bocastephen

Interesting article - and yes, Oscar we are pissed at the world - but you know where much of the problem starts? Go check out who is sitting in the United president's office - you know, the cheap, nasty, jerk you hired?

https://www.yahoo.com/gma/oscar-muno...opstories.html

Also, Oscar please note - your president took away our pre-arrival cookies some time ago, so I can't really tell you if it would help because you're not giving me a cookie anymore.

QS Dreamer

In other words, "it's not us who has the problem, it's you." A novel idea would be to make the flying experience the BEST part of the travel journey, so that way it relieves the stress and problems you encountered on the way to airport.

FlyerTalker70

...it will however, depend on a lounge which provides a decent selection of food, showers to freshen up and a proper business centre to at least feel productive whilst on the go! Just sayin'

gmt4

Pretty weak attempt a redirecting blame for the poor and worsening UA experience. So Oscar- you really think it was the 10 stoplights and construction zone traffic I ran into on the way to the airport that pissed me off rather than the economy class service I got in your over-promised under-delivered consistently inconsistent Polaris product? Your failure to make on time departures? Devalued loyalty program? Loss of upgrade space and useless RPU/GPUs? You're right- the brand of coffee won't make me happier- you and your UA execs delivering a quality product and not pissing on me and telling me its raining will.

Nicoolio

The way it reads is "nothing we would be willing to do will make these people happy, so let's do nothing a keep the extra money."

dinoscool3

Yeah, bad attitude to have. Looks like Kirby got his teeth sunk into Oscar quite well. Too bad, when Oscar first came in it looked like he was a good thing just being held back by the board.

WineCountryUA

This appears to be just a snippet of a larger interview with some selective quoting. But reading what little there is, there is also
and
So not quite the "let them eat cookies" and "it is the travelers' fault".

Silver Fox

" Munoz recognizes the changing culture of air travel -- an experience that for many transformed from an exciting experience to a painstaking one. He hopes that will change soon."

Yes, hope is what will change it. Not directions from the CEO. Hope is what we must have. Jeez. I hope he goes the way of the Nissan ex-CEO. Talk about an insult to our intelligence.

ContinentalFan

east_west

Sounds like Oscar needs to sign up for Uber/Lyft and get TSA pre-check. If anything, the things Oscar quotes are the only parts of the air travel experience that have gotten marginally better over the past five years...

rickg523

Crews make flights. What's the general sense here of UA crews?

uastarflyer

threeoh

I queried some of my less-frequent-traveler friends about their biggest complaints about air travel and "airlines"...I then asked them to cut all weather-related delays and TSA-related complaints. That cut out about 80% of the list. So I think Oscar's not wrong that a lot of frustration about air travel from the pax perspective comes from things not directly in the airline's control.

FlyerTalker70

I managed to dig up the video and watch the 3 minute GMA segment. Here are the highlights from it:

• Host's criticism of modern air travel:
  • Shrinking Seats
  • Wifi that Doesn't Work
  • Similar product (same aircraft, classes of service price)
• Munoz argues that it's the people and tools they give them that make all the difference at the same time it's less about price discounts and more about the experience and service
• Munoz message to customers is sharing is caring and to use the various vehicles UA makes available to let them know what you think
• Munoz closes the interview by saying : There's no good deed that goes unpunished because if you take care of your employees investors will want to know why you're lagging, if you do too much for your customers everyone matches you, you end up doing more ; it's important that you do deliver the financial benefits to your investors because they're a big part of your world.

Based on these points it seems like we are in store for more of the same, enhancements to service to make our experience even better and fewer ways to express our disdain for the level of service we're receiving

-James

entropy

Actually, I don't think getting To or THRU the airport is that bad. Maybe in dumps like EWR,...

More like yeah, you get thru security, and rather than a relaxing lounge visit, you're hunting for a free seat for 15 minutes, before waiting in line for 5 minutes for a frat-bar quality drink. When you're onboard, rather than a warm welcome and a PDB, the FA gate checks your bag since they've stored their bags in the row 1-2 overheads and let coach passengers use the rest, you sit in barely padded slimline seats even in F, and instead of a meal, they (may) give you some slop that's worse than a lean cuisine.

I for one enjoy my welcome gin and tonic, the hot towel, and a civilized meal, in a comfy seat (like the soft, cloth ones united used to have). That's no so much to ask for.