"UA has a near monopoly at IAD and thus little need to improve the product there."
For domestic out of IAD, that is true, since almost all other domestic airlines fly mainly out of DCA. For international, the other airlines, most of which fly out of A/B, dominate. UA only competes on price.Cheapest business class is why I fly them.I know a lot of government workers who fly international on OAL out of A/B (on Delta or AA ticket stock) since OAL economy is so much better than UA.