Dear Oscar,

While I agree on fundamental principle with this, I disagree when it comes to consumer loyalty. It has been obvious that many 1Ks and a good percentage of GS flyers have taken their business elsewhere. While some believe making $39 per E+ "upgrade" and the $100+ paid upgrade to F is a good thing, I don't agree. Those who haven't flown much and upgrade to F is certainly going to get their fee in free liqueur. Many of those who the non-rev upgrade were to go to don't drink much, or at all. The amount of spending in liqueur consumption isn't calculated in this formula. It would be interesting if it were. As for the E+ upgrade sale, this is pure rubbish. As a last minute flyer (often less than 3 days notice) I am not pleased that my $1,000+ fare is often paired with a middle seat, most often in E+ but at times in E-. Is that a good practice in consumer loyalty? No. My problem is that I have no viable choice in carrier so I am stuck. If I had a choice I would be gone.

By the way, I've been a 1K for 18 out of the past 21 years and was GS 3 out of the first 4 years of its existence. Loyalty means revenue .... guaranteed revenue. This is something UAL has seen but not in the best of light.

I hope you can follow up on your pledge to value the consumer.

Sincerely,

RobotDoctor

Congratulations on your new position.

I hope you can restore confidence in United for your elite flyers.

I have been flying United for over 23 years; the last decade as a 1K. I have watched the benefits of being a 1K erode every year for the next 4 or 5. I used to strongly encourage my large staff to fly United and we spent tens of thousands of dollars. They saw I was happy with UA. And I stopped encouraging them. They flew whatever because having less status they no longer felt UA was friendly.

Either get ready of the slogan or change the culture. Given more discretion to your customer service reps. That was taken away under Jeff. I owned a large bar and I learned that a little nice touch every now and then brought in a lot of business.

Stop nickeling and diming elites. Before the merger my complimentary upgrades were about 80%. Afterwards, now around 20%. I spend my own dime but the new business model heavily favors those who usually fly on a corporate dime.

Thank you
Chuck 22203

Clean house in the corporate offices. Jeff did not make this mess alone. He alone did make some of the biggest missteps in the history of aviation, he just agreed with them.

Get rid of the lowest bidder contractors.

Get the FA contracts in order and stop running 2 airlines (badly)

Undo most of what Jeff and his crack team put into place.

Good luck.

1) Fix the labor contract / unified workforce issues.

2) Improve OPs. DL has proven that money spent there comes back quickly to the bottom line, and makes people a bit more willing to accept the FF devaluation (that I know will not change).

As much as I'd like to list out a bunch of selfish desires, there are really only 3 things that are worthy of a CEO's attention, IMO.

1. Fix the labor issue
2. Improve the operations metrics
3. Put a plan in place for better legal/ethical compliance

If he focuses only on the second one, customers will stay, and they may get some back. The third one is likely going to be a requirement as the NJ scandal plays out.

i'll bite....

E+ must remain 9-wide on the 777. i have no problem with going 10-across in Y-.

channel 9 systemwide.

UA14/15 (EWR-HNL), as well as ORD/IAH/IAD-HNL must get some sort of food in Y. be less militant systemwide in terms of the current m.o. to cut catering costs by any means necessary.

free wifi for elites. i can understand bandwidth concerns, so having the free offering be a slower tier is acceptable.

it's probably too late, but JFK should stick around. invest in a premium transcon product, and it'll pay dividends.

don't completely kill off global first. LAX-LHR/SYD and plenty of other 'doomed' routes warrant a 3-class product. again, invest in a reasonably competitive product.

stop gutting MP. use it as a tool to drive sales. let people choose (maybe once a year) whether to earn award miles based on miles or spend. reward those who spend, but don't forget about road warriors in Y who have to fly cheaply, otherwise they won't fly at all.

UA has "the network" - promote it! BOS-LAX shouldn't be cut during the winter. bring back BKK. stop the constant retreat from competition!

in a word.... compete!

First things first: Deep six the awful new United.com or at least maintain the ability to choose your experience...

Dear Oscar,

Make peace with ExpertFlyer.

Good luck to you sir and all the best!

Mr. Munoz
This is a serious issue with those of us who never fly another airline unless UA does not fly there. I've been a loyal 1K and now 1MM flier and it's hard to tolerate selling F cheap and leaving me in the back. 1K used to be like AA's EXP. No longer the case, UA 1K is equal to AA's Platinum level. Mr. Rainey left you a short while ago and he invented the term "over-entitled 1K's" which I saw as the beginning of the great slide for me as a 8 year repeat 1K.

I'll play:

Mr. Munoz,

Please go back to distance-based RDM earnings, eliminate the PQD requirements (except for perhaps 1K), and only sell TOD's after all eligible elites have been upgraded.

There are a lot of customers that remain loyal despite their corporate requirements to fly in Y.

Dear Oscar:

Please reach a unified labor agreement so that all employees feel valued and we no longer have to put up with the sUA and sCO silliness.

Dear Mr Munoz
You may think you are a caretaker manager appointed to fill the gap until a suitable candidate can be identified.

And normally, a caretaker manager wouldn't make any major changes.

But in this case there are some glaring issues either unresolved by or introduced by your predecessor which need urgent, immediate attention.

1. the dreadful on-time stats, and the deteriorating treatment of elite flyers caught in the resulting irrops
2. the low morale of the workforce, due to their continuing disempowerment
3. how to apologise to and retrieve the many high-value clients driven away to the competition

Dear Mr. Munoz,

I truly wish you the best in your new position and I dearly hope you will be make to make some great changes to turn United Airlines around.

One of the suggestions I would like to make is to please stop the outsourcing of jobs. Re-hire everyone (ESPECIALLY those at the United hubs) as United Airlines employees. While it may not seem like much, being taken care of by an actual United employee, and not someone who works for a contractor/sub-contractor, at Newark Airport means a lot.

My other key suggestion is to grow and expand; not contract and hide. Grow the airline. Take on new routes and compete. Look at Delta. Yes, they dropped the hubs at Cincinnati and Memphis. But look what they have done since: expand in Seattle, New York's LaGuardia and JFK, Boston Logan and others. Meanwhile, it seems all United has done is cut routes and presence at many airports. Please turn this around. Compete with the other airlines and grow service and routes.

Another suggestion I have is one I know won't happen, but I am going to make it anyway. Try to remove at least one row of seats. While I understand the need to make money and fill as many seats as possible, removing a row would mean adding an inch of space in every remaining row and even a single inch would mean a lot.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Do Right.... And Please listen tho those of us that spend more time on a UA flight than at Home.

Some change have been good some of been right out of 1984..."Love the new choices"..Be innovative...make our lives spent with UA beneficial for both...its a business, for us its a choice.....

Letters to Oscar
 

Dear Mr Munoz,

1. Stop copying Delta.
2. Invest in new aircraft. E190's > e145's, and how about a 748i?
3. Stop copying Delta.
4. Unite your employees and make them proud of the airline.
5. Stop copying Delta.
6. Retain the excellent MP program and make it even greater.
7. Stop copying Delta.

Good luck, mate!