I guess this thread can be posted anywhere really, but as I fly UA and US, just wondered what other UA flyers think….

Here in London, we have a couple of new airlines that seem to be really taking off. MaxJet started out London to New York, and now not only serves London to DC, but from October will also serve London to Las Vegas. Will they stop there? I don't think so.

I’m also aware that Virgin American will be launching in the next year or so, and there is also talk of Virgin Blue going to fly the SYD-LAX route. So, with all this in mind, how does the future look? MaxJet seem to have a great market with their business class product and no matter what anyone says, its works. Business people are flying them and paying Ł1000 round trip compared to the Ł2000 or Ł3000 round trip that UA, US and all the other carriers charge. So the question here is, are these airlines suffering or not?

How will UA do with Virgin America coming to play? VA will have new planes, new seats, and we shall see how they compare with the price. I know that when I’ve flown US within the United States, their planes are old, the seats are old, and the price hasn’t always been that good. I’m sure most people, for the same price or a little cheaper will move to someone that is more comfortable???

Another interesting thing is that there is a new low cost airline flying from LGW to Hong Kong. You can fly one way to Hong Kong for Ł79 all in. Bargain!!! Is it a matter of time before we get a low cost airline to the United States? I guess we already have that with Thomson who fly to Florida for Ł100 one way, and during the summer period, their planes are full. I flew with Thomson to Cancun this summer, not one seat was free.

So, the conclusion is you are getting a cheaper business class product and slowly getting a low cost coach product, is it the end for UA?

Thoughts welcomed.

Start again with a new airline? Nope-The hook is set too deep!

I think a lot of what is going to change depends on the economics of these niche airlines. Maxjet and EOS, for example - they seem to be doing very well (we fly them to london - fairly booked at all times) - but is it possible to be profitable with a small number of high-end routes?

If so, then I could see the major airlines becoming purely for the casual flyer, with a series of higher-end airlines for frequently traveled routes. Perhaps maybe the light commuter jet takes over at the high-end for the edge routes? But I think its pretty clear things can't go on like this - with the "high-end" major airlines like UA continually cutting service at all tiers, not just for the casual traveler.

Matt

I couldn't disagree more.

Maxjet appeals to a very small market. The big business traveler and the people who buy F tickets (like BJ) don't want to fly on Maxjet - they want large airlines that offer them lots of frequency and the ability to accrue miles and FF status.

Maxjet is doing well, and will probably continue to do well, but it isn't going to hurt UAs bottomline too much.

As for Virgin, it's just kinda weird.

Ok, now do not all jump down my throat, but it seems to me a merger between one of these international pseudo-LCCs and a domestic LCC makes a lot of sense. It attempts to do what UA (and many of the other majors) are attempting to do, focus their assets on money making international routes, yet retain the domestic feeder structure for feeder traffic and to maintian a customer base (because you know that you can fly one airline/FF program to a lot of destinations).

Now consider a US LCC without the inflated costs (pensions) of most legacy carriers, a proven record of being profitable, and combine that with one of these pseudo-international LCCs. This would drive more business to the international carrier (feed + an established route structure that would allow people to remain on one airline/FF program) and the domestic fare structure could continue to operate as-is, and grow through by increased feed.

Like I said, makes sense to me, you may disagree... and I am sure many of you will.

All very interesting!

Since the question is not specific to United, I'm going to move this over to Travel Buzz.

letiole
UA co-mod