We need to remember that UA, and pretty much all of the major airlines have been to “the moon” and back over the past 3 years.
1. Demand dropping from base to less than 10% in a little over a month, with the name of the game being survival for nearly a year
2. One of the two primary aircraft manufacturers in the world being heavily investigated by officials all over the world while it stops delivering it’s best selling item for over a year and now can’t get current orders out the door on time
3. Demand, while back strong, is different with airlines flying by the seat of their pants trying to find the best mix of new markets
4. And even worse for UA, loosing nearly 50% of it’s ULH capacity due to a manufacturing flaw.
Honestly, I think UA is handling things quite well and think they deserve some slack when their cosmetic upgrades don’t go as planned.