debua1k

In the 2008 Team Competition, 50% of the winning teams were registered on FT... Now, I understand that alot of GS and 1Ks did not participate in that competition, however, I think that FT definately represents a large part of the most frequent fliers on UA.

Firewind

Struck me right off as the first shot of the loose cannon that Mr. Tilton has been officially anointed. Look for more to come.

sinoflyer

Not true! We (those of us who actually post, not counting the "lurkers") are a very small subset of a very small subset of all the air travelers out there. Just because we share our interests on this forum doesn't mean that the opinions we express reflect even remotely the thinking of the traveling public at large. Methinks we are all prone to delusions of self-grandeur from time to time, and to think that FT speaks for all frequent fliers is an instance of that.

I agree, there is a treasure trove of information inside FT. It doesn't negate GT's statement, imo, but it also means that having too much time on our hands isn't necessarily a bad thing. We are in many ways the industry watchdog that keeps the airlines honest to their words and policies. And once in a while, we can start a rebellion, too.

tulippicker

Fonts aren't trivial. I'm sure apple gives more thought to fonts than UA does. Based on profitability of the respective companies, I'd say that considering a font is an important part of building value in a brand.

TechnoPagan

That only proves (as if we didn't know) that FTers are aware of the various FF promotions and tend to participate - most likely at a higher rate than the general FF community (ie "road warriors").

We are a strange breed, most people just print the BP and fly.

I don't care what is on the outside of the plane if I am stuck with an E- only airline - that was my point - there are bigger fish to fry...

jbcarioca

So we waste time talking with each other. That is part of the wonder of Social Media. That Mr. Tilton is clueless about SM is obvious. That he won't be the surviving CEO is marvelous. There are more basic things than FT about which he's apparently lacking good data. Anyway, since when is it any business of his what we do for enjoyment or how much time we do it, as long as we pay well for the flying we do.

jamesdenver

The statement "you have too much time on your hands" -- is my biggest pet peeve phrase ever. I wish would retire from water cooler chat, and am insulted to see it used at this high a level. It's a weak comeback statement to anyone who shares something the other doesn't approve of or feels is inferior.

So long as you're not a financially parasitic bum how is it a BAD thing to have FREE time (on your hands) to engage in life activities you like?

If one likes to quibble and discuss airline routes and amenities, blog about asparagus, construct model railroads or simply feed ducks in the park - then great for them. If you HAVE time to do the things you like in life that's a sign of success. It makes it seem as though life's only options are full time work in the trenches, clothing the poor 24/7 or watching TV- and nothing else.

And as mentioned - insulting those that use social media, rather than engaging and encouraging the sharing of ideas and experiences, is nothing less than marketing idiocy.

dfreeman02

I happened to see this segment, which is extremely surprising since (a) I don't live in Europe anymore, and (b) I don't have a TV. I had never seen pictures of either GT or JS, and was surprised at how sloppy GT looked and acted. He was fidgeting the whole time -- pulling his ring, scratching his ear, etc. Very unprofessional.

I heard Quest make the FT comment, and was surprised and pleased. GTs response was too flippant. Even for a general audience, executives should know that bloggers are the ones who make opinion these days. They're the ones passionate enough about the subject to devote significant time and effort to their critiques/defenses/suggestions/etc. Whether this time is "too much free time" or time stolen from somewhere else is irrelevant.

[Personally I wouldn't say I have too much free time, I just don't have enough work to do. ]

I'm sure the folks who designed the current UA logo paid a lot of attention to the font. The 60 degree slant at the top of the T is no accident.

The CO logo, on the other hand, looks like someone just picked "Palatino" from their Font menu.

N965VJ

Apparently, Tilton doesn't know the difference between blogs and chat boards.

Firewind

But in the scheme of things, I do like that he pretty much rolled everyone online into it. So, it's not just FTers who got splashed. Bravo, Mr. Tilton.

As I said, the world's most famous freshly minted loose cannon.

Nugget_Oz

Actually it would be the original reporter who said mentioned both the bloggers and flyertalkers in the same paragraph when asking the question.

Doug 1029

The bottom line is Tilton is right, we all, blogs and chat boards, spend much to much time and energy analyzing everything.

Firewind

Yes, but this could well end up like, "What's good for GM is good for the country," no matter what was really said. And it was scatter-gun at some pretty potent people in the -sphere. It'll be interesting to see if it's picked up and catapulted into higher profile media. On the other hand, there is a lot of other stuff with high production values going on, right now.

benblaney

OMG.

Firstly, if I had a dollar for everytime someone on here wrote "if xxx, I'll never fly that airline again", I'd have a hell of a lot of dollars.

Secondly, that was clearly a gambit to avoid answering the question, and nothing more. Big deal. Get over it.

MrHalliday

Anybody found a copy of the clip yet ??
I searched and found nothing about Tilton/Quest on CNN or elsewhere....