Exhibit 12.1 UAL Corporation and Subsidiary Companies Computation of Ratio of Earnings to Fixed Charges Six Months Ended June 30 1997 1996 (In Millions) ---------------- Earnings: Earnings before income taxes and extraordinary item $ 559 $ 382 Fixed charges, from below 482 548 Undistributed earnings of affiliates (40) (32) Interest capitalized (50) (39) ----- ----- Earnings $ 951 $ 859 ===== ===== Fixed charges: Interest expense $ 140 $ 159 Portion of rental expense representative of the interest factor 342 389 ----- ----- Fixed charges $ 482 $ 548 ===== ===== Ratio of earnings to fixed charges 1.97 1.57 ===== =====