United Airlines Plane Pull a success

The 14th Annual United Plane Pull- “Towing the Line to Save Lives” was held last Saturday. Photos shows Team CTSI in action during the 2013 edition of the fundraising event. (Contributed Photo)

GUAM—United Airlines announced the winners of its 14th Annual United Plane Pull- “Towing the Line to Save Lives” last Sept 14, 2019, at the United hangar in Tiyan.

Thirty-two teams registered to tow the line in the fight against cancer. This year’s event raised more than $20,000, which directly and equally benefitted Plane Pull beneficiaries American Cancer Society and Guam Cancer Care. The annual Plane Pull event, which is organized and sponsored by United employees, has attracted more than 12,000 participants throughout the past 14 years and has raised close to $360,000 for local charities.

This year, 20 media representatives from 12 different outlets joined forces to tow the line to save lives for the first time. Together, the media team raised more than $1,250 to contribute to the cause.

Sam Shinohara, United’s managing director of airport operations Asia/Pacific said, “Plane Pull brings the best of our community together to raise funds for the fight against cancer. I’d like to thank each of the teams who came out strong in support of our Cancer Warriors and Survivors, American Cancer Society and Guam Cancer Care. We’re also proud to have our media partners participate in this year’s event and we hope to continue to have a media team for future events. Plane Pull continues to grow through the generosity and commitment of our island community. Thank you to our Plane Pull committee and the nearly 1,000 United employees who organized and put on this incredible event”

Teams competed to pull a United Boeing 737 aircraft—129 feet long, 41 feet high and 124 feet wide, weighing a total of 145,000 pounds—12 feet in the fastest time. Two teams claimed the title of 2019 United Plane Pull Champion. Leo Palace/Team Chikara won the men’s division and The Giving Tree Preschool/Team #TGT took the win in the co-ed division. Leo Palace/Team Chikara earned the 2019 Team Spirit Award and The Guam Daily Post/Team Just Plane Awesome earned the 2019 Media Spirit Award.

Results for the Men’s Division
1st Place: LeoPalace Resort/Team Chikara with a time of 5.17 seconds
2nd Place: Dusit Thani Guam Resort/Team DTGU with a time of 5.24 seconds
3rd Place: Tristar Terminals Guam, Inc./Team Tristar with a time of 5.55 seconds

Results for the Co-Ed Division
1st Place: The Giving Tree Preschool/Team #TGT with a time of 5.35 seconds
2nd Place:LeoPalace Resort/Team Chikara with a time of 5.36 seconds
3rd Place: USO sponsored by Tan Holdings/Team USO with a time of 5.38 seconds

2019 Team Spirit Award Winner
LeoPalace Resort/Team Chikara

2019 Media Spirit Award Winner
The Guam Daily Post/Team Just Plane Awesome

Paula Monk, United’s senior sales manager, Guam and Micronesia said, “Cancer affects all of us in one way or another and we’re very fortunate to have the opportunity to play a role in supporting the American Cancer Society and Guam Cancer Care. Guam is such a giving community and our annual Plane Pull event is so successful because of the support and generosity of the community and our Guam based employees. We look forward to building on the success and momentum of this year’s event as we look forward to our 15th Annual Plane Pull event in 2020.”

In 2019, United is focusing more than ever on its commitment to its customers, looking at every aspect of its business to ensure that the carrier keeps customers’ best interests at the heart of its service. In addition to today’s announcement, United recently announced that luxury skincare line Sunday Riley will make products exclusively for United customers to experience in amenity kits, released a re-imagined version of the most downloaded app in the airline industry, introduced ConnectionSaver, a new tool dedicated to improving the experience for customers connecting from one United flight to the next and made DIRECTV free for every passenger on 211 aircraft, offering more than 100 channels on seat back monitors on more than 30,000 seats.

United’s shared purpose is “Connecting People. Uniting the World.” We are more focused than ever on our commitment to customers through a series of innovations and improvements designed to help build a great experience: Every customer. Every flight. Every day. Together, United Airlines and United Express operate approximately 4,900 flights a day to 356 airports across five continents. In 2018, United and United Express operated more than 1.7 million flights carrying more than 158 million customers. United is proud to have the world’s most comprehensive route network, including U.S. mainland hubs in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, New York/Newark, San Francisco and Washington, D.C. United operates 783 mainline aircraft and the airline’s United Express carriers operate 561 regional aircraft. United is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides service to 193 countries via 27-member airlines. For more information, visit united.com, follow @United on Twitter and Instagram or connect on Facebook. The common stock of United’s parent, United Airlines Holdings, Inc., is traded on the Nasdaq under the symbol “UAL.” (PR)