Post-Smisek Improvements - Imaginary or not?
Oct 10, 2015, 9:56 am
#31
Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: IAH
Programs: Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist, DL Plat, UA Silver
Posts: 4,043
+1 all my domestic bags with Priority are coming out in random order. Priority is useless now especially when more than half the plane is priority.
The baggage loaders at IAH seem to have given up on Priority or not. Only the 1st 10 bags are priority and the rest come out mixed.
The baggage loaders at IAH seem to have given up on Priority or not. Only the 1st 10 bags are priority and the rest come out mixed.
Oct 10, 2015, 10:07 am
#32
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 117
Connecting thru Denver for a flight to BOI, but connection was running an hour late and nevertheless the flight attendant on the BOI leg, a good-looking young and very friendly lady, as an expression of goodwill for the tardy flight gave me not one but two beers for the delayed flight. Oh wait, that was back on the old United in 1962. A little blast from the past - but honest, a totally true story.
Oct 10, 2015, 11:01 am
#33
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Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Honolulu Harbor
Programs: UA 1K
Posts: 15,018
Connecting thru Denver for a flight to BOI, but connection was running an hour late and nevertheless the flight attendant on the BOI leg, a good-looking young and very friendly lady, as an expression of goodwill for the tardy flight gave me not one but two beers for the delayed flight. Oh wait, that was back on the old United in 1962. A little blast from the past - but honest, a totally true story.
Oct 11, 2015, 6:23 am
#34
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,579
Spoke with all of the crews, and both pmUA and pmCO crews were clearly happier - when I remarked to one as to how well things seemed to be going over the last several weeks, she said, "now that the idiot is gone, hopefully things will improve."
Oct 25, 2015, 12:22 pm
#35
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Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,719
This after roughly three years of my entire family forbidding me to book them on United thanks to a terrible series of debacles, cancellations, horrible personnel interactions, etc. after 3/12... including one episode where my very elderly MIL was lied to, stranded, downgraded, and generally traumatized by the system. My wife is therefore the last person you'd expect to report what she reported. But there you go.
Oct 25, 2015, 12:38 pm
#36
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
It will be interesting to see if there is a lag in rebuilding United's brand image between them actually running a better operation, and people accepting that they are better.
The Smisek era marketing culture was built on the Mencken precept that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.
But the new regime will need to bank on that intelligence for customers to see that there is a real improvement and re-calibrate their travel preferences accordingly.
Of course, this assumes a static competitive landscape which is never true in aviation. DL or WN only have to raise their game a bit to keep ahead of UA at this point.
The Smisek era marketing culture was built on the Mencken precept that no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the American people.
But the new regime will need to bank on that intelligence for customers to see that there is a real improvement and re-calibrate their travel preferences accordingly.
Of course, this assumes a static competitive landscape which is never true in aviation. DL or WN only have to raise their game a bit to keep ahead of UA at this point.
Oct 25, 2015, 12:44 pm
#37
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Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
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Even if UA morphed into a best-in-class airline tomorrow, it would take until the end of this decade until it was known as such. UA is filed in the big consumer hive-mind right now under "nightmare."
Oct 25, 2015, 1:32 pm
#38
Join Date: Apr 2007
Location: USA
Programs: AAdvantage, MileagePlus, SkyMiles
Posts: 4,159
Just a data point from back in August, before Smisek resigned/was asked to leave. Passed through IAH, and all employees I interacted with were friendly and happy. One employee was even a bit "bouncy."
Oct 25, 2015, 2:26 pm
#40
Join Date: Feb 2002
Location: NYC: UA 1K, DL Platinum, AAirpass, Avis PC
Posts: 4,599
AA slipping as it gets to the hard part of the merger is an opportunity.
A lot of the changes we've seen over the last month were in the works for a while.
I wonder if there was an internal goal of "let's start seeding the easy wins timed around the AA/US systems cutover."
Not so much betting on a systems failure.
But that's when the rubber starts to hit the road with policies and changes that will alienate some fliers.
UA has double perception liabilities. Most of the flying public is still scarred by the late 90s / early 2000s experience, then its drag through bankruptcy and bad experiences for non-elite fliers.
Compound that with the rocky merger...and it's a hard perception road to climb.
A lot of the changes we've seen over the last month were in the works for a while.
I wonder if there was an internal goal of "let's start seeding the easy wins timed around the AA/US systems cutover."
Not so much betting on a systems failure.
But that's when the rubber starts to hit the road with policies and changes that will alienate some fliers.
UA has double perception liabilities. Most of the flying public is still scarred by the late 90s / early 2000s experience, then its drag through bankruptcy and bad experiences for non-elite fliers.
Compound that with the rocky merger...and it's a hard perception road to climb.
There is always that lag, measured in years. US Airways ran a very good operation in its last few years -- I discovered this in 2012 when I found US reliability, service, and irrops recovery ran rings around UA. I became a fan. But everywhere I went I talked to people who dismissed US as "that cheapskate airline that charges you for water." They tried -- and dropped -- that move back in 2008-09.
Even if UA morphed into a best-in-class airline tomorrow, it would take until the end of this decade until it was known as such. UA is filed in the big consumer hive-mind right now under "nightmare."
Even if UA morphed into a best-in-class airline tomorrow, it would take until the end of this decade until it was known as such. UA is filed in the big consumer hive-mind right now under "nightmare."
