karung99

+1, well said.

euslaner

Or a change in responsiveness from CO "Customer Disservice." When CO lost my paper ticket and threatened to strand me in DEL until I found it, I didn't need a rep on FT. I needed someone who would help. When I was in FRA airport and a UA plane wasn't going to fly because of mechanical, two UA agents searched alternative flights for me and I got home. I didn't need to rely on GT, but fortunately I didn't have to rely on CO staff. If I did, I'd still be in Delhi.

Paolo01

"Free Time"

Isn't our goal in life to arrive at that time in career or retirement where our time is our own and by definition 'free time' to spend doing whatever we please?

Personally, I am a frequent Flier because I have to be. I would be the FIRST to put my measly 1K status away if I could afford a corporate jet OR if I could make the same impact doing my job without flying a single mile. If I could figure out how to only fly for my own pleasure, I would in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, United was correct years ago, and you cannot fax a handshake.

So until my time is all my own, I have to spend quite a chunk of it at 35,000 ft, and more troubling, a great deal of time at sea level in airport terminals. Therefore I chose to make that time more efficient and less painful by mastering the mileage 'game' and following and participating in forums such as Flyertalk. Is that time 'free time'? Well, it is not the 'free time' that I aspire to and it is certainly not time spent with my family or doing the things that I enjoy, so there is certainly an opportunity cost I am paying, but if Mr. Tilton has so little regard for 'my time' that he categorizes it as without personal investment, then I think that says quite a bit about his operating paradigm.

ash_79

+1

Isn't this the same tactic used in politics all the time, instead of answering the question u just call the question (or person) stupid...

wxguy

A few months ago, a senior VP of UA gave a talk to a large group. I was there. During the Q&A he was specifically asked about how UA sees FT, and what the company is doing to listen more to its well-involved customers on FT. He said, "We've hired a consultant to study that." 'nuff said?

Goes2Oz

LOL. Maybe now you can understand employees who objected to his arrogance. And some of you told us "if we don't like it, seek employment elsewhere". It doesn't feel very good to be on the receiving end, does it?

In a few years I suspect Mr Tilton will also have time on his hands! Perhaps you should invite him to join FT.

To those of you who use this forum to help each other ... good on ya! It has great value to those who are no so cluey about upgrades, seats, routes etc. Keep up that good work.

Thanks for your business, and I for one, look forward to the merger. It will at times be difficult, but stick with us. This will be better than ever. Oh, and don't worry ... the nuts will still be warm.

TurtleFlyer

I guess we're just another part of the "vocal minority". Now I'm waiting for the wristband that says "Glenn is gone".

1kBill

Based on that Tilton's remark, I have now concluded that he is certifiably an idiot.

1. Even if he believes to the depths of his heart that statement to be true, why on earth would he make a very public comment about it?
2. Flyertalk offers a tremendous amount of customer feedback. Yes, an awful lot of it could be classified as drivel, however there many, many worthwhile "nuggets" to be gleaned from it.

On a different note, I do think Quest's question was poorly worded, sort of like asking someone if they would prefer their right hand chopped off or their left eye poked out. Really no good way to answer his question.

ORD4R

I think this question and answer demonstrates why he is both an excellent executive and disliked by many people. He clearly thