ORD1Kguy

I too am one in the minority, I see UA moving in the right direction. 15 year 1K, Million Miler the hard way, and 75 flights in this year with just a few negative experiences. The two last flights, ORD/PDX round trip, in First, were the two best flights yet. One PMUA crew and one PMCO crew, both fantastic. professional, friendly, attentive. Not a fan of Smisek but I see a lot of positives from the customer-facing personnel. I could always find some way I was wronged, but it's exhausting to generate so much energy to the negative. If 80-90% of my travels are stress free, which they are, I count myself lucky. If I go in to every encounter expecting to be disappointed I imagine I could find something to be disappointed about. But then again, I'm bring a positive attitude to every flight experience, and surprisingly, getting one back.

hockey7711

They probably granted everyone at the NYT free GS status!

EWR764

Yes I too was a bit surprised not to see the GF product featured at all. However, the BF product is probably a bigger moneymaker for UAL, and since the ads are targeted at business travelers, focusing on the products which appeal most to that market segment (E+, power, wifi, flat beds, etc.) makes sense for this first run of ads.

I would imagine BF (two and three cabin) has a much higher % of paid traffic than GF.

Herb687

If UA wanted an honest slogan they could have used that FA's comment as the basis for a great ad campaign, actually a refresh of a classic campaign from the past.

DL (1980s): "We love to fly and it shows."
UA (2010s): "We hate our passengers and it shows."

Bear4Asian

It seems you're talking about marketing strategy. Which may or may not be brilliant. While others are saying "show me”。I'm open to positive change but since I moved from flying Delta to flying United 4 years ago, all the "show me" has been in the wrong direction.

iahphx

Yeah, from a marketing standpoint, I think these commercials are excellent. It would make me hire the ad agency!

I particularly like how they changed the "fly the friendly skies" theme to be a tad more, well, realistic. When I heard they were going back to that theme, I laughed: while often competent, nobody would say that their typical interaction with a UA employee was "friendly." Domestic airlines like Southwest and Alaska would have more credibility in this regard. But the way UA has re-defined "friendly," it works.

My favorite of the commercials is the int'l taxi ad. It speaks to me -- although I doubt there's any airport in the world served by UA that you can really take a pedicab to! And, of course, the reality is that when I'm overseas I'm RARELY flying UA. And that's because I know that, in the real world, I'm better off flying UA's international partners than flying UA.

txp

Aaron, I come from the CO side of the merger and have been with CO since the glory days of Gordon Bethune. This said, the slogan is very powerful and I am glad the new UA is adopting it. This summer on a SYD-LAX flight I have heard it for the first time ever. This was undoubtedly a nostalgic crew. At that time, I was thinking how nice would it be if UA re-adopted that slogan. CO never had anything as powerful. It would be a sign that the new UA is now committed to taking the best each pre-merger partner had to offer. I event posted a comment here on FT calling for the return of the slogan. And, lo and behold, it's back! Glad to see that you read my mind!

Again, great move!

This mirrors my recent experience. You and I might be on the minority on this board, but probably not among the general UA passenger population.

Here is what I posted here in July this year:

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/unite...ally-back.html

Prophetic vision or just a coincidence?

RockinRon

I like the return of the slogan. Let's hope it is taken to heart by the employees and help turn around the last few years of ill-will and damage.

Plus, if they want to keep the tulip, they'll still be set for the comeback in downtown Sydney!

EWR764

A recent sCO flight crew thanked us for "flying the friendly skies" at the top of descent. May have been a former UA furloughee who crossed over (737 flight) but was interesting to hear on sCO metal nonetheless. Made me think that I would be happy to see that slogan return... and here it is!

An old football coach of mine used to tell us, "You get what you emphasize, you get what you tolerate." I think the return of the Friendly Skies slogan goes to the emphasis part... if management places an emphasis on friendliness, it would logically follow that we should see more of it.

pizzabox

It looks like they featured the 767 for for all the new commercials. Guess an orchestra would be too cramped in 3-3-3 The 2-3-3 767 config is definitely nice for couples traveling together. Was also hoping they would use the 787 for the flyby scene at the end of each, no Dreamliner love!

Air Houston

Agreed. Maybe the complainers haven't figured out you don't get travel vouchers or courtesy miles for complaining here on FT.

I like the rah rah videos myself. Once I even paid for a set of those self help tapes I like them so much.

fly18725

There may also be the subtle message as the aircraft represents a blended UA-CO as it's is PMUA plane with a PMCO-like configuration.

spin88

It might also be that economy on the 787 looks like one of those stunts to try to cram as many folks into a VW bug as possible...

Sulley

I thought the messaging was quite off on PMUA's advertising. Why wasn't my Global First Suite ever carried by two pixies into a colorful LSD wonderland? Why was I never followed by an orchestra comprised of various sea creatures whenever I flew over the ocean?

All kidding aside, in 2012, yes -- there was a large disconnect. But the ship has started to right itself.

This campaign, while initially delayed, was sorely needed. Employees are excited. It's big. It's bold. It's even classy.

Operations are improving. The website is about to relaunch. Aero is up and running and will be getting up to speed in functionality. More improvements on the hard and soft product will be forthcoming in the next year as well.

I just completed a round trip from IAD to LHR in Global First and the entire crew was absolutely fantastic. Everyone was full of smiles and had a welcoming attitude to all pax, paid or NRSA. Both flights were even early.

It's been a long arduous road the past few years, but I am optimistic. While there is still much to be done and there have been changes that I'm less than thrilled with, the pieces are slowly coming into place.

Yes, much like the 17.2 inch wide seats on the 737, 747, and 757!

EWR756

As an employee, I think the company is turning the corner. There's a great deal of work to be done but I think we're moving forward. I do see more effort, more accountability and the operation has improved a great deal. Give this thing a chance, I think we're getting better.