T-shirt on a UA flight yesterday
Jan 23, 2019, 4:35 pm
#121
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: EAU
Programs: UA 1K, CO Plat, NW Plat, Marriott Premiere Plat, SPG Plat, Priority Gold, Hilton Gold
Posts: 4,712
In terms of the first world problems complaints levied against UA I'd say busted wifi is towards the bottom. Here's my rankings:
!
-James
- Domestic UCs which don't have showers nor food past breakfast
- Upgrades that won't clear
- UA not sending us loyalist out a 2019 Gold card which may cause problems entering the LH lounge
- Polaris J steak that tastes like it's been out since the Nixon administration
- Priority boarding being given to anyone with a pulse (i.e. those with a Chase CC can board now)
- Malfunctioning Power Ports
- Malfunctioning Wifi
- Malfunctioning AVOD
!-James
Getting first class seats you didn't pay for doesn't seem like a problem to me.
I would put non-functioning WiFi above everything else on your list - that impedes my ability to work. Non-functioning power would be #2 .
Jan 23, 2019, 5:43 pm
#122
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: DC Suburbs
Programs: DL Gold, Hilton Gold, Carnival VIFP Gold, Hyatt Discoverist
Posts: 459
Sounds like the T shirts are designed to crate a stir and embarrass management into doing something. Employees will talk about it, and possibly even media if they’re seen on the same flight or if T shirt pictures go viral online.
So yes, they’re designed to be provocative. That said, if a FA ever kicks someone off a plane for wearing one, the off-FT mainstream media reaction will be far worse for UA than anything they currently face for their bad WiFi. The optics will look truly terrible. Maybe not Dao terrible but terrible nonetheless.
Then again, bad optics don’t seem to stop US3 management teams from shorting product if the couple million dollars needed for multi billion dollar US3s to fix things could instead be used to buy back a few more shares of stock instead...
So yes, they’re designed to be provocative. That said, if a FA ever kicks someone off a plane for wearing one, the off-FT mainstream media reaction will be far worse for UA than anything they currently face for their bad WiFi. The optics will look truly terrible. Maybe not Dao terrible but terrible nonetheless.
Then again, bad optics don’t seem to stop US3 management teams from shorting product if the couple million dollars needed for multi billion dollar US3s to fix things could instead be used to buy back a few more shares of stock instead...
Jan 23, 2019, 9:54 pm
#124
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: DSM, BKK or anywhere with an airport
Programs: UA 2P, HH Gold
Posts: 1,018
Just out of curiosity, what basis would the FA having for removing the passenger. The word "effing" ? The shirt contains no profanity. I've said it before and I'll say it again here, I believe its in very poor taste. But a reason to boot someone? Not a chance.
Jan 23, 2019, 10:36 pm
#125
Join Date: Dec 2002
Location: Texas
Posts: 640
Not quite. Free speech does not mean zero consequences. Anyways, passive aggressive stunts like these t-shirts aren't going to result in positive change. Instead, people so disillusioned by wifi should be voting with their dollars.
Jan 23, 2019, 10:52 pm
#126
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Bellingham/Gainesville
Programs: UA-G MM, Priority Club Platinum, Avis First, Hertz 5*, Red Lion
Posts: 2,808
Grounds? How would you like for me to wear a shirt to your place of employment with something negative about it? I don't care what you say, I'm sure it would bother you at some level. NOW, having said that, yes, the WIFI can be slow and problematic. Not arguing that one bit, and it's something we do need to improve upon.
Would I have them removed from the plane if they refused, I honestly don't know... Removing someone from one of my flights is not something I take lightly, and I usually try to figure out an alternate to doing so. But, sometimes it can be out my hands, if the FA's refuse to fly, and then I have to weigh inconveniencing an entire plane full of people, versus one or two.
Would I have them removed from the plane if they refused, I honestly don't know... Removing someone from one of my flights is not something I take lightly, and I usually try to figure out an alternate to doing so. But, sometimes it can be out my hands, if the FA's refuse to fly, and then I have to weigh inconveniencing an entire plane full of people, versus one or two.
Jan 23, 2019, 11:13 pm
#127
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: DSM, BKK or anywhere with an airport
Programs: UA 2P, HH Gold
Posts: 1,018
Jan 25, 2019, 11:43 am
#128
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: The World.
Programs: UA MP/UC - "RIP Tulip Plat"
Posts: 1,225
Playing devils advocate here. Why is it ok for Pilots and FAs to display bag tags or wear pins that clearly are directed at management during contract negotiations, and these messages are negative (and might bother some passengers who don’t want to have to deal with crew who air dirty laundry), but a passenger wearing a shirt, albeit tacky....that is aimed at management not specifically flight crew....and that’s considered offensive?
Sorry not to get much sympathy from me on this one. Flight crew do it too....this isn’t a safety of flight issue but comes across as a power trip.
Last edited by UAL4life; Jan 25, 2019 at 11:51 am
Jan 25, 2019, 12:37 pm
#129
Join Date: Jul 2009
Posts: 311
I would be very surprised to see someone thrown off the plane for wearing a tee shirt criticizing the airline's wifi. Wearing such a tee shirt -- especially with the totally unnecessary proxy for a cuss-word -- seems like an immature and useless thing to do. But the usual reaction to people who do immature and useless things is to ignore them.
Jan 25, 2019, 12:39 pm
#130
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Bellingham/Gainesville
Programs: UA-G MM, Priority Club Platinum, Avis First, Hertz 5*, Red Lion
Posts: 2,808
Playing devils advocate here. Why is it ok for Pilots and FAs to display bag tags or wear pins that clearly are directed at management during contract negotiations, and these messages are negative (and might bother some passengers who don’t want to have to deal with crew who air dirty laundry), but a passenger wearing a shirt, albeit tacky....that is aimed at management not specifically flight crew....and that’s considered offensive?
