Yet Another Customer Satisfaction Survey - United at the bottom, but a lot.
Apr 23, 2014, 4:28 pm
#151
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It's hard to tell if this would be enough. Even with a leader that they like (I've yet to see UA have a leader that they liked recently. People now talk highly of Tilton, but when he was in, he wasn't liked), but assuming they did, it wouldn't automatically fix the product deficiencies. It would almost certainly help with the operational ones though.
Apr 23, 2014, 4:36 pm
#152
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Keeping in mind, I personally believe Smi/J will take a hatchet to those C-Suite positions to save his own a55 a little while longer before this is all said and done.
Anyone left after that and not understanding the "new" direction, will get culled by the new CEO.
Apr 23, 2014, 4:45 pm
#153
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I think we will hear that the problem were (a) weather and (b) revenue management this quarter. They will claim revenue management is being fixed (Compton or Reiney said it was now their job - can't recall which at this point - on last quarters call) and next quarter if the results are bad, he goes.
As the blog post EWR764 linked to notes, the C suite appears to be in total denial that they have a problem with their plan, so someone has to take the fall for it being badly implemented, not the plan itself.
Apr 23, 2014, 4:47 pm
#154
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While CO's methods of operation may have worked for them, I never believed for a second that they could've be copy and pasted over to UAL, which had a vastly different operating environment and customer base with different needs. That is where it all went south.
I should also note, that in between all of this vitriol (
) for Smisek, we have not to forget that he was only carrying out the wishes of the board - i.e., a shotgun integration to quickly get both company's operating under the same res system. His compensation was closely tied to meeting a series of integration deadlines. Because of this, the company was unable/unwilling to engage in meaningful due diligence to see which policies/procedures/operating methods would truly be appropriate for a combined operation. The time prudent methodology won out, which was to carry a majority of the CO policies over, in all facets of the operation, from maintenance, aircraft scheduling, to customer facing policies. Top brass even let this little nugget slip to a major publication during the integration (believe it was the NYT). The results of this strategy speak for themselves - the combined operation melted down during 2012, the res system wasn't able to handle the combined operation, and customers headed to the doors. Thus, this "shotgun integration" is really where we should be laying the blame for the incompetent operation that we know of as UAL today. The $2B cost savings are only a response to the lagging finances, finances that were only hurt because of a tumultuous shotgun integration.
I should also note, that in between all of this vitriol (
) for Smisek, we have not to forget that he was only carrying out the wishes of the board - i.e., a shotgun integration to quickly get both company's operating under the same res system. His compensation was closely tied to meeting a series of integration deadlines. Because of this, the company was unable/unwilling to engage in meaningful due diligence to see which policies/procedures/operating methods would truly be appropriate for a combined operation. The time prudent methodology won out, which was to carry a majority of the CO policies over, in all facets of the operation, from maintenance, aircraft scheduling, to customer facing policies. Top brass even let this little nugget slip to a major publication during the integration (believe it was the NYT). The results of this strategy speak for themselves - the combined operation melted down during 2012, the res system wasn't able to handle the combined operation, and customers headed to the doors. Thus, this "shotgun integration" is really where we should be laying the blame for the incompetent operation that we know of as UAL today. The $2B cost savings are only a response to the lagging finances, finances that were only hurt because of a tumultuous shotgun integration.Good point and certainly forgotten here.
I wonder though, was that the BoD's request or was it a result of a Bonus negotiation with the Compensation Committee?
Apr 23, 2014, 4:53 pm
#155
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Sure, of course. I just don't understand why you flew UA 100% up to that point. There were undoubtedly times when AA or another airline would have been more convenient, why didn't you choose those? It sounds like you would still easily have reached 1K by the end of the year.
Apr 23, 2014, 4:57 pm
#156
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Apr 23, 2014, 5:03 pm
#157
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Sure, of course. I just don't understand why you flew UA 100% up to that point. There were undoubtedly times when AA or another airline would have been more convenient, why didn't you choose those? It sounds like you would still easily have reached 1K by the end of the year.
And I took AA/US down to CLT when UA wanted $1K+ for a crap RJ and I got AA for under $200.
I do readily admit between the three NYC airports, UA hs the best overall network (at least for where I need to go). And flying PS C for Y prices is quite attractive
Apr 23, 2014, 5:05 pm
#158
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I think we will hear that the problem were (a) weather and (b) revenue management this quarter. They will claim revenue management is being fixed (Compton or Reiney said it was now their job - can't recall which at this point - on last quarters call) and next quarter if the results are bad, he goes.
So one is a people problem, the other is a system problem.
On the system side, I would also think the CIO is at risk.
I go back to, what was it Nov or Dec, maybe before that, when one week before results were to be announced, they came out with guidance saying things are much worse than we told you. That's either very incompetent people running the show, which I wouldn't put on anyone currently there, or a very bad financial reporting system.
Heck, if the financial reporting system is that bad, maybe they can luck out to the upside and report better results tomorrow.
Apr 24, 2014, 5:36 am
#159
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Just a data point relative to the perception that management is tone-deaf.
Apr 24, 2014, 10:03 am
#161
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It's not really a usable data point without knowing his own position and biases. You've got a subjective assessment of what he thinks from his position, which is fine, but only if you can assess his position.
Apr 24, 2014, 10:28 am
#162
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No Harvard MBA Degree needed to have told them that.
Jeffy and carpetbaggers.com took the gamble they would not go elsewhere, and lost that roll of the dice it seems clear.
Flyers often have choices, and many have made them.
Screw over folks all around a few Regionals and they take their business to Delta or AA or others.
Any supplier that lies to me, no longer gets my dollars, and that is a common feeling clearly.
Our lost $80,000 a year might be a drop in the bucket in isolation, but make it 1000 folks that jumped, and there is your Billion dollars a year pretty much. @:-)
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Apr 24, 2014, 10:31 am
#163
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Apr 24, 2014, 10:37 am
#164
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Well 2.30am Friday here, so my maths could be better, but the point remains. 
Screw over and lie in writing to long term loyal clients in any business and you lose them, and their money.
Lots of zeros lost, no matter how you do the sums. @:-)
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Screw over and lie in writing to long term loyal clients in any business and you lose them, and their money.
Lots of zeros lost, no matter how you do the sums. @:-)
.
Apr 24, 2014, 3:56 pm
#165
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 2,324
Originally Posted by EWR764
Fascinating to see 90% of the sCO ground staff voted for the IAM...UAL ran a multi-million dollar campaign to try and have them vote for no representation. Amazing to see how unsuccessful they were. Shows me that even the sCO side has no confidence in this leadership team.