United Airlines headquarters hit by bedbugs

It's been a rough go of things for United Airlines since merging with Continental in 2010. Since that time, the company has been hit with several operations challenges and has dropped in most airline quality and customer-service ratings. Financially, United has been one of the USA's least-profitable airlines during the past two years.

Now, the carrier is contending with a new problem: Bedbugs.

Fortunately, the pests aren't on its planes. But Chicago TV station WGN reports they have been found on the 16th floor of Chicago's landmark Willis Tower (formerly the Sears Tower). That just happens to be home to United Airlines headquarters.

"Employees are complaining that they've been told very little about the infestation which is believed to be contained to an area on that floor," WGN says in its report from earlier this week.

United confirmed the issue and says it's working to address the problem.

"We did identify an isolated issue in a small group of cubicles and immediately brought in exterminators to do a full remediation," United spokesman Charles Hobart says in a statement to Today in the Sky. "We continue to bring in exterminators on site to ensure eradication."