United Airlines in the context of "Boeing 777"

Flight or flying is the motion of an object through an atmosphere or through the vacuum of space, in this case also called spaceflight, without contacting any planetary surface. This can be achieved by generating aerodynamic lift associated with gliding or propulsive thrust, aerostatically using buoyancy, or by ballistic movement.

Many things can fly, from animal aviators such as birds, bats and insects, to natural gliders/parachuters such as patagial animals, anemochorous seeds and ballistospores, to human inventions like aircraft (airplanes, helicopters, airships, balloons, etc.) and rockets which may propel spacecraft and spaceplanes.

Flight planning is the process of producing a flight plan to describe a proposed aircraft flight. It involves two safety-critical aspects: fuel calculation, to ensure that the aircraft can safely reach the destination, and compliance with air traffic control requirements, to minimise the risk of midair collision. In addition, flight planners normally wish to minimise flight cost through the appropriate choice of route, height, and speed, and by loading the minimum necessary fuel on board. Air Traffic Services (ATS) use the completed flight plan for separation of aircraft in air traffic management services, including tracking and finding lost aircraft, during search and rescue (SAR) missions. Flight planning typically includes route selection, fuel calculation, alternate aerodrome planning, weight and balance considerations, and an assessment of meteorological conditions.

Flight planning requires accurate weather forecasts so that fuel consumption calculations can account for the fuel consumption effects of head or tail winds and air temperature. Safety regulations require aircraft to carry fuel beyond the minimum needed to fly from origin to destination, allowing for unforeseen circumstances or for diversion to another airport if the planned destination becomes unavailable. Furthermore, under the supervision of air traffic control, aircraft flying in controlled airspace must follow predetermined routes known as airways (at least where they have been defined), even if such routes are not as economical as a more direct flight. Within these airways, aircraft must maintain flight levels, specified altitudes usually separated vertically by 1,000 or 2,000 ft (300 or 610 m), depending on the route being flown and the direction of travel. When aircraft with only two engines are flying long distances across oceans, deserts, or other areas with no airports, they have to satisfy additional ETOPS safety rules to ensure they can reach an emergency airport if one engine fails.

United Airlines Flight 93 was a domestic scheduled passenger flight that was hijacked by four al-Qaeda terrorists on the morning of Tuesday, September 11, 2001, as part of the September 11 attacks. The hijackers planned to crash the plane into a federal government building in the national capital of Washington, D.C. The mission failed when the passengers fought back, forcing the terrorists to crash the plane in Shanksville in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, preventing them from reaching al-Qaeda's intended target, but killing everyone aboard the flight. The airliner involved, a Boeing 757-200 with 44 passengers and crew, was flying United Airlines' daily scheduled morning flight from Newark International Airport in New Jersey to San Francisco International Airport in California, making it the only plane hijacked that day not to be a Los Angeles–bound flight.

Forty-six minutes into the flight, the hijackers killed one passenger, stormed the cockpit, and struggled with the pilots as controllers on the ground listened in. Ziad Jarrah, who had trained as a pilot, took control of the aircraft and diverted it back toward the East Coast, in the direction of D.C.

Delta Air Lines, Inc. is a major airline in the United States headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, operating nine hubs, with Hartsfield–Jackson Atlanta International Airport being its largest in terms of total passengers and number of departures. With its regional subsidiaries and contractors operating under the brand name Delta Connection, Delta has over 5,400 flights daily and serves 325 destinations in 52 countries on six continents. Delta is a founding member of the SkyTeam airline alliance which helps to extend its global network. It is the second-oldest operating commercial airline in the U.S., having begun passenger operations after United.

Delta ranks first in revenue and brand value among the world's largest airlines, and second by number of passengers carried, passenger miles flown, and fleet size. Listed 70th on the Fortune 500 list, Delta has topped The Wall Street Journal's annual rankings of airlines in 2022, 2023, and 2024 and earned first place in the 2024 Readers’ Choice Awards for Best Airlines in the U.S. by Condé Nast Traveler.

A wide-body aircraft, also known as a twin-aisle aircraft and in the largest cases as a jumbo jet, is an airliner with a fuselage wide enough to accommodate two passenger aisles with seven or more seats abreast. The typical fuselage diameter is 5 to 6 m (16 to 20 ft). In the typical wide-body economy cabin, passengers are seated seven to ten abreast, allowing a total capacity of 200 to 850 passengers. Seven-abreast aircraft typically seat 160 to 260 passengers, eight-abreast 250 to 380, nine- and ten-abreast 350 to 480. The largest wide-body aircraft are over 6 m (20 ft) wide, and can accommodate up to eleven passengers abreast in high-density configurations.

By comparison, a typical narrow-body aircraft has a diameter of 3 to 4 m (10 to 13 ft), with a single aisle, and seats between two and six people abreast.

A jet bridge is an enclosed connector which most commonly extends from an airport terminal gate to an airplane, and in some instances from a port to a boat or ship, allowing passengers to board and disembark without heading outside and being exposed to harsh weather. Depending on building design, sill heights, fueling positions, and operational requirements, a jet bridge may be fixed or movable, swinging radially, or extending in length. The jetway was invented by Frank Der Yuen.

Similar devices are used for astronauts to enter spacecraft, which are installed at the appropriate height of the launch tower.

Orlando International Airport (IATA: MCO, ICAO: KMCO, FAA LID: MCO) is the primary international airport located 6 miles (9.7 km) southeast of Downtown Orlando, Florida. In 2024, the airport served 57,211,628 passengers, making it the busiest airport in the state and ninth busiest airport in the United States. The airport code MCO comes from the airport's former name, McCoy Air Force Base, a Strategic Air Command installation, that was closed in 1975 as part of a general military drawdown following the end of the Vietnam War.

The airport serves as an operating base for Breeze Airways, Frontier Airlines, Southwest Airlines and Spirit Airlines, as well as a focus city for JetBlue. Southwest is the airport's largest carrier by passengers carried. The airport is also a major international gateway for the Florida region, with over 1,000 daily flights on more than 40 airlines serving over 170 domestic and international destinations. At 11,605 acres (4,696 ha), MCO is one of the largest commercial airports in terms of land area in the United States. In addition, the airport is home to a maintenance base for United Airlines. The airport was also a hub for Delta Air Lines until 2007.

A narrow-body aircraft or single-aisle aircraft is an airliner arranged along a single aisle, permitting up to 6-abreast seating in a cabin less than 4 metres (13 ft) in width.In contrast, a wide-body aircraft is a larger airliner usually configured with multiple aisles and a fuselage diameter of more than 5 metres (16 ft), allowing at least seven-abreast seating and often more travel classes.