Dieuwer

So what cultural issues. It is the failure of management to deal with these problems.
If there are numerous "fiefdoms" it is up to management to crack down on these and fire the entire bunch.

TWA Fan 1

The fiefdoms are incredibly corrosive to the healthy corporate culture of the company.

But if you want a good road map of how ineffectively CO handled these kinds of problems you need look no further than the horrendous customer-service culture at their EWR station.

While many here on FT just chalk it up to the New Jersey mannerisms, the fact of the matter is that many other carriers operate major hubs in the NYC region and nowhere will you find the type of non-chalantly abusive behavior that permeates UA's EWR station.

Now, just to be clear, this is not the case with all the people who work at EWR, but the prevalence of wholly unacceptable customer service behavior at EWR is far beyond anything that ought to be considered acceptable.

You have to remember that EWR has always been something of a red-headed step-child at CO/UA, having been acquired from PeoplExpress in 1987.

Ever since then, CO senior management has always struggled with how to get things right at EWR.

Perhaps now, though, that there is so much unacceptable customer service at UA, system-wide, in a strange way, senior management has succeeded in aligning EWR with the rest of the company...

Ber2dca

I think an underrated aspect here is that neither Continental nor United pre-merger were especially great or even very good airlines. We're talking about U.S. airlines here after all where old battleaxe flight attendants show the dynamism and enthusiasm for their work of a NYC public sector employee, where domestic flights are run at sub-Ryanair levels. Let's not pretend this is some astounding new development and let's not pretend UA or CO were at the top of the food chain prior to the merger.

As a result, you would have a lack of appetite for what the other side brings to the table - on both sides. But people who are inside these businesses will usually view things a bit differently and see themselves as superior to their rivals.

However the merger was handled poorly in this regard. Operating as United Airlines but having CO's corporate leadership, which promptly "continentalized" most other stuff about UA, while keeping the staff separated, meant that both CO and UA employees were almost certain to see the new UA with the eyes of an alienated outsider rather than a "brand loyalist".

It's predictable and natural then to blame the now quite apparent shortcomings entirely on the other party in the merger while unduly glorifying what you had before the merger.

spin88

Actually we have:

(1) raised issues with changes as they were made, suggesting they would not work out
(2) pointed out when they were not working out
(3) suggested things we hoped Jeff would not do, as they would not work out,
(4) When Jeff made those changes pointed out how they would hurt the airline,
(5) pointed out when they actually hurt the airline.

A bunch of folks (myself included) have many times posted the things that would need to change, and how, to start to fix the problem, and many of us have come up with comprehensive lists.

That said, its not easy at this point. Many HVFers have left, and they are not coming back. The real need is to stem the ongoing outflow of valuable traffic and then work to improve things so over time you regain HVF traffic. To do so though, United will have to accept a lower margin as it rebuilds. Instead, further cuts are being made to try to magically create a higher margin, and more damage is being done daily to United.

If JeffS = his CO management team, then I 110% agree, he and his "savvy" plan is the problem. It might have worked for fortress hubs, or if everyone else was in a race to the bottom, it has failed miserably with real competition.

Dieuwer

Maybe what UA needs is a "bone marrow transplant".

anc-ord772

There have been myriad suggestions offered through this community on how UNITED can improve. It doesn't dismiss that many of our disagreements seem to breakdown into sCO vs sUA fiefdoms. It's not often we see genuine reflection and civility when trying to look at a situation through the lense of others.

nikolastojsin

And it is a nuclear war - noone wins.

Sadly, mostly true - and ironic as well.

Time for a new management - as many have pointed out.

Arguably, the best article one can ever expect to read!

abaheti

Hey, careful, if we solve all the problems via a wiki strategy tool, what are all the new consultants gonna charge hours for?


