channa

If that's a focus, then talk about it in the video. 1. Acknowledge the issue. 2. Apologize for it. 3. Explain the efforts they're undertaking to get there.

That would be a fantastic video, not to mention humbling to Jeff's ego.

A strong dose of humility in the videos is the key to better acceptance.

cubfan99

A big thanks to TIMOS for an excellent summation of the call.

halls120

If there is a plan, the line employees apparently aren't aware of it. Don't you think that is an important group to be clued in?

That isn't a strategy, it's a bunch of marketing sound bites.

I wouldn't try to communicate corporate priorities in a 30 second sound bite.

^^ to all the text in bold. IIRC, in another thread several months ago, Mr. Hand was quoted in regard to the issue of taking meal orders in F and C to the effect that once you are in F or C, the experience for all passengers needs to be the same. While that is a wonderful egalitarian response, it has resulted in United's best customers wondering just what their loyalty is worth to the airline. Every 1K I know who traveled in the first 60 days post 3/3 has a similar story about waiting in line to drop off a bag, waiting in line to board the plane behind dozens of "premier" customers, and getting what's left of the catering menu by the time the purser gets to them.

Things have gotten better since 3/3, but they aren't where they need to be.

njcommodore

Re communication with front line employees, it's been bad for quite some time. My soap box is upgrading award tickets. CO folks both over the phone and at the airport swore up and down you could not get an upgrade on award ticket. I was told I was wrong, called a liar, and then told that the CO website was wrong. There are still many people who just don't know about it. But there are a LOT of intricacies in both legacy programs, and now the merged one has exposed agents lack of knowledge of every program. I don't know what the silver bullet to this is, there's only so much people can remember, especially when getting beaten over the head with reducing call times.

entropy

Its pretty clear given that they still have the GS/Int'l F line that they are able to have a higher priority line.

United needs to DO (take corrective action), not talk. They talked about "best of both worlds" but in reality, they just assimilated United down to the lowest common denominator and tried to turn all of UA's employees into RAH RAH drones

sxf24

Let's be clear: While operations are clearly getting better, I don't think everything is ok and I've never said as much. I also agree that there are small changes that can make a tangible difference in the service culture of the company and/or the perception of customers.

I think you are only interested in seeing Jeff humiliated and/or humbled. No point in having a discussion when you will never be satisfied.

Do we know that the front line employees aren't aware of a plan?

Isn't that the purpose of marketing sound bites: to communicate larger, more complex concepts as succinctly and directly as possible?

I wouldn't either; channa was the one that brought it up.

halls120

Those that I've talked to in person about it can't tell me what it is, and I don't see most of the employees posting on FT extolling the existence or the virtues of the plan.

If there is an overarching plan, and the sound bites are part of and support that plan, yes. The points you cited don't tell a story, don't lead one to United's overall philosophy, and are just empty phrases, IMHO.

"Bring two great carriers together" isn't a philosophy, it's a desired outcome.

"Use technology to make the travel experience easier for customers" would be nice if it was linked to something United was doing to actually make the travel experience easier.

"Work together as a single airline should" - is another outcome, and sets the bar pretty low. Sort of like "we won't be like US, running 2 separate airlines under one brand name."

"Stay globally competitive" - again, this communicates a pretty low target of achievement. Why not strive to be a global leader?

channa

Disagree. I think that admitting mistakes and then working towards a solution is not humiliating at all. Customers and co-workers alike would show increased respect towards the man. I certainly would. People make mistakes, it's certainly forgivable. I think they can get out of this if the do the right things and quickly. I think many hope they do. Look, I'm a MM and 1K and live in one of their hubs. I don't like seeing UA and CO regressing to the meatball days of Frank Lorenzo.

Either way, it's not clear from the Mr. Hand discussion that they fully understand the damage they've done.

The CEO message on the plane is extremely significant because it sets the tone for both customers and co-workers. If the message is we messed up, but we're trying real hard to fix it, that sets a very different tone for everyone -- customers can hope and look out for changes (and it buys patience), while employees can feel free to admit things aren't perfect. Right now, the message is that things are great, which is not true (and it adds fuel to the fire). It's very difficult for employees to align with that given the reliability issues, product and system downgrades, and the new less-than-open CO-style culture where many have said that raising concerns or suggesting improvements is difficult and/or frowned upon.

I actually had originally hoped (and had posted on FT to the effect) that when Jeff took over the helm at CO, he could do something to improve the culture of the organization, which was, IMO, one of CO's biggest fundamental challenges preventing improvement (you can't improve if you think you do everything better). I saw him as a change agent and had sincerely hoped there would be some substance behind his messages, much like there was when Gordon said them.

Unfortunately his talk proved hollow, and he's now adversely impact two (2) airlines and detracted from both CO's and UA's former strengths, creating the mess we see today, all under the guise of changes he thinks we'll like.

mherdeg

Two hypotheses here:

1. United hired gate agents and customer service representatives who were wonderful people, loved being helpful, were always happy to rebook you rapidly during irregular operations however people needed, and had plenty of time for everyone. Continental hired people who were the polar opposite. The only difference in the two airlines' customer service experiences was driven by the people.
2. Everyone hired by United and Continental is basically a good person and wants to do a good job. Continental employees bumping up the inadequacies of SHARES technology often hit roadblocks which forced them to make things up like "sorry, our policy doesn't let you do that" when they actually meant "sorry, we can't figure out how to do that."

Post 3/3 we have gotten plenty of evidence to disprove #1. This is a technology problem, not a social problem.

sandiegofun

Considering pilots, ga's, fa's, 'premier line' folks in detroit and salt lake, and UC employees I know and have asked have told me that there is no coherent plan for the unmitigated disaster that this merger has been for pmUA flyers, I would contend that it is clear front line employees aren't aware of whatever plan you seem to think is in place.

sxf24

If you're not confident in the strategic direction of the airline and feel that there is no "plan," by all means, take your business elsewhere.

I don't think it's fair to draw a conclusion based on a handful of isolated quotes I picked from a welcome video. That said, at this point in the merger, there is still a greater focus on tactical changes. If you're not happy with that, leave.

channa

It seems many people have.


Well said.

It's not clear from the Mr. Hand discussion that they understand the impact of the system choice on their ability to provide good customer service to customers.

halls120

You're the one who offered those quotes, not me.

I will - and have - continued to fly UA when it makes sense. When it doesn't, I won't. For example, I booked an IAD-SFO flight the other day. I checked out all the competition, and UA offered me the best value and I was able to secure F for a very good price. We're going to Prince Edward Island in September, and UA has the most convenient schedule and competitive fares, so I booked UA.

On the other hand, I have flights to MEX and LIM coming up, and AA beats UA on the fare and the equipment, so I'll likely go there. Same for upcoming flights to LFW and DKR. I'd like to fly UA to the extent I can on those flights, but it's going to depend on fare and UG possibility.

Before the merger, I would have paid more to fly UA on the MEX, LIM, LFW and DKR flights, because I wanted to reach 1MM. Now, while I may eventually reach 1MM, it is no longer the goal it used to be.

sxf24

I don't think UA or a reasonable person would expect anything else.

ibuyyoufly

I asked that question to fastair and SFOfastair a couple weeks ago on another thread and they did not respond. Could have been they didn't see the post. So let's ask them.

Do they know and have they been communicated with from above as to what the "initiatives" are to bring this all together?

There has to be at least 3-5 key measures assigned to each of Smi/J's cliches from his video, the employees are aware of that need to be done, or guess what, they won't happen.

I happen to know from my questioning employees on my trips, they are not aware of any. In fact, on recent trip I was sitting next to an MD in F, which I believe is a position pretty high up on the Org Chart, and their comment to me was, "communication from above is lacking". So if information is not getting to that level, I can only imagine its not getting to the customer facing employees.

I'll say this again, this is a very good example why a Mission Statement, Values and Vision are published for all employees and all customers to be aware of. Everyone then pulls on the same end of the rope instead of trying to push on a string, which is what's happening.

I could be proven wrong, but I'm not aware of a Fortune 500 Company that doesn't have these 2 or 3 documents published and for everyone to see. Has Smi/J put these together for UA? I haven't seen them. Anyone?