Sorry not to get much sympathy from me on this one. Flight crew do it too....this isn’t a safety of flight issue but comes across as a power trip.
Jan 25, 2019, 6:33 pm
#131
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 54
Well, if the point of the shirts is to have people talking about United Wifi, and have employees bring it to the attention of upper management, it seems they are at least somewhat successful.
Jan 25, 2019, 7:43 pm
#133
Join Date: May 1999
Location: JFK, LGA, EWR
Programs: AA Platinum (Lifetime), United GS, HHonors Diamond, Shangri-la Diamond, Marriott Platinum
Posts: 549
lots of questions in here about why a guy who hates united's products and services would fly united. there's a fundamental fallacy in this thinking... how do we know the guy hates united's products and services? we don't. all we really know is that he hates united's wifi service. that is all. and on this point many of us agree. he may like or even love flying united. he's certainly passionate about it. maybe he's just trying to make it better. maybe the most important thing missing from his united travel experience is quality wifi.
and some of us have said that it's completely unnecessary to wear this on a plane because the crew already know how bad the wifi is. maybe, maybe not. we have a pilot in this thread who talked about how slow the wifi is... that's not the issue for me.. i expect the wifi to be slow. i'm on an effing plane! what i don't expect is for the wifi to be stalled at the payment screen or for it to process my payment and then not work at all. i'm not sure the crew know about that... more often than not, it's not a speed issue.. the damn thing just doesn't work at all.
there are also a number of us in this thread who wonder why a guy would do this... why would somebody wear a shirt criticizing united's wifi when he could simply go online and submit a complaint and get a few miles? here again, there may be a fallacy at play... why do we assume he hasn't already done that? if he's like me, he has quite a few miles, he doesn't need miles, he'd really rather have working wifi. i hate united's wifi, but you know what i hate more? complaining about united's wifi. perhaps the tee shirt guy has written and complained and even sent a letter to oscar. and he's not happy with the response (or lack thereof). what does a guy like that do next?
we're talking about it., which is the whole point.. a united pilot is talking about it and has apparently shared it with a couple of decision makers or influencers at UA. mission accomplished.
i don't think the shirt is tacky, tasteless or inappropriate. i think the shirt is a clever, playful, funny and effective silent protest.
i think it's effing brilliant.
and some of us have said that it's completely unnecessary to wear this on a plane because the crew already know how bad the wifi is. maybe, maybe not. we have a pilot in this thread who talked about how slow the wifi is... that's not the issue for me.. i expect the wifi to be slow. i'm on an effing plane! what i don't expect is for the wifi to be stalled at the payment screen or for it to process my payment and then not work at all. i'm not sure the crew know about that... more often than not, it's not a speed issue.. the damn thing just doesn't work at all.
there are also a number of us in this thread who wonder why a guy would do this... why would somebody wear a shirt criticizing united's wifi when he could simply go online and submit a complaint and get a few miles? here again, there may be a fallacy at play... why do we assume he hasn't already done that? if he's like me, he has quite a few miles, he doesn't need miles, he'd really rather have working wifi. i hate united's wifi, but you know what i hate more? complaining about united's wifi. perhaps the tee shirt guy has written and complained and even sent a letter to oscar. and he's not happy with the response (or lack thereof). what does a guy like that do next?
we're talking about it., which is the whole point.. a united pilot is talking about it and has apparently shared it with a couple of decision makers or influencers at UA. mission accomplished.
i don't think the shirt is tacky, tasteless or inappropriate. i think the shirt is a clever, playful, funny and effective silent protest.
i think it's effing brilliant.
Jan 25, 2019, 8:17 pm
#134
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 10,904
You shouldn't expect it to be slow. Airlines are transitioning to satellite wifi. While the latency is high, the bandwidth is also quite high and most people don't use truly latency-sensitive things, so they won't notice. The worst is probably a web browser; it will take the better part of a second to start loading the page. But you can stream video just fine on satellite wifi.
It's also reasonable to expect a major airline (one of the largest in the world) to be competitive on this front.
My main concern with the T-shirts is that they aren't really all that clever. They should have taken the time to come up with something funnier.
It's also reasonable to expect a major airline (one of the largest in the world) to be competitive on this front.
My main concern with the T-shirts is that they aren't really all that clever. They should have taken the time to come up with something funnier.
Jan 25, 2019, 9:51 pm
#135
Join Date: Mar 2009
Location: LAX & EWR/JFK
Programs: Fomerly UA 1K, now Gold... next year, who knows?
Posts: 1,432
I wouldn't wear that t-shirt myself... but I get it. I've stopped trying to use Wifi on UA flights as it's just so frustrating, and my prior experiences are with both Gogo and UA WiFi.
The problem isn't new, it's been a problem for years, going back to when WiFi was installed on the LAX-JFK PS birds.
It occurs to me this individual may not have a choice of carrier - he may have to fly UA by a corporate contract/policy.
And it occurs to me that he may have filed numerous complaints over the years already.
If I saw him onboard, I might even give him a High-5, but that's about it.
The problem isn't new, it's been a problem for years, going back to when WiFi was installed on the LAX-JFK PS birds.
It occurs to me this individual may not have a choice of carrier - he may have to fly UA by a corporate contract/policy.
And it occurs to me that he may have filed numerous complaints over the years already.
If I saw him onboard, I might even give him a High-5, but that's about it.