Originally Posted by
star_world
If the UA forum on FT, which is arguably the epicentre for people who dedicate their lives to nit-picking every single decision made by an airline (wait, the linens are ON the tray instead of UNDER it now!!!!
) is only barely able to drum up a bit of outrage for the current circumstances (a handful of separate issues, some of which are decidedly short-term, some are more structural) from its most die-hard members, I think the business is relatively safe
Anyone who thinks that there is a mass exodus from UA underway (or even the will to have such an exodus from the general population) is fooling themselves. Somehow I believe that Jeff is relatively happy with how things have gone.
Unfortunately you are probably correct. The kettles wont know any different. those who fly under a corp contract will stay put since they get Fc or biz discounted, they cant tell their CEO they want to fly AA since when they cash in their miles or are on their own Dime they cant get out of Y, or when their spouse flys along with them they are stuck in Y
However those on their own Dime or who bill their clients most likely will Move on once they get hit with COs Spin. which 1 friend who flys at least twice a week . Now being empty nesters his wife will usually tag along for 1 trip per week or every 2 weeks. Well she flew in Y twice due to ToDs, hes a GS and that was twice too many times for him to fly in Y. I said that since he gave his wife his Full fare FC seat. But things that this was already taken into consideration by Jeff & Co and they most knew that theyd lose some along the way
Most people in the Hubs will remain intact as they want Convinence, a few will move on.But the total really cant be known till next yr IMO when you can compare Q1 '12 with Q1 '13 etc etc
people I know think Im nuts for driving at times down to PHL when EWR is buta 15 min drive while PHL is 90 mins. Of cause I think they are the nuts for allowing themselves to be taken advatage of and pay the crazy fares out of EWR when PHL is so close and at times alot cheaper, at times that was even with a CO flight out of PHL. So i dont expect the masses to move on, nor would I even try and take a stab at what the % will be. What matters most will be how many GSs make the move.