A Chicago-area man has become the first United Airlines customer to fly 1 million miles on the airline in a calendar year, the carrier said Friday.

Tom Stuker, an automotive sales consultant who has a home in Bloomingdale near O'Hare airport, is United's most frequent flier and on Dec. 6 flew his millionth mile of 2012 aboard a United flight between London and Chicago.

Stuker has flown more than 13 million miles and is one of commercial aviation's highest-mileage travelers, according to United. Stuker estimates he has flown more than 6,000 flights on United, including about 400 this calendar year alone.

Stuker received wide media attention in July 2011 when he became the first person to fly 10 million miles on United and United Express.

"It has been a phenomenal year flying with United," Stuker said in a United news release. "Everyone at the airline, from the customer service agents to the flight attendants to the ramp workers, has made my travels feel effortless."

Of course, his experience isn't the same as most coach-class travelers; he qualifies for all the best upgrades and amenities at United.

United offers these comparisons to put Stuker's flight distances in perspective:



To equal the distance that Stuker achieved this year, a traveler would need to trek around the world about 40 times.

Cruising at 570 miles per hour, a single nonstop flight of 1 million miles would land 73 days after takeoff.

Stuker's 11 million miles flown on United would also put him about a third of the distance from Earth to Mars.

Stuker began accumulating his miles after joining United's MileagePlus loyalty program in 1983. He has logged most of his miles flying to Asia and Australia, and has flown to all 50 U.S. states, United notes.

gkarp@tribune.com