Kacee

Reducing FA staffing is never good from a passenger perspective. One of the reason service levels are higher on certain Asian carriers (BR is a great example) is a higher staff ratio.

And this will absolutely reduce meal quality - which is already down - even further.

username

My observation is that most of the time service quality in C is affected by the load factor. FAs are already complaining that the 77Ws have the same number of passengers as the 744s but with fewer FAs (not sure if this is a fact). Now even fewer?

Doesn't the union have to agree to this kind of stuff?

Of course, if you talk to BR FAs, they complain about the cuts and increased workload too.

halls120

Wow, another downgrade to the soft product, the second one since roll-out, and still not even close to completing hard product roll-out. Anyone really surprised?

amtrakusa

do you even know what you are talking about? UA is hiring record number of FAs next year.

amtrakusa

look, everyone complains about overwork and less pay, etc (not just FAs, not just in airline industry). if you don't like the work, find something else to do. Why waste your life doing something you hate?

rushscott

fumje

Thank you for sharing this, but I am quite apprehensive about it. I can only picture a sad—or even sadder—state of affairs resulting.

As a passenger, Polaris service when introduced was a moderate improvement over the former BusinessFirst service. But even by last winter, it was slipping back, and by now I think we were better off with BF.

For FA's, do the unions not have any say in aircraft- or passenger-count-specific staffing levels? Service on the 77W is frantic already, and I appreciate how the FA's try to make do, but since they already seem one person short, I dread to think how it will go with one fewer.

Willing to bet that these 'key investors' do not regularly fly UA.

3Cforme

They can if they negotiate it. They may have chosen to use their negotiating capital on other issues.

fumje

Yes, I am wondering what has been negotiated!

milepig

narvik

I share your apprehension.
Somehow I can't see how a pre-plated meal will ever be as appetizing for reasons others have mentioned in this thread.

To please these "key investors" I have an even better suggestion: make pre-ordering one's meal mandatory and then have ground staff pack that meal behind the tray table hours before take-off. That way the passenger can just open the tray table at cruising altitude and hey presto: your meal awaits you! The wine is dispensed through plastic tubes directly to your seat from the galley from large plastic bags (think the old plastic audio tubes). That way even more FAs can be eliminated. Win-Win.

flyerbaby19

While I was disapointed about other soft product polaris cuts, this one i think is fine. There is plenty of staff. If you look over the course of a 12 hour flight, most of the time the FAs are just sitting there. So some things might take a tad longer to get to you. FAs love to complain about how overworked they are. I'm pretty sure I work much harder than all of them and do it w a smile on my face every day even if i'm complaining on the inside (it's 6:24am and i've been in the office for an hour).

I'd never pay for a premium cabin based on food. Truthfully, I'm fine with Y food for the most part, so this is not a big deal to me. I'm a simple food guy. I don't need fancy stuff.

skidooman

United has a branding problem. On one hand it tries to be a "classy" airline, but then turns around and also tries to behave like AirAsiaX.

Right now, the tide is high, record profits are in, business fares seem stuck in high mode compared to even other legacy carriers (I get systematically better pricing for J in AC, LH and others on TPAC and India fares), so it doesn't matter. It is when the tide recedes that we will see the impact. Can United survive with premium pricing yet "just ok" or less service on TPAC or TATL where you have competition that delivers either cheaper price or better service and sometimes both?

BTW, in the past MM may have convinced old timers to stick around. Not sure if this will be true this time around.

EWR764

I wonder how many of these changes are influenced by the forthcoming 76L (46J 763 configuration)... that's a ton of J seats for a single 767 fwd galley, and if staffing is the same, it's going to be a pretty labor-intensive airplane to work. Couple that with short redeye sectors (eastbound LHR) and it's not surprising the company is looking for ways to accelerate the Polaris meal service.

The dining program just isn't special anymore, and hasn't been for years. Since we aren't going back to the "old way", with a more drawn out, sumptuous service, then it might as well be simpler, faster and easier to deliver. Better to go all-in than keep things stuck in the middle, with cheapened service elements and quality cuts.

I'm strongly in favor of the dine-on-the-ground concept, too, so long as United doesn't look to the Polaris Lounges as a cutback opportunity when the next downturn comes about (wishful thinking, I know).

fumje

I don't fly UA for the food, but I notice when it's bad. I don't want mushy noodles because they had to one-plate the entree.

An actual FA could surely give better perspective, but from what I see the FAs do work very hard during the first two hours after takeoff and again somewhat in the hour before landing. In the middle of the flight there is not as much to do, but you can't 'surge-staff' the flight.