Originally Posted by spin88

But having been unable to answer that challenge, I would note that the "fix" to NYC is for airlines to be charged the same amount for every slot regardless of plane size, or bid for slots. As long as an ERJ-145 pays 1/6 of the landing fee as a 777 there will continue to be misuse of landing slots.

If the NYC airports figure out how much they wanted to raise, and divided it over the landing slots, or auctioned off the slots, it would push the airlines to fly bigger planes, which would benefit EVERYONE. There should not be any erj-145s (or small corporate jets) at EWR sucking up landing slots. If someone wants to use that take off/landing slot, let them bid for it or pay the same for it, so as a scares resource its properly allocated.

Originally Posted by bocastephen

How long do you think it's going to take the government to add new capacity at EWR/JFK/LGA? Let's try over a decade or more, and the capacity increases due to NexGen are not going to be enough. Basically EWR would need to be rebuilt or the NJP buried under it, for starters.

So what is the solution? Reducing frequency is the only option. That means cutting back on Express flights and up-gauging other flights to reduce frequency. Unfortunately neither UA nor its competitors has the correct fleet mix for that right now, and they bowed to consumer pressure for more frequency while ignoring the fixed limitations of airway system capacity.

So, that leaves us with improving internal processes to better handle the IIROPS that do occur because of fixed capacity limitations. What is lacking in this process is robustness and flexibility - in short, the system should be constantly and automatically monitoring connection/cancel risk for every passenger, sorting by priority (elite tier, fare paid, etc) and auto-rebooking or auto-protecting on the fly as needed to ensure a seamless transfer for the customer.

Stuck overnight due to an at-fault issue - the system should auto-print hotel/meal vouchers to be claimed at E-Service machines by affected passengers (and provided to GS/1K automatically regardless of delay fault). The baggage system should show current location/status of bags during a delay or forced overnight so a passenger can access their reservation online or by phone and determine where their bag is.

That is just scratching the surface - but unfortunately UA selected a last-gen IT system that limits flexibility.

Originally Posted by fly18725

I thought the problem with NYC ATC is the number of aircraft, not the size. While more mainline improves the inflight experience for customers, it certainly doesn't help in the event of weather, since you can't operate more flights because they're on bigger planes.

The problem is that slots in NYC are use it or lose it. If UA cuts Express flights, SWA or Virgin America will (successfully) apply to take over that slot and the congestion problem won't be fixed.

Ignoring the unnecessary and false digs at the IT systems (all major airlines use similarly ancient mainframe systems), UA could certainly improve the pro-activeness of re-booking and recovery. I'm sure all of the things you describe are being looked at or worked on. Hopefully the functionality will come sooner rather than later.

Originally Posted by fly18725

Ignoring the unnecessary and false digs at the IT systems (all major airlines use similarly ancient mainframe systems), UA could certainly improve the pro-activeness of re-booking and recovery.

Originally Posted by bocastephen

The slots *are* the problem. There are too many slots, and they are set for optimal weather - when things go south, the capacity system falls apart. The FAA touts NextGen as the key, but I doubt it. You can only cram so many skittles into one bag. The FAA needs to cut the number of slots, but given the airlines don't have the right fleet mix, both sides are stuck in a catch-22.

You can't proactively modify slots due to bad weather without causing IRROPS that ripple through the system. NextGen and free-flight were suppose to help alleviate these issues, but today looks pretty like yesterday in terms of passenger experience. If nothing is going to change, UA needs to recognize the limitations placed on them and plan accordingly (as do the other carriers), otherwise we might as well bring back the CAB and re-regulate everyone's schedules again.

Sorry, not all airlines use legacy/outdated systems. I can find alot to criticize Delta on, but their upgrade of systems from legacy Deltamatic to their present day robust system makes UA look like they are running a Commodore Pet on BASIC.

Originally Posted by fly18725

For what its worth, Delta still uses Deltamatic. The have fancy front end technology and better applications, but its still the same engine under the hood.

Originally Posted by star_world

Did you hear the presentation or even read the article? I saw plenty of "owning" the problems in this presentation, and an acknowledgement that they have taken longer to address than he had hoped.

I don't see anything wrong with commenting on the macro factors that affect all airlines - that is part of a CEO's job, to use their position to try to influence these things. I don't see the part where that's shifting the blame (blame for what, by the way?)

Originally Posted by fly18725

You seem to now understand that all issues related to slots and ATC = government problem. Hence, the constant and almost universal messaging from the U.S. majors on the need for better infrastructure.

For what its worth, Delta still uses Deltamatic. The have fancy front end technology and better applications, but its still the same engine under the hood.

Originally Posted by pauljacobson958

As a PR exec I've worked for 8 different CEOs at public companies. The best and most successful CEOs were always willing to "go forth and communicate" even if they risked taking a few rotten tomatoes from the audience.

Originally Posted by pauljacobson958

I agree. There are a lot of cynics on this board. I've said elsewhere in FT that Smisek deserves credit for stepping out and walking toward the cynicism instead of away from it. Good CEO's worry about three things: financial performance, operational performance and communications with stakeholders. Pre-flight videos may grow tiresome but they are an important part of leadership. As a PR exec I've worked for 8 different CEOs at public companies. The best and most successful CEOs were always willing to "go forth and communicate" even if they risked taking a few rotten tomatoes from the audience.

Originally Posted by B787938

I haven't flown a whole lot of UA this year. But when I have this is what I have received in F on the midcons I have been on (always going through DEN or IAH):

- Shrimp salad or chicken calzone deal sans fruit/salad x4
- Mediterranean snack plate sans fruit/salad x1
- Mexican snack plate (aka the salt lick) sans fruit/salad x2
- Cheeseburger sans anything else x1

Originally Posted by Kacee

"Sans" means "without" in French (which I don't think is the meaning you meant to convey).

Originally Posted by bocastephen

Actually this is exactly what they meant - those items were cut from catering

Originally Posted by SFOPhD

My post-integration experience was pretty bad, but it got much better when I stuck to AA metal as much as possible...