fastfxr

He is losing me, that's for sure. United's dismal on-time performance interferes with my work schedule far too much. I expected to hit 200 segments this year, but will instead drive a larger portion of that.
Jeff's gotta remember--I have a business too.

PsiFighter37

Tell us how you really feel, Jeff.

Like others have pointed, he stated a fact, but the notion that he put it in such an <removed by moderator> way makes me wonder if the man has any friends or understands how he comes off. Sheesh.

skidooman

Yes, United is a business. And just like a business, travelers will make decisions based on perceived value.

I just needed to come back from Russia. I could have gone to United, get the ticket on 016, even if the first part of the trip would have been on l
Lufthansa or LX.

But this time around, my $1700 went straight to LH. AF and BA were also contenders. United was not even in the race.

Why? Too many problems, these days. And, frankly, United's product is not competitive. LH sold me real premium economy, with real elbow space, and then went on and sold me business class for a mere 300 dollars more.

I did not even bother to take a look at United's web site, which I usually always do. But since my cpm is about 13 cents, I am sure they won't miss me too much.

I will still fly United when it makes sense. But if I find some decent fares for premium economy to Asia, it will become increasingly hard to fly them. Economy Plus is starting to look less appealing, the frequent flyer benefits are no longer what they used to be.

United is a business now. And I need to look for my own rear-end too.

PV_Premier

and no motivation to do so when they are in a race to the bottom with DL and USdbaAA :-:

halls120

This year for the first time ever, most of my flying TATL will be on airlines other than UA. Why? Because I can't play the UA cancellation/delay lottery when I'm on a business trip, and because UA no longer offers industry leading IROPS protection.

This past spring MsHalls120 and I vacationed in the UK. We flew UA (and had wonderful flights), because time wasn't critical and because I was able to use my GPUs to secure upgrades at purchase. We're planning a late fall trip to Europe at the moment, and I'm looking at everyone other than UA, because I can't find upgrade availability at purchase. If I'm going to shell out $10K for 2 business seats, I want to get the best value for my money, and right now, that isn't found at UA.

B787938

Why is it that you don't see Richard Anderson, Brad Tilden, or even DWI Dougie saying anti-customer disparaging things like this Continental management does on an alarmingly frequent basis?

Say what you will about Gordon but as a guy with an A&P who ended up in senior management positions in several large organizations and successfully turned around Continental, he kind of earned the right to speak his mind because it went along with his schtick.

These pooncey Ivy leaguers however just are jerks. United might be one of the worst corporate cultures in American business at this point.

JBord

This really made me think. In my job, I get inside a lot of Fortune 500 companies. Other than a couple small ones that have been bought by corporate raiders and are being gutted, I'm having a hard time coming up with another example as bad as UA.

When a CEO says one day he's focusing on business travelers, and the next day that his customers don't understand business, and goes on to compare it to how his customers spend money to watch their cat videos, that sets up a pretty unique culture. I can understand why so many UA employees seem to be unhappy if he says the same things about them.

skidooman

Good point. I missed that one...

I can't say I am too impressed. If I told something similar to a client, I would certainly be invited to the CEO's office for a tough call.

I mean, cat videos, really?

Doesn't make you feel more than a blob.

channa

The real damage with these comments is the front-liners who then feel empowered to be anti-customer because their leader is.

The leader sets the tone.

LarkSFO

Have you seen the statistics on cat video bandwidth consumption?

I think this comment demonstrates that Smisek is actually somewhat in tune with the times we live in.

JBord

That's a fair point. But in the context it was given, after stating customers don't recognize its a business, it doesn't come across that way, at least to me. Seems more like "you dumb people pay for cat videos, why not legroom?".

I will concede that perhaps Smisek is not actually arrogant, but just horrible at speaking to and relating to people. Quite a few CEO's are not good with people, but they're usually smart enough to hire people to do that for them.

I still think employees pick up on the attitude though.

seagar

The world seems to operate in cycles; hard right then hard left. Sooner or later some airline will realize it might be a competitive advantage to build baggage fees into the cost of a ticket again or eliminate them completely. On the other hand, when the massive debt comes due, the federal government might decide it's time to tax these fees and things will change. To say they are here to stay is like saying FF programs are here to stay...

BearX220

That tells you he regards United customers as stupid, stoned children preoccupied with trivia.

Smisek rode into town as the new sheriff determined to show customers who's boss and nothing has changed all these years later, even though his airline has fallen apart on his watch like a suit made of Bounty towels.

bocastephen

The nasty condescending bitterness that UA management holds towards its customers and employees is truly astonishing, not to be overshadowed by the appalling arrogance for the level they hold their product to without any justification for doing so.

What Smisek is apparently unaware of is the pending legislation that would cap checked bag fees at a small multiple of the current PFC - aside from the ulterior motive we all know that particular legislator has, the result would be a cash windfall for the customers (until the PFCs go up) and a crash in airline ancillary revenue.

United is a company that does everything wrong - employees and customers come last (after management, analysts and shareholders), the product only moves a small margin in lockstep with competitors, any shortcomings in product or performance are blamed on others (ME3, weather, tooth fairy, dog ate the new strategic plan, etc), and their entire strategic plan is to copy every bad Delta change and the product downgrade of any airline - "normalizing to the industry" in Smisekspeak.

With comments, attitudes and statements like these, is there any wonder why customers and employees have such a hostile relationship with this company? I can't say I'm surprised by these comments, but I can say that I am highly disappointed.

mike1968

Sort of like WN, which bakes them into the ticket price? My experience is WN is usually a good $50 to $100 more expensive than UA, yet I'll still buy that fare and have no baggage to check because they are reliable and friendly service...and per their new ad campaign...NO RJs; just big planes They run a business too and sure seem to be getting the upper hand more than they ever did when UA actually knew how to compete with them.

Remember the days when the thought of getting on a WN plane seemed appalling? I and most of my co-workers do and now joke about how WN is great compared to Smisek's appalling version of UA.

Even Domino's CEO finally recognized you can make a pizza so cheap and disgusting that no one will buy it.

As for the government, they should be taxing all the fees. All the legacy airlines have done is unbundle what used to be a total price that used to be taxed. The tax should be on the total you are paying and if you don't like it, don't check bags or buy up to F. It's why everyone from local on up to federal is broke and why we will see even more creative taxation like Chicago's new Cloud computing tax. A 10-20% Airline fee tax--after the government allowed this Big 3 setup--is a no brainer that even Republicans should be able to get behind. Could go to fix all the bridges and highways that are crumbling.

I'd say milk the Big 3 legacy airline cash cow for all its worth...because the alternative choice would be???