No HVFs are flying now...nor will fly for at least the next 30-60 days. If UA can put together a network that make sense when they do, it could work out for all. After all, AA and DL are in the same boat now and the pastures aren't more green elsewhere.

I am sure this is covered in other threads...how do pilots stay current with their certification if they:

1 - stay with UA but do not get to fly
2 - don't stay with UA and unemployed for a long time

It is just so hard to imagine people and companies reinventing themselves in such a difficult environment. Some do and come out stronger. So keep that hope!

Bad companies are destroyed by crisis, Good companies survive them, Great companies are improved by them. -Andy Grove

Kirby is no Grove. They’re screwed.

Bad = SA, AI
Good = UA, Delta...
Great = Southwest, Ryan Air...

Yeah, United is in the financial shape it is today because they made it harder for certain customers who are not as valuable to UA as they think they are to accrue miles in some situations. :rolleyes:


As I posted just yesterday in response to a post on the DL forum complaining about just this, People are saying the same things on the other forums about the schedule cuts at those airlines. So it will apparently all balance out.

They only have to stay current if they are currently flying.

If they are sidelined for a while, they can get current when they are getting ready to return by doing some takeoffs and landings in a simulator. It is not like they will have to start all over with their training if they lose currency.

agreed. while yes, its a massive company, but it still seems like a large amount of executives (not counting Oscar/Scott) with 6 EVP, 13 SVP and 37 VP.

In this environment, I think that's a highly suspect assertion. The overwhelming, vast majority of "HVF" from a few months ago are simply not flying. Those that are certainly aren't acting in a manner consistent with their established travel/buying patterns. It's still crisis mode, although the trend line appears to be coming off the floor.

Aside from that, the usual slate of gripes and complaints about United from the pre-COVID era are meaningless now. This is a brave new world.

I can’t speak to corporate cuts, but I’m still holding out that the majority of the domestic frontline jobs will be saved. I can see things rebounding in the late Summer, fall, to the point where airlines can chart a more feasible path forward.

International travel will obviously take more time, so inflight & foreign ground crews might be in higher jeopardy.

That is actually much lower than some other global companies (in different industries) that I am familiar with that are of similar headcount size. How does it compare to other airlines?

So will these 56 overpaid executives be whittled down by 30%? Anyone taking bets how many will be there after October 1?

They're already taken involuntary pay cuts (25%-50%) with immediate effect, and yes, many of them will be out of work on October 1. That's been internally communicated. Glad to see we have cheerleaders for it.

If I recall correctly, they did take a substantial pay-cut, for what it's worth.

(EWR764 beat me to it! :tu:)

There is absolutely no evidence the new mileage accrual structure would or would not have worked since we never saw any financial results with it in force in a normal quarter. Prior to Q1 - UA was practically printing money and at this point we don't know what Q1 would have looked like with no Covid.

For all we know it could have worked great - or not. No doubt in my mind this was a major internal project at UA - with a lot of data crunching - this was a major decision probably with some careers on the line so I don't buy into a certainty it wouldn't have worked.

No, I made no such assumption. I clear used the term "might" in my response.

Whether companies are hiring or not isn't really the point, however. The message sent to employees is that their jobs might not be there come October. As such, employees should probably start looking for other options. It doesn't hurt any employee to start looking. Should they be able to find another job, they can then make the decision as to whether to take it or not.