(an interesting experiment idea, actually... crowd source a business turn around strategy and pay fewer consultants... :-)).

tuolumne

While in many ways it pains me to admit it, legacy UAL was indeed prepared to survive for the then foreseeable future. We can thank the divestment of their defined pension obligations to the PBGC, thousands of layoffs and furloughs, and Ch. 11 eliminating their debt obligations. Believe me, I'm fully aware of the human toll it took to get UAL to that position, and I would have advocated doing it in alternative ways, but I can't argue that Tilton's brute hammer approach got the company to the end of the tunnel. And I wasn't necessarily convinced it would at the time. I agree that the business model was not sustainable pre- Ch,11, but certainly not post-Ch.11.

p.s. was the answer to the 767-200 retirements. In many ways, it was an "enhancement" marked by downgrades in onboard service quality. Yet, it seems to have worked.

Ted was an idiotic idea from McKinsey I believe. The bright side is it didn't cost much at all to create (or rollback).

The branding overhaul was fully completed by the time of the merger announcement. Type font had been changed for years prior. The award winning Fallon Worldwide "it's time to fly" spots started right after leaving Ch.11


I completely fail to see how CO was just "set up so well". They had two hubs, tiny Narita/HKG/Heathrow/Frankfurt (tier one busness capital ops), and were going to be playing hardball against AMR, DAL, and UA/US had they intended to let their pride get in the way of making a deal to save the company. They would be a small airline who would be unable to compete for global busness contracts. They were screwed and Smisek and the BOD knew it. Kelner publicly embarrassed and shamed UAL so bad in 2008 after the first merger rebuff, that the UAL board wanted nothing to do with them ever again, and moved their eyes to US Airways. He can say how bad UAL's books were all he wanted, CO had serious stategic impediments in a post UA/US world.

nikolastojsin

Cutting and pasting!

caljn

I find if you enter a situation ready for a fight, a fight is what you will get. However, if you're friendly and smile people will respond in kind.
People have always heard from the likes of this post that CS at EWR is atrocious...frankly I have not had a problem.
And I do not think for a moment if CO were given the opportunity to give away their EWR hub they would have done so. Ridiculous.

TWA Fan 1

I can only speak for myself. I have been flying since the early 60's and through EWR since the mid 70's.

In a few million miles of flying I have never gotten into a fight with anybody, whether airline employee or otherwise.

Nevertheless, I have witnessed plenty of very antagonistic service behavior and at a far greater frequency at PMCO EWR than virtually anywhere else.

I can't tell you exactly what the reasons are, except that it was clear this was not the norm for most of the rest of the PMCO system.

stopdiabetes

I have seen some of that at EWR, but more often, as a Platinum/1K, EWR staff has taken care of irrops and put me up when necessary. Maybe this is just anecdotal, but over the past 24 months, customer service, in my cases, has gotten much better, not worse. Taken care of irrops at ORD, IAD and IAH, and some United Club agents have really gone above and beyond. That so many others have had disastrously opposite experiences tells me there is work to be done. Time will tell whether UA, which has a fine route network and alliance, but post merger issues, will flourish or not, but for now, I am treated okay, up front most of the time, and have had decent in flight from FAs from both sides of the marriage.

TWA Fan 1

I have never been 1k but that is great to read.

I think a big part of fixing things for the merged company, irrespective of the narrow issue of customer service at EWR, is getting the corporate culture to a happier, more professional energy that is healthier for the customers and the front-line employees.

A big part of that is creating a sense of belonging to one company ("United") and all involved working together to make it the best airline in America.

While people have a right to their private feelings and allegiances, every time an sCO employee goes out of his or her way to announce that the crew is "Continental" it is tantamount to dirty laundry being unnecessarily aired to the customer, and introducing the notion that something is not well at all within the company the passenger has just entrusted his/her money to, and even possibly his/her life to.

While management should immediately issue a directive to cut out this silly and corrosive practice (whether or not it's technically accurate, since the flight is sCO, is totally irrelevant) and line employees should also realize they are doing themselves a terrible disservice by engaging in this kind of puerile behavior.

rch4u

(That is most of the 763 fleet.)