HOUSTON – Continental Airlines is now officially known as United Airlines.
The last part of the merger of Continental and United was officially finished at 2 a.m. Saturday.
The travel industry braced for delays and computer glitches as Houston's hometown airline faded into history.
There were more staff in the terminal at George Bush Intercontinental Airport to greet confused travelers, especially those who booked a flight under the Continental name.
Workers spent Friday night talking down the old Continental Airlines signs and replacing them with new United signs.
Airline works from Houston and from the company headquarters in Chicago were on hand to remove the old signs.
"It'll be a difficult transition, I'm sure. They say it's an easy process, but it never is," traveler Susan Buckley-Carney said.
Buckley-Carney told Local 2 Investigates she was hassled over her carry-on bag that had flown just fine with Continental for a decade. The new United guidelines said it was too big.
"I wasn't really expecting any problems. We got an e-mail in advance so we knew it was going to be today. The only issue I had was trying to print my boarding pass on my iPhone," traveler Patti Garcia said.
Garcia and other travelers said they are not worried about losing their Continental frequent flyer miles in the switch. United said any miles saved up will roll over into new United frequent-flyer accounts, but travelers could lose them if there are no flights or activity on an account for 18 months.
Otherwise, the airline's website said "your miles and status are safe."
In past airlines mergers, there have been flight delays and computers not linking up once the switch is thrown, but airline analysts point out this merger has been in the works longer so it may be less of a problem.