Originally Posted by
UA-NYC
It's operations only with him - don't think he'll ever address the loyalty factor (or lack thereof now). Apparently not important to business travelers.
If you can't deliver on the basics everything else is meaningless. Conversely, if you delivery (pardon the cliche) a clean, safe, and reliable product, the other things are window dressing and work themselves out.
If you're on time, you don't have to worry about IRROPS as often. If you focus on maintenance, you have less cancellations and delays, etc. The ripple in the pond is less severe with shallower waves.
Fact is he's right. If United can't deliver on the basic stuff, they're toast. The reality is when they ran the sUA fleet to sCO levels, the basics collapsed, and everything else was immaterial.
They seemed to have turned the corner on operations. They're working on the labor agreements, consistent standards, etc. They're moving in the right direction.
The next stage is going to be very interesting. In particular how AA/US impacts the revenue model, how the US management changes AA, and how the bankruptcy changes their cost base.
I'm one of the 'unmanaged' business travelers who has complete control over my own travel, and who achieved GS for the last few years. I've been happier given their consistent schedule and improving on time performance. While I agree the onboard experience leaves much to be desired, that will work itself out, but it also doesn't bother me that much. All airlines service standards are pretty much the same IMH.