UAL Inc. Wants to Change Its Name to Allegis Corp.

UAL Inc., the holding company that owns United Airlines, Hertz rental car business and Westin Hotels & Resorts, said Wednesday that it will change its name to Allegis Corp. so the public will not think of it as simply an airline firm.

“UAL was thought by many to simply mean United Airlines,” Richard J. Ferris, the company’s chairman and chief executive, said at a news conference in Chicago.

“We are a travel company, not just a transportation company.”

The name change clearly identifies us as the only corporation that can offer travelers door-to-door service.”

The name was created by the “identity management” firm of Lippincott & Margulies.

The company said it came up with Allegis “because it conveys the central corporate mission of service and guardianship” for travelers “through its relation to the word allegiant , meaning loyal or faithful, and aegis , meaning protection and sponsorship.”

Shareholders will be asked to approve the name change at the company’s annual meeting in New York on April 30. If it is approved, the stock’s symbol on the New York Stock Exchange will be changed to ALE from UAL.