Come on down off the high horse and let's talk. How do you think I formed my opinion in the first place? By being blithely abused by United employees during the Summer From Hell. By standing in endless, snaky irrops lines at ORD waiting to talk to UA agents who strolled away, laughing, for breaks or when their shifts were up. By suffering through Shuttle by United out here on the west coast -- a deeply ill-conceived airline-within-an-airline that was impossible to execute. By having UA res agents hang up on me, lie to me, snipe at me. By watching indifferent or irrationally vindictive UA personnel yell at passengers. I've been flying United for forty years and I share the conclusion the Wall Street Journal reached during UA's years-long abuse of the bankruptcy laws: it just isn't a very good airline. Every credible industry ranking and survey bears this out. Say what you will about Joe Brancatelli, but he was right about UA when he wrote this column:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/25083833/

There are plenty of UA loyalists/apologists on Flyertalk, of course, although I think they may not realize how different the 1K experience is from the standard deal. And I'm sorry to see you're among them, as I've always enjoyed and valued your contributions here. But you've got an enterprise here that for decades has been very badly run (and which a truly free market would have extinguished by now); where management and labor go at it, instinctively, at every opportunity, at enormous cost to the customer experience; where abusive employees run amok with no accountability or fear of discipline; where "employee pride" is such that many employees wear their name badges backwards; where employees think nothing of telling customers the premium cabins are full so they can stock them with non-revs, deadheaders and friends ("employee class"); and whose brand is so tainted by years of malfeasance and failure that the storied tulip must be erased from this new combined enterprise if it's to stand a chance in the marketplace.

I think of the CO captain who once ran down to the tarmac on arrival to fetch my gate-check personally because, "Hey, you're a customer!" and compare him to the UA captain who once cancelled my flight for an inop reading light just to make life worse for management and customers, and I know what I think of this merger.

You're entitled to a rosy opinion of this longtime rat's nest of a company, and I'm entitled to mine. I'll thank you for not decrying mine as "hysterical misinformation," as it's the product of empirical experience plus reams of industry data. In return I won't criticise those who think this is some sort of heaven-made marriage, and knitting these two business cultures together will be a great and joyous adventure.

But I won't ever like United Airlines, or any company using its name.

Sounds somewhat dated. Summer From Hell was in 2000, a decade ago. Shuttle by United has been gone for some 7-8 years.

The UA of 10 years ago is not the UA of today. Just like the CO or DL or US of 10 years ago is not the CO or DL or US of today. You have to constantly reassess these things.

Then it sounds like it is time to move on. Happy Flying.

While I can certainly agree with your dislike of the Summer From Hell, I am trying to see how you can rationalize it with your closing comment.

Why would you never like United?

And I'm wondering, if that's you logic, why did you ever like CO in the first place?

After all, CO had a few "Summers From Hell," or should we say "Years From Hell" in the dark and awful days of the Frank Lorenzo era.

Continental was not only able to come back from that period, but they became the best in the business. At least for a while.

But if CO can bounce back, why couldn't UA?

In fact they already have, in a major way. The UA of today is as unrecognizable from the UA of the "Summer From Hell" as the CO of 2005 was from the deepest dark days of the Frank Lorenzo period.

So you can either stew in your memories of a decade ago and keep yourself away from a generally excellent airline product, or you can just open your mind a little bit, relax and at least judge for yourself.

Things change very quickly in the airline business...ten years ago TWA had J.D. Power's #1 position in customer satisfaction...now they're long gone.

Information is knowledge, brother...you gotta stay informed, otherwise the only person you're hurting is yourself.

G:rolleyes::rolleyes:d Grief......how long is this pi$$ing in the wind going to continue.

We all have horror stories.....get over it already.

Hmm, I guess I wasted that status match from UA to CO in 2007. Meh, when they combine my lifetime miles, it'll all work out. I just hope they realign the new FF program with reality and get rid of the 25k tier and just run 50/100/150. That should cull some dilettante FFers from the upgrade list.

I was perusing the UA forum, it's like a bunch of angry 2 year olds throwing temper tantrums in a sandbox. It's quite sad really as I have to assume most of the people behind the monikers are actually adults.

All Too Soon
 

I've been avoiding that forum for quite a while

but it seems that we'll all share that sandbox before long

I STILL remain optimistic

I love the "SCARE CAPITALS" on "still! :eek:

We will be fine, and you know why? Because of the COol Aid.

As soon as Jeff says something is OK, all the obedient COol Aiders will fall into lock-step...

OK, but I'm just trying to understand how that's anything different from what we're seeing here...

It isn't any different on this side but the Save The Tulip was a tad :rolleyes: over the top, and the livery bashing is still going on.

It is what it is. I like what Jeff stands for: open communication, relaxed dress code, funding the future, taking care of the employees and customers, while working to make money. Mistakes will occur and changes will happen.

Day 1 saw the RCC no longer charging for wi-fi and drinks. That upset people....... I know you can't please all of the people all of the time but why complain just to be complaining.

All agreed.

As far as the tulip goes, I think you can understand it's an emotional, sensitive topic for them.

I remember when I first saw TWA planes painted in the "transition livery," it was very painful to me.

No one is perfect, and there is no way to please everyone all the time. Mistakes will be made and, more importantly, very tough decisions will have to be made (i.e. painful ones) that will be necessary for the survival of this airline.

I am thrilled by the merger. I think it's a terrific development. I think both carriers bring HUGE pluses to the table and together add up to more than the sum of the parts.

I know Jeff has that attitude, and he is right. I would hope the employees would as well, passengers, and even us here on FT...

Now comes the hard word, especially with our friends at ALPA...

I don't care how Jeff declares WE ARE THE BEST stuff.

I don't care about wi-fi and drink chits in RCC because I get wi-fi card for free anyway and I don't drink.

As soon as he messes up with major MP benefits such as SWU, CR1, E+, I will find alternatives, or fly less.

I think the critical question is how far Jeff Smisek will be able to go outside the classic CAL playbook.

If he stays completely within the playbook, which is all based on cutting cost to the bone, all that stuff is either gone, severly reduced, or restricted to such an extent to make it unusable.

But, you never know, he's a smart guy and he realizes that you make money by doing more than jut cutting cost, you have to have a product worthy of commanding a certain market value.

One thing to watch, how much they believe that merging these two airlines they have achieved sufficient consolidation in the industry that they can reduce value to the customer with impunity...

I know what you mean.

CAL playbook is based on Air IAH/EWR/CLE philosophy so you don't need to offer a lot of benefits to elites when you are the only player in town.

Do that trick to UA elites in SFO/ORD/IAD, and see what happens.

I hope Jeff is smart enough to realize that he can't run UA as the way he ran CO.