Guess they are no longer "co-workers."

A job of a CEO is not always about operations, specifically one that comes in as either new or merging of companies.

He has to get down to basics, which is not operations IMO - you should have a COO for that. His job should be to build a collaborative work environment, boost morale, and create excitement and be motivational. The rest, including operations, comes from your team feeling involved, energized, and ready to proactively solve problems.

Don't take this the wrong way if you work for one of these groups, but UA has hired McKinsey & BCG (public information via Google) to fix one issue, and they are relying on them to do that. Now, to be clear, those two groups are getting it done. They are asked to drive costs out of the business. They were not asked how to drive costs out of the business and increase customer satisfaction - that is the responsibility of the UA leadership team to determine if what the recommendations are from their consultants makes sense and what the impact is.

I personally think the airline could be great, as many of you on here would probably agree. I believe that I have had many positive experiences, but it's from those employees that truly always give it 100% when they are at work. When your team is not completely on board, that is when you create an inconsistent product and service, and that is when your customers begin to notice the small things that grow over time when not addressed.