ElkeNorEast

That's because KLM is gawd awful too, and United is cheaper. All the Dutch people I know will go for cheap every time.

Never take a Dutchman to an all-you-can-eat buffet, he won't walk away until he's so full that he's sick for two days

mdaecher

Agree with you there - the United font would look better, but love the Globe, CO color adoption and simple paint scheme

hur88

Wow... this will take some getting used to, but I'm fine with it. The only thing I can think of that will be frustrating for me is that I like to take down all the tail numbers of the planes I fly on (since I'm a flying geek), and for some reason I always have a hard time seeing the numbers on CO livery.

transportbiz

The Dutch are very pragmatic. They'll buy a cheaper ticket on a US carrier, and not complain about perceptions of lower quality than what they would have received on the National flag carrier (KLM is usually pretty pricey in Biz cabin).

I have seen the opposite with German business travelers though. I used to fly biz on Delta to Germany often, and it never failed there'd be at least one German who'd complain about everything from the seats to the wine selection, constantly saying "Lufthansa would never do this". I'd ask flat out, then why didn't you fly them? And the response was always the same, Delta was cheaper. To wish I'd say; then you made your choice, now shut up. A couple years ago, I was on a delayed flight (about 90 minutes) from FCO to MUC on Alitalia, this one woman kept going on and on in German about how this would never happen on Lufthansa...again same question, and again same answer, not that Lufthansa is never late mind you, but Nationalism is VERY powerful.

transportbiz

Not sure when you last flew KLM, but KLM LAX-AMS is one of my favorite flights in biz, upstairs on a 744, great service, excellent food (better than sister carrier AF) great entertainment, almost always early, the one time they were late they bent over backwards to get me to my destination ontime changing me to Lufthansa no questions asked. Agreed Y cabin on those planes needs and update (IFE mostly), but it has been announced.

iahphx

WHAT? The globe not elegant?

I guess it depends on your perception. As a longtime loyal CO flyer (infinite elite), the "globe" connotes good things for me. About 20 years ago, CO was a bad airline. Adoption of the globe was the start of their renaissance. We see the globe and we feel at home. And I actually think the livery is extremely attractive. Simple. Stong. Professional. Worldly.

BTW, most folks associate the globe with Gordon Bethune, but I think Lorenzo actually approved it.

Lorenzo must be having quite a chuckle about that today. "His" airline is once again the biggest in the world (CO/EA was once the biggest).

CO777DAL

The livery is Continental, the management is Continental, now if they keep Onepass, Presidents, and club, basically everything from Continental which is appears to be happing, then this is not really United. It’s Continental with United name on it. I’m extremely happy to see this. I can’t help it, maybe because I’m so use to Continental Livery and all this stuff being associated with Continental, that I will look at the planes and always call them Continental. It may be say United by it will always be Continental to me!

ElkeNorEast

That's nice to know... I used to commute between Houston and Amsterdam quite a bit on my own dime when I was younger so I was always down the back. Some of my more memorable trips included a panel that fell off the ceiling right above me onto my head (ouch), a leak above my seat that dripped SOMETHING onto my shoulder or seat from takeoff to landing, once being seated next tot the mid-cabin galley and getting no sleep as the FAs wittered on and on in loud voices all night, and my favorite was the flight were they ran out of breakfasts in the row right in front of me and just stopped serving. The row behind me had a woman with two children who were starving and the FAs did NOTHING, didn't even come to tell us there was no more food - I had to go to the galley and ask, and they couldn't have been less helpful or more uncaring.

So if KLM has improved that's great. Next time I have to get to AMS I might give them another chance... I actually really love Air France so maybe they've done them some good.

ElkeNorEast

Wow. Methinks you're very bold being new here...

BearX220

That's unwarranted and out of line -- bocastephen's perceptions are mine as well, and are shared by many others. You can't possibly believe the engineers of this merger don't know it. That's why the brand is hybridizing the way it is.

elitefreak

100% agree.

transportbiz

So, do I understand correctly; you've never flown CO?

Bonehead

I've flown both airlines of late (while I've tended to avoid UA since the "summer from hell" here in Denver, DEN-OKC via IAH turned out to be a bit much). The service on CO has almost always been top notch, so perhaps you would have been/will be pleasantly surprised.

By the way, I was making a tongue-in-cheek comment, dontcha know?

N965VJ

The new livery looks shopped. I can tell from some of the pixels and from seeing quite a few shops in my time.

Mackieman

There is a key difference between understanding the loopholes of a system and knowing how to use them to your benefit and a system where the rules, and thus the operational aspects, are different. :-: