ohstewardess

Wow, the same thing happened after the US/HP merger. The HP people really made the US people feel unwelcome, including the HP employees. I remember walking into a HP club in PHX and being told that I must be very thankful that HP saved US and that it's a shame US doesn't have the loyal customers HP does otherwise they wouldn't have need to be bought. I was a Chairman's Preferred with 150K miles a year at that time eating boxed meals on paid FC tickets because the airline was running out of money. I remember being required to stand in a US East line at the airport while HP customers were being handled more quickly and efficiently. I was the loser there.

The United brand may have better worldwide recognition, but the CO brand certainly has a lot of goodwill in the US. IMHO, these guys have really tried to take the first right step by calling it a merger of equals--HP/US never did that and that has caused a lot of problems with both their workforce and their customers.

I don't think anyone knows who loses in this merger until its done, or until they at least give us more information about what to expect. Doug Parker made the US customers and employees a lot of promises and he did not follow through with one. And, I was a loser for waiting as long as I did for things to change there. As far as I am concerned, the other option here was to have Tempe run United and well, after being through uncompleted merger with Tempe, I think everyone involved on both sides of that transaction would be the losers.

bseller

+1
Yes, I think you've hit it on the head. At the end of the day, we're ALL in the same bus/plane as it were. We ALL want the benefits of a good FF program. As for me, I want E+, SWUs and CR1s.
I know that CO folks may have different aspirations, but we're still all in this together.

Dave

(Can bankers still get along with FTers? )

ohstewardess

counting their money to see how much they can buy when US implodes

Bonehead

Hey, and maybe we can take the same flight to SIN '11, eh? That would be a hoot.

I think this will all work out. I'm optimistic that E+ spreads onto the CO fleet (hopefully not at the expense of FC seats, of course), and that CR1s become the order of the day. CO has added SWUs recently (for >100k EQMs), so that's a good sign as well.

SealBeach

I agree with those who lament the apparent demise of the United tulip. The rest of the UA livery can go IMO -- the multi-shade blue stripe was amateurish looking from the start, especially compared to the world-class Continental livery and globe. That said, I agree about the lameness of the "U" in United having a serif and being in lowercase; I'd much rather they retain the block letter U N I T E D typeface.

The other thing about the Unitinental logo is that it sends a clear signal that some publc-facing things about CO will be retained -- one hopes that means their better service, cleaner planes, friendlier people, etc. AND it's great from a labor relations standpoint for the CO people -- US really proved how important that can be when they painted up the Piedmont, Allegheny, PSA, and America West planes to celebrate the contributions of the absorbed carriers' employees to the new company.

Penbank

The United U logo and Rhapsody in Blue are the only two things where UA is better than CO. Keeping the CO colors is ok but they should ditch the generic globe for the U.

bseller

OK, fair point! I am holding tix now and have CLEARED the upgrades!!
As a hub based flyer on my own dime, I am looking at things differrently re: expense of F seats, since E+ gives me a "decent" travel experience even if I can't clear on my status and FARE BASIS.
Yes, that is QUITE a good sign! I'd be devastated without SWUs to get to/from Asia/OZ, and so on.

Dave

Bonehead

What do you think about the image on the lower left in the graphic in this post?

If the UA folks could save CR1s, they should certainly be able to "save the tulip"!!!!

TK73

As a NW castoff in the new DL world, I think they made the first right step, to UA folks you get your name to CO you keep your colors and home in IAH.

1bentley

Can we just agree to say no to drink chits in the PC/RCC?

transportbiz

No need to get snarky, but you seem to have come out of the shoot that way. I am no CO booster, that's for sure, but the airline does indeed still exist, and may continue to exist. The fat lady has not sung on this one yet, there are many issues ahead mostly in terms of government approvals.

bseller

While you are "technically" right, I think you're kidding yourself if you have any REAL belief that the fat lady is NOT in the wings, warming up her voice and in full regalia, with a packed house out in front.

The fat lady is GONNA sing, IMO.

Dave

Bonehead

I just wanna know if you'll be ok climbing upstairs on a 744 with a globe on its tail. Oh, and with me in 2A...

Steph3n

ummm, FT isn't THAT kind of site!

mht_flyer

I see things a bit differently. The bickering and back and forth will do no one any good.

While UA is the name, I doubt it will be the same as the current "UA". It also won't be the old "CO". It will be a blend of both carriers.

Looking at the the new UA's livery -- with CO livery colors staying, but UA name staying, it's going to be a blend of both.

Hopefully this blend will be good to all Frequent Flyers here -- both UA and CO.

At the end of the day, maybe a entire new UA forum will need to be created...