Chris Petty (second from left), Sales Manager, United Airlines, accepting the honour on behalf of United Airlines from ProfessorRobert M Graham, Executive Director, Victor Chang, The Hon. Jillian Skinner MP, NSW Health Minister, and Stephen Lowy, Chairman of the Board, Victor Chang

UNITED AIRLINES RECOGNISED FOR ONGOING SUPPORT

United Airlines, a wholly owned subsidiary of United Continental Holdings, Inc. has been bestowed the great honour of ‘Ambassador of the Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute’ at its annual Christmas Cocktail party yesterday.  The award recognises United’s continued support of the Institute through its MileagePlus Charity Miles Program.

Since the inception of the charity program in 1996, United Airlines’ MileagePlus members have donated 7,412,170 Mileage Points for use by Victor Chang Research Institute staff who regularly travel to the U.S. for research-related purposes.  The donation equates to over 92[1] return trips between Sydney and Los Angeles.  This has saved the Institute over $118,000[2] which can instead be diverted to critical research into heart disease and cardiovascular biology; cardiovascular research training; and facilitating the rapid application of research discoveries to patient care.