Ugh. I gave up on US back when they went bankrupt and went to UA. UA out of IAD is almost impossible to upgrade, even as 1K (pleanty of planes where they don't even bother pre-boarding because everyone is Prem Exec or 1K). So, I gave US another chance. Looks like I made a bad decision.
After 9/11 all the airlines took the story of "AA saving $50K by taking olives out of their first class salads" to heart and cut to the bone. Most airlines have now figured out that they either are low cost or 'a cut above'. UA realized that the business flyer, often paying 5x to 10x a vacation traveller pays for the same product, makes it worthwhile to pamper these travelers. They've added back real meals, economy plus, etc... to provide a reason for FF and business travelers to use them.
US has been slowly degrading their product. Anyone who pays full first and gets a box lunch won't be flying US for long. I can understand the increased use of more regional jets, but moving from F24 to F8 on 757 was a step in the wrong direction - and now this announcement. Business travelers are going to be leaving droves. A guess US has just committed themselves to low cost. The problem is that US can't out-southwest, southwest. There is just too much entrenched baggage (no pun intended). IMHO their better bet would be to concede, sell the assets and let Southwest do their thing.
I had assumed that US was planning to become the low cost 'bus' to Europe. There aren't any US low cost airlines to Europe. They would leave some F to allow them to sell an Envoy product. Now I'm really confused. Their biggest problem is the alliances. Lufthansa and UA aren't going to want to code share with a low cost airline. Perhaps they should try flying to hubs and partnering with other low cost airlines - like RyanAir in Dublin and Southwest in PHL and give up on a US route map? Anyone have a clue what they could be thinking? Is there any strategy at all, or are they just ship without a rudder slowly sinking into the night???
Q: Please - anyone who hears of an offer by another airline to match 1K staus - let me know - my business is thiers for the taking...