---
id: "entity-united-airlines"
type: "entity"
entityType: "organization"
canonicalName: "United Airlines"
aliases: ["UAL", "United"]
source_timestamps: ["§ The \\\\\\\"Autonomous Scrum\\\\\\\""]
tags: ["case-study", "restructuring"]
related: ["framework-autonomous-scrum", "claim-autonomous-scrums-outperform"]
sources: ["governance"]
sourceVaultSlug: "hbr-seg-governance"
originDay: 7
articleStem: "hbr-sig-59-consensus-decision-making"
sourceUrl: "https://hbr.org/2026/04/decision-making-by-consensus-doesnt-work-in-the-ai-era"
sourceTitle: "Decision-Making by Consensus Doesn’t Work in the AI Era"
---
# United Airlines (UAL)

**Entity type:** organization · **Canonical name:** United Airlines

Used as the primary case study for the efficacy of the [[framework-autonomous-scrum]] architecture (which UAL called 'working groups'). During its **2002–2006 Chapter 11 bankruptcy** — one of the largest corporate reorganizations in U.S. history — UAL used **six cross-disciplinary teams of 6–10 people** to handle massive tasks including renegotiating **660 aircraft leases**, handling labor contracts, and raising **$2 billion in exit financing**. This structure ultimately led to the successful merger with Continental Airlines. It is the empirical anchor for [[claim-autonomous-scrums-outperform]], and [[entity-jonathan-rosenthal]]'s restructuring work connects him directly to this case.

**Calibration (from enrichment):** The UAL bankruptcy and reorganization are well-documented historically. The specific 'working group' design and its *causal* impact on outcomes come from the authors' first-hand experience rather than independent empirical evaluation.

**Canonical reference (from enrichment):** united.com (corporate site).