Oct 25, 2015, 2:42 pm
#41
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: SFO
Programs: United Silver
Posts: 217
Oct 25, 2015, 2:43 pm
#42
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Join Date: Jul 1999
Location: ORD/MDW
Programs: BA/AA/AS/B6/WN/ UA/HH/MR and more like 'em but most felicitously & importantly MUCCI
Posts: 19,719
This thread is reporting mostly qualitative / "soft" changes in the UA customer experience, not new aircraft or IT upgrades. If you don't think the tone and energy within a $40B company can be affected in weeks by leadership changes, I don't know what to say about that.
Oct 25, 2015, 2:44 pm
#43
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: DC/SF/Herault
Programs: UA 1K 1MM; AA 2MM
Posts: 174
No service improvement in EWR United Club
Whatever effect the recent changes have had elsewhere, they clearly have not helped at the United Club next to gate 74 at EWR. A short while ago, I walked up to the service desk to ask for assistance. Even though the Club was fairly crowded, the desk was minimally staffed. There was no one else in line, however, so I walked up.
When I approached, the person behind the desk acknowledged me and asked if she could help. Before I could even start asking my question, she picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. She continued to look at the magazine while I explained my question. It became apparent to me that she had no interest in assisting me at all, and was interested only in looking at the pictures.
I am not usually a complainer, and I am usually very understanding with the gate and club personnel because I know that they must deal with a lot of unhappy people. I also did not expect her to perform miracles and solve my problem immediately, but it does seem to me that she could have at least looked at me and pretended to pay attention rather than continue to look down at her magazine.
If they want to improve customer service, then explaining common courtesy to employees might be something to try.
When I approached, the person behind the desk acknowledged me and asked if she could help. Before I could even start asking my question, she picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. She continued to look at the magazine while I explained my question. It became apparent to me that she had no interest in assisting me at all, and was interested only in looking at the pictures.
I am not usually a complainer, and I am usually very understanding with the gate and club personnel because I know that they must deal with a lot of unhappy people. I also did not expect her to perform miracles and solve my problem immediately, but it does seem to me that she could have at least looked at me and pretended to pay attention rather than continue to look down at her magazine.
If they want to improve customer service, then explaining common courtesy to employees might be something to try.
Oct 25, 2015, 2:52 pm
#44
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Join Date: Nov 2003
Location: Wesley Chapel, FL
Programs: American Airlines
Posts: 30,005
Whatever effect the recent changes have had elsewhere, they clearly have not helped at the United Club next to gate 74 at EWR. A short while ago, I walked up to the service desk to ask for assistance. Even though the Club was fairly crowded, the desk was minimally staffed. There was no one else in line, however, so I walked up.
When I approached, the person behind the desk acknowledged me and asked if she could help. Before I could even start asking my question, she picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. She continued to look at the magazine while I explained my question. It became apparent to me that she had no interest in assisting me at all, and was interested only in looking at the pictures.
I am not usually a complainer, and I am usually very understanding with the gate and club personnel because I know that they must deal with a lot of unhappy people. I also did not expect her to perform miracles and solve my problem immediately, but it does seem to me that she could have at least looked at me and pretended to pay attention rather than continue to look down at her magazine.
If they want to improve customer service, then explaining common courtesy to employees might be something to try.
When I approached, the person behind the desk acknowledged me and asked if she could help. Before I could even start asking my question, she picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. She continued to look at the magazine while I explained my question. It became apparent to me that she had no interest in assisting me at all, and was interested only in looking at the pictures.
I am not usually a complainer, and I am usually very understanding with the gate and club personnel because I know that they must deal with a lot of unhappy people. I also did not expect her to perform miracles and solve my problem immediately, but it does seem to me that she could have at least looked at me and pretended to pay attention rather than continue to look down at her magazine.
If they want to improve customer service, then explaining common courtesy to employees might be something to try.
Oct 25, 2015, 2:59 pm
#45
Join Date: Sep 2015
Location: Bay Area
Programs: UA 1K, AA Gold
Posts: 157
Whatever effect the recent changes have had elsewhere, they clearly have not helped at the United Club next to gate 74 at EWR. A short while ago, I walked up to the service desk to ask for assistance. Even though the Club was fairly crowded, the desk was minimally staffed. There was no one else in line, however, so I walked up.
When I approached, the person behind the desk acknowledged me and asked if she could help. Before I could even start asking my question, she picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. She continued to look at the magazine while I explained my question. It became apparent to me that she had no interest in assisting me at all, and was interested only in looking at the pictures.
I am not usually a complainer, and I am usually very understanding with the gate and club personnel because I know that they must deal with a lot of unhappy people. I also did not expect her to perform miracles and solve my problem immediately, but it does seem to me that she could have at least looked at me and pretended to pay attention rather than continue to look down at her magazine.
If they want to improve customer service, then explaining common courtesy to employees might be something to try.
When I approached, the person behind the desk acknowledged me and asked if she could help. Before I could even start asking my question, she picked up a magazine and started flipping through it. She continued to look at the magazine while I explained my question. It became apparent to me that she had no interest in assisting me at all, and was interested only in looking at the pictures.
I am not usually a complainer, and I am usually very understanding with the gate and club personnel because I know that they must deal with a lot of unhappy people. I also did not expect her to perform miracles and solve my problem immediately, but it does seem to me that she could have at least looked at me and pretended to pay attention rather than continue to look down at her magazine.
If they want to improve customer service, then explaining common courtesy to employees might be something to try.