Defined Benefit (Pension) · DOL Form 5500 · 2023

United Airlines, Inc. Pension Plan

Data updated 2026-08-25

$3.5B
Total assets Very large vs avg
25,492
Participants Very large workforce
100th
Percentile by assets National rank
$137,585
Avg per participant Near avg balance/head
PlainRetire home → About this data RSS: change history

Official DOL plan name: The Continental Retirement Plan · Sponsored by United Airlines, Inc. · Texas · Transportation & Warehousing

$3.5B in assets, 25,492 participants

United Airlines, Inc.'s The Continental Retirement Plan reported $3.5B in total assets and 25,492 participants in its 2023 DOL Form 5500 filing, ranking in the 100th percentile by assets among filed plans. Figures are as reported by the plan sponsor to the Department of Labor, not audited or endorsed by PlainRetire.

  • #3,334 in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)

Coverage in Texas

The Continental Retirement Plan covers 25,492 participants in Texas, 37x the typical Texas plan (state average ~688 per filing). Assets: $3.5B.

#3,334
in Transportation & Warehousing (3,362 peers)
+11.0%
assets growth YoY
35×
vs typical plan assets (national mean)

The Continental Retirement Plan's outsized position by total assets

The Continental Retirement Plan vs every filed plan by assets

End-of-year total assets · plan year 2023 · DOL Form 5500

$3,507,314,598 Highest reported value at or above every one of 127,068 filed plans

This plan $0 $2,050,000,000 every filed plan with reported assets, bucketed by value

Dashed line + filled bar = this entry, among filed plans.

Source U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA) · plan year 2023

The Continental Retirement Plan's mega-plan peer group by participant headcount

Plan-year 2023 Form 5500 filings with a reported participant count, partitioned by headcount band, not by assets. The Continental Retirement Plan is a mega filing (25,492 participants), the rightmost band on the breakdown.

What changed between DOL Form 5500 filings

plan year 2022 → plan year 2023

  • The Continental Retirement Plan reported net income rose from $135M in the plan year 2022 filing to $346M in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • The Continental Retirement Plan end-of-year assets rose from $3.2B in the plan year 2022 filing to $3.5B in the plan year 2023 filing.
  • The Continental Retirement Plan reported participants rose from 24,855 in the plan year 2022 filing to 25,492 in the plan year 2023 filing.

See the national 2022→2023 release diff →

DOL schedule card

Filing strip 742099724 · United Airlines, Inc. PY 2023 · Defined Benefit (Pension)

The Continental Retirement Plan · $3.5B · 25,492 · 100th

  • IND $3.5B
  • IND 25,492
  • IND 100th
  • IND Defined Benefit (Pension)
  • IND near Operating Engineers Pension Trust
  • IND ind #3334

Stamps derive from this plan's Form 5500 line items (assets, participants, type, EIN, cohort placement) - not a quality rating of the sponsor. Read with Transportation & Warehousing retirement plans → · Plans in Texas →

The Continental Retirement Plan in the asset neighbourhood

Target Corporation Pension PlanTarget Corporation Pension P…$3.5BThe Continental Retirement PlanThe Continental Retirement P…$3.5BOperating Engineers Pension TrustOperating Engineers Pension …$3.5BUnited Mine Workers of America 1974 Pension PlanUnited Mine Workers of Ameri…$3.5BKodak Retirement Income Plan$3.5B
End-of-year total assets ($B) among The Continental Retirement Plan and nearest nationwide Defined Benefit (Pension) peers. Source: DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023.

Texas filing particulars

Total Assets (Beginning of Year)$3.2B
Net Assets (End of Year)$3.5B
Net Income$346M
Employer EIN742099724
Plan Effective Date1988-12-28
Filing StatusFILING RECEIVED

Sponsor Plan History (United Airlines, Inc.)

Sponsor-wide plan assets over time

All United Airlines, Inc. plans reported in each filing year

Latest sponsor-wide plan assets
$32.6B 22.353597613920844% vs 2022
2024 filing year
$26B$28B$30B$32B$34B 202220232024 $26.7B $32.6B ▲ +22.3%
Year Plans Participants Total Assets
2022 6 110,304 $26.7B
2023 6 114,586 $31.8B
2024 4 102,481 $32.6B

Nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) Plans in Texas

Peer Defined Benefit (Pension) plans, same state, same plan type, ranked by total assets.

