UA has much more fundamental IT issues to address. Too many stories here of issues which all look to me to be the signs of a very brittle, poorly tested pile of software.
Here are some IT issues I've read about here in the past few weeks that I can recollect straight from memory:
- Having to stop posting miles for several days because of unexplained issues
- Two years in a row of many people getting the "wrong" higher status for several days at the turn of the year
- Changing and missing and inexplicable seat assignment snafus
- Running promotions, awarding miles, and then clawing them back because the wrong number was posted
- The infamous 4-miles to HKG in GlobalFirst debacle
- Being unable to print out an acceptable boarding pass
- Stuck CPU processing (was this ever working properly? Will it ever? Will UA ever come clean?)
- Numerous reports of issues actually ticketing award travel on partner airlines, and then not owning the problem
A new web site would be the classic example of lipstick on a pig.
They may own SHARES and avoid paying any royalties to anyone for something better, and think it saves them money, but I really do wonder. The bug fix costs must be enormous, and the hundreds of additional call center staff to field the complaints ain't free either.