bseller

I'm GENUINELY curious where you get this perception?? Do you travel to Asia frequently? Do you have many friends/neighbors/colleagues who do?

I do a fair bit of International travel, and I don't share your views - but I am truly curious where they come from.

Thanks!
Dave

EWR764

In the years I have been closely observing the airline industry, I have a hard time recalling any airline rebranding that was generally well received.

We'll be fine...

bocastephen

I have a large social and business network in Asia, and in every single case but one (and that person lives in NY and puts everything including a stick of chewing gum on their UA visa so they usually do NYC-TPE for free), people look at the UA brand with the same disdain and contempt that many of us look at WN with. Poor service, dirty old aircraft, nasty employees - of course their point of reference includes SQ, EVA, CX, ANA, etc., but they only fly UA when they see a too-hard-to-pass-up deal, like SIN-NYC for $600 r/t or so...and even then, they hold their nose to get through the ordeal.

Of course these folks had the same feeling about NWA as well, so part of it is a snobbish negativity about the quality of US carriers in general - but regardless, the UA brand is not respected and most of the negative comments I hear is about the employees, with cabin quality and food/entertainment following closely behind.

BearX220

Ask Australians how they perceive United versus Qantas.
Ask Japanese how they perceive United versus ANA OR JAL.
As the Brits how they perceive United versus Virgin or BA.

For that matter, ask knowledgeable Americans traveling to those places which carrier they'd prefer to buy a business or F class seat with their own money (not score a cheap or free upgrade).

In each case United is seen as the distant quality also-ran... the bottom-feeder, the cheap-and-cheerful choice of last resort, the airline for people on budgets and addicted FFers who can score easy upgrades.

The perception is not merely a function of aging, clapped-out aircraft but on-time performance (I know about the most recent quarter, but consider the last ten years) and dragon-class RCC / gate / inflight personnel.

United has a lot of negative equity to run away from. There's greater global name recognition than CO has, but that name recognition is often accompanied by hollow laughter and / or retching sounds. That's why this hybrid brand is brilliant. It makes United overseas appear to be a new, upgraded United which may warrant a second look. And those who know CO are unlikely to turn away from the combined airline without giving it a shot.

bseller

Thank you for taking the time to answer.
Dave

batman

Lets just hope the combined executive team will reconsider the branding. Frankly it is just awful. If United brand is considered the better know then the tulip should be part of the worldwide branding.

Now United will have a similar branding to Copa airlines.

bocastephen

Let me know if you see a two-4-one sale on body armor - we're going to need it for the next year Nice to see another like-minded opinion on what is turning into a UA Kool-Aid fest.

Steph3n

And what is the problem with Copa, have you flown them?

transportbiz

You've got it 100% right. Sans-serif fonts over all are simply more modern. Serif fonts are old fashioned. Times Roman and Courier are fonts that have been around so long that they are still referred to as type sets by most, from the days when type was actually set. Personally I would have preferred a more modern font, like Gill Sans in either all caps or small caps. And who knows, once the graphic artists actually get some time to play with it.

Boghopper

Have to admit, the CO livery is better. UA has been dragging their feet getting all their planes painted in their most recently livery, anyway. And the ones that have it are already getting pretty badly chipped. So all in all a win-win, I'd say.

transportbiz

All VERY true, but for the comparisons of National carriers with United. You're not taking into consideration Nationalism. Of course Aussies are going to prefer Qantas, and the Japanese are proud of JAL (don't as me why on that one, as I think it's tandamount to torture in Y cabin). The Germans love Lufthansa no matter how inflexible they are. And the French adore Air France no matter how late they are.

As to your implication that upgrades are somehow free, I think you are forgetting that it was the airlines that created the concepts of loyality rewards when they reconogized it would provide them with business travelers that pay higher fares. Let's say a business person take 20 flights a year with an average fare of $1,200, the way it bottom-lines for the airline is that this person has paid for an upgrade. Referring to reward tickets or upgrades as free is simply not true, they are not free they are earned.

rankourabu

ok so United is apparently perceived as crap overseas.

Please point me to a US based airline that is perceived as world-class overseas. It certainly isnt Continental.

You are all making it sound like Continental was the finest 5* service ....

milepig

I don't think this perception is universal. I fly UA ORD/AMS frequently, and every flight I've been on has had a large contingent of Dutch - I'd say the C (J for you COer's) is about half and half. These people have the option to fly on their own airline (KLM), yet they choose UA and seem far from miserable.

Boghopper

I agree that among the cognescetti the US carriers are generally despised, especially those who travel in premium cabins. The unfortunate thing now is that the US carriers are falling further and further behind in the economy cabins, especially in IFE and service but increasingly in the seats, too, whether the better flag carriers are making some real innovations.

To be fair, though, the E+ product is a real advantage UA has over others for it's frequent flyers. That extra 3 or 4 inches makes a world of difference and you don't have to pay the higher fares that premium economy gets. I wonder if the CO planes will get refitted with E+, that would be the best of both worlds (in a pretty small universe, admittedly).

In the longer run I'm not sure how much IFE will matter, though, as more and more people bring their own and would be content with a power connection (or perhaps not need one if they have an ipad).

Outside the fancy flag carriers, though, the world is quite different. I would much rather be on CO/UA than the vast majority of other airlines in the world, especially in Y. It's a jungle out there.

cjgibson

I know some disagree, but I think Copa's globe (see here) is nicer than CO's globe-- way more modern looking.

But I agree that the merged airline needs to re-examine the font. Perhaps United in all caps in a variant of Gill Sans?