The Continental Retirement Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Texas, assets vs. participants Scatter plot of 6 data points. 050000100000150000 010203040 Total assets ($B) Participants The Continental Retirement Plan, Total assets ($B): 3.507314598 · Participants: 25492The Continental Retirement PlanAT&T Pension Benefit Plan, Total assets ($B): 30.018512 · Participants: 107859AT&T Pension Benefit PlanShell Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 15.133347097 · Participants: 12215Shell Pension PlanExxonmobil Pension Plan, Total assets ($B): 12.015 · Participants: 22551Exxonmobil Pension PlanCaterpillar Inc. Retirement Income Plan, Total assets ($B): 9.803014695 · Participants: 12138Caterpillar Inc. Retirement Income PlanBp Retirement Accumulation Plan, Total assets ($B): 5.493677099 · Participants: 9360Bp Retirement Accumulation Plan
The Continental Retirement Plan vs. nearby Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in Texas, assets vs. participants
Compare The Continental Retirement Plan side-by-side with 3 peers →

Scale composition for The Continental Retirement Plan

The Continental Retirement Plan reports $3.5B in end-of-year assets across 25,492 participants (0.028% of the $12.3T held by all Form 5500 filers in the national rollup , and 0.027% of 93,925,755 covered participants) - about $137,585 per participant (100% of the national average assets-per-participant) . Net income for plan year 2023 was $346M.

This plan identity (EIN 742099724, plan #010) has 2 Form 5500 filings on file from 2022 to 2023 , with end-of-year assets moving from $3.2B to $3.5B (+11.0%) while covered participants moved from 24,855 to 25,492 . Single-year sparse filers cannot show that trail.

Plan year Participants EOY assets Filing
2022 24,855 $3.2B Open filing
2023 · index core 25,492 $3.5B This page

The same sponsor also keeps 4 other index-core plans on PlainRetire:

The Continental Retirement Plan's out-of-state Defined Benefit (Pension) peers by assets and headcount

Outside Texas, the nearest Defined Benefit (Pension) by assets is Operating Engineers Pension Trust in CA ($3.5B); by covered participants it is Pacific Gas and Electric Company Retirement Plan in CA (25,647 participants). Same-state nearby plans are listed separately above.

Closest by plan assets

Nearest other-state filings by tot_assets_eoy ($3.5B here).

Similar participant headcount

Nearest other-state filings by covered participants (25,492 participants); asset peers above are excluded.

DOL Form 5500 plan year 2023. Asset totals can differ widely at the same headcount; neither axis is a quality rating.

Frequently Asked Questions

How did The Continental Retirement Plan assets move in 2023? ▼
The Continental Retirement Plan grew at a solid clip - up 11.0% during 2023, from $3.2B to $3.5B. Reported net income was $346M.
How have United Airlines, Inc. plan assets changed over time? ▼
Across 3 plan years on file (2022-2024), United Airlines, Inc.'s sponsor-wide assets grew 22.4%, from $26.7B to $32.6B.
Where does The Continental Retirement Plan rank by assets among Form 5500 filers? ▼
The Continental Retirement Plan ranks in the 100th percentile by end-of-year assets among 127,072 plans that reported assets for plan year 2023 (among the largest 1% of all filed plans).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans are similar in size to The Continental Retirement Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by assets is Operating Engineers Pension Trust in CA ($3.5B, 13,014 participants).
Which Defined Benefit (Pension) plans cover a similar participant headcount to The Continental Retirement Plan? ▼
Among Defined Benefit (Pension) plans in other states, the closest by covered participants is Pacific Gas and Electric Company Retirement Plan in CA (25,647 participants, $18.0B in assets).

Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Employee Benefits Security Administration (EBSA), Form 5500 public disclosure dataset. Plan year 2023.

Source: DOL EFAST2 filing system (efast.dol.gov) - original filing retrieval by EIN 742099724.

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

Data sourced from U.S. Department of Labor Form 5500 filings (EBSA). See our methodology for details.