Originally Posted by
Kacee
I don't agree (at all) that Mileage Plus is to blame for increasingly poor passenger behavior. We see this throughout society, not just at the airport. We also see it across airlines. While UA has particular brands of poor behavior (which tend to reflect its hubs), I see equally poor behavior on other carriers, both domestic and international.
you've never encountered people who buy premier status for their flight thinking that they get to pre-board along with all of the GS and 1K? I have.
And while I agree that you can’t blame mileage plus for all of the bad behavior, now that I’m flying other airlines more often, I am amazed at how, even in the United States, other airlines seem to be able to board the aircraft without the drama, you find at the average UA gate.
One thing I’ve noticed is that United really puts a burden on their own employees by understaffing the gate at departure. Every Delta flight I’ve taken out of SEA since moving here has been simply amazing by comparison to the scrum I’m used to encountering at a United gate. Passengers actually listen to the gate agents request to not stand up and congregate around the boarding area until their group is called.
When you don’t have enough employees to answer questions and control the crowd trying to get on the airplane, drama results. In contrast, my most recent UA flight from Munich was amazing. Five gate agents were available during a boarding process that calmly boarded a completely full 789 in under 30 minutes. Part of the reason that boarding was so efficient is there were two passengers requiring extra assistance, no families, five military, no GS, and less than 10 1K passengers.
When everyone is elite, no one is elite