actual results to differ materially from any future results expressed or implied in such forward-looking statements. Words such as “expects,” “will,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “indicates,” “believes,” “forecast,” “guidance,” “outlook” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Additionally, forward-looking statements include statements which do not relate solely to historical facts, such as statements which identify uncertainties or trends, discuss the possible future effects of current known trends or uncertainties, or which indicate that the future effects of known trends or uncertainties cannot be predicted, guaranteed or assured. All forward-looking statements in this release are based upon information available to us on the date of this release. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events, changed circumstances or otherwise, except as required by applicable law. Our actual results could differ materially from these forward-looking statements due to numerous factors including, without limitation, the following: our ability to comply with the terms of our various financing arrangements; the costs and availability of financing; our ability to maintain adequate liquidity; our ability to execute our operational plans; our ability to control our costs, including realizing benefits from our resource optimization efforts, cost reduction initiatives and fleet replacement programs; our ability to utilize our net operating losses; our ability to attract and retain customers; demand for transportation in the markets in which we operate; an outbreak of a disease that affects travel demand or travel behavior; demand for travel and the impact that global economic conditions have on customer travel patterns; excessive taxation and the inability to offset future taxable income; general economic conditions (including interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates, investment or credit market conditions, crude oil prices, costs of aviation fuel and energy refining capacity in relevant markets); our ability to cost-effectively hedge against increases in the price of aviation fuel; any potential realized or unrealized gains or losses related to fuel or currency hedging programs; the effects of any hostilities, act of war or terrorist attack; the ability of other air carriers with whom we have alliances or partnerships to provide the services contemplated by the respective arrangements with such carriers; the costs and availability of aviation and other insurance; the costs associated with security measures and practices; industry consolidation or changes in airline alliances; competitive pressures on pricing and on demand; our capacity decisions and the capacity decisions of our competitors; U.S. or foreign governmental legislation, regulation and other actions (including open skies agreements and environmental regulations); labor costs; our ability to maintain satisfactory labor relations and the results of the collective bargaining agreement process with our union groups; any disruptions to operations due to any potential actions by our labor groups; weather conditions; the possibility that expected merger synergies will not be realized or will not be realized within the expected time period; and other risks and uncertainties set forth under Item 1A., Risk Factors of our Annual Report on Form 10-K, as well as other risks and uncertainties set forth from time to time in the reports we file with the SEC. Consequently, forward-looking statements should not be regarded as representations or warranties by us that such matters will be realized.

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UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC.

STATEMENTS OF CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

THREE MONTHS AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2011 AND

PRO FORMA RESULTS FOR THE THREE MONTHS AND NINE MONTHS ENDED SEPTEMBER 30, 2010

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UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC.

STATEMENTS OF CONSOLIDATED OPERATIONS (UNAUDITED)

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UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED NOTES (UNAUDITED)

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UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC.

CONSOLIDATED NOTES (UNAUDITED)

2011 - Special Items

UAL, United, Continental and Mileage Plus Holdings, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of United, executed an Amended and Restated Co-Branded Card Marketing Services Agreement (the Co-Brand Agreement) with Chase Bank USA, N.A. (Chase) in June 2011, through which the company sells mileage credits to Chase and the company’s loyalty program members accrue frequent flyer miles for making purchases using credit cards issued by Chase. The Co-Brand Agreement modifies and combines the previously existing co-branded agreements between Chase and each of United and Continental, respectively. As a result of the execution of the Co-Brand Agreement, revenues received as part of this agreement are subject to Accounting Standards Update 2009-13, “Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements – a consensus of the FASB Emerging Issues Task Force” (ASU 2009-13), adopted by the company on Jan. 1, 2011, which is applied to all contracts entered into or materially modified after the adoption date of the accounting standard. The application of the new accounting standard to the Co-Brand Agreement, which was determined to be a material modification of the previously existing co-branded agreements, decreases the value of the air transportation deliverables related to the agreement that the company records as deferred revenue (and ultimately Passenger Revenue when redeemed awards are flown) and increases the value of the marketing-related deliverables recorded in Other Revenue at the time these marketing-related deliverables are provided. The provisions of ASU 2009-13 require that existing deferred revenue be adjusted retroactively to reflect the value of the undelivered air transportation deliverables at the date of the contract modification. As a result, the company recorded a retroactive, one-time non-cash income adjustment to revenue of $107 million in the second quarter of 2011.

Integration-related costs consist of expenses related to the merger and integration of United and Continental. Integration-related costs for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2011, include costs to terminate certain service contracts that will not be used by the company, cost of PBGC Notes previously disclosed in the company’s Form 10-Q for the period ended June 30, 2011, costs to write-off system assets that are no longer used or planned to be used by the company, payments to third-party consultants to assist with integration planning and organization design, severance related costs primarily associated with administrative headcount reductions, relocation and training, and compensation costs related to the systems integration. Other special charges include gains and losses on the disposal of aircraft and related spare parts.

2010 - Special Items

Third quarter aircraft and related asset impairments consist of a United $22 million impairment charge to reduce the carrying value of five nonoperating Boeing 747 aircraft and 30 nonoperating Boeing 737 aircraft to fair value. Year-to-date aircraft and related asset impairments include the third quarter item, a second quarter United charge of $73 million to reduce the 747 and 737 aircraft mentioned above to fair value, a first quarter United $17 million charge to decrease the value of aircraft related assets and a Continental $6 million charge related to grounded Boeing 737-300 aircraft, which is net of gains on the sale of two Boeing 737-500 aircraft.

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The integration-related costs in the 2010 periods consist of third-party costs for legal, finance, advisory and other services associated with the company’s merger with Continental. These costs were incurred as part of the initial assessment of the merger and ongoing activities to complete the merger.

Non-cash MTM gains on undesignated fuel hedges relates to United’s MTM gains on fuel hedge contracts that were not designated as cash flow hedges. Under applicable accounting standards, MTM gains/losses on undesignated contracts are immediately recorded to fuel expense each period unlike MTM gains/losses on designated cash flow hedges which are initially deferred through other comprehensive income.

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UNITED CONTINENTAL HOLDINGS, INC.

STATISTICS