United-Continental merger should be complete by the end of the year

The merger of United and Continental Airlines is on track to be completed by the end of the year, United CEO Jeff Smisek told shareholders Thursday according to reports.

Reuters is reporting that Smisek said Thursday that United and Continental should receive a single operator designation from the Federal Aviation Administration by year's end. The companies have already begun combining their operations and repainting planes with the United name on Continental's colors, but they have temporarily remained separate airlines.

United agreed to buy Continental in 2010 for $3.17 billion.

However, the union that represents United pilots disagreed that everything was running smoothly with the deal. 

" 'On schedule' are two words Mr. Smisek should avoid in addressing the shareholders regarding this merger," United Master Executive Council of the Air Line Pilots Association chairman Wendy Morse said Thursday in a statement.

The union is upset the airlines have not yet reached a bargaining agreement for both airlines' pilots.

“There is no bigger task in front of United management than reaching agreement with the pilots on a Joint Collective Bargaining Agreement and this task is nowhere near on schedule," Morse said. "Until an agreement is reached, this merger cannot be considered anything close to a success. It’s unfathomable that, more than one year after the announcement of the UAL/CAL merger, the company has not reached agreement with its pilots on a JCBA."