Baze

But unfortunately the 757's are going by the wayside in favor of the new 737's and with the addition of an extra row or 2 now the 3XX Airbii. S unless you get on a PS flight or international in the next year or so don't expect too many, if any domestic 757's.

JOSECONLSCREW28

Well I'm an FA and mostly fly to europe on the 757 so granted I do see them quite a bit.

bse118

It's just the pmUA 752's that are being retired. You'll see international 757s for the foreseeable future, and the pmCO 753's will stay around too (as of now, anyway).

aacharya

Analogy is fine - the % awful. Do you even know what 0.001% means pragmatically? It is 1 in 100,000.

spin88

I think you are off with wine in your %, and I think many people can tell the difference in seat comfort. Can a 9 year old, or a 25% woman? Probably not, but then the size of the lower cushon is not going to be an issue and their weight will not sink very far into the padding. but for anyone who is larger (and I don't mean fat, I just mean a 75% female and probably a 50% male, I don't think these are going to be more comfortable.

But hey, the financial results are published, always interesting to see how UAs "aim for the bottom" strategy will work out LONG TERM.

uastarflyer

No free IFE and no Channel 9 hits everyone.

At this point it is like WN without the customer friendly policies and without the overall better operational performance. And no peanuts either.

PDXPremier

+1

Hadrian35

I don't think your average pax gives two figs about CH9. It's a very select few which consider that entertainment and I say that as someone that listens to it and has a bit of a nostalgic twinge of being a youngster on UA decades ago.

TWA Fan 1

It reminds me of when I started flying jetBlue in the early 2000's because the product was just so much superior to what CO offered in Y. jetBlue has more comfortable seats, more legroom, free directv at each seat, etc.

It's an upside industry where the LCC's often have the superior product. In part this is due to what can only be characterized as the brutally unimaginative and near-sighted management strategy that is often in practice at the legacy carrier corner offices...

Baze

Yet this model is very similar to what hotel chains do. At the Hampton Inn, Holiday Inn Express, Marriott Fairfield in level you get lots of free stuff included in your cheap rate. Stay at their upper end hotels and expect to pay separately for everything. Yes some are thrown if for the different elite levels but it is a la carte.

ljwobker

As if... When was the last time you tried to pay F prices for an F seat and weren't able to get one?

TWA Fan 1

Of course, but to me the difference between to hotel and airline business models is that if you pay more for a hotel (in a given market, on a given date) you will get a better product/location.

The airline pricing model is so much more complex that it defies any comparison with hotel prices, since passengers can fly in the same cabin of service on the same flight with tremendous disparities in cost.

But, as a rule, legacies used to market themselves as "full service" airlines which justified their generally higher cost.

Nowadays, one is more likely to receive a better product (at least in Y) on an LCC than with a legacy.

Of course, in many cases, the LCC's do not have cheaper fares than the legacies, but carriers such as WN and B6 do have a certain minimum standard which legacies cannot match with their regional carrier partners.

Always Flyin

More often than you think.

Most of my travel is international. I usually am responding to sudden issues when I buy first, which is usually within two days of departure. I usually have a heck of a time finding an F seat.

Even when I have more time, it is a problem. I am flying LHR to LAX in about two weeks. I'm sure not going to give sucky UA my money any more. I tried to book F on the AA flight (it's the new 777-300ER). Already full.

So I am now booked on BA, which is UA with an accent and even more attitude.

dw

And with an inferior seat (even compared to WN's new slimline seats)

1KPath

You have hit it on the nose!!...and the sad part is that even some F on "full service" airlines is worse than Y on the so called LCCs! Now that it was revealed that B6 is adding a true premium class to some of their new aircraft, it will be interesting to see if they descend to the low quality levels of the "big boys" or force them to improve their product!

Do yourself a favor and try NZ's business premier to LAX...I regularly choose it over F on AA and UA...It is a breath of fresh air where you really feel like they value you as a customer and the quality of the service is outstanding! LAX-LHR on NZ is one of the best "secret" routes out there!!...and if you find yourself having to fly Y, their premium economy service is better than most C and can usually be had for less that an "'upgradable" Y fare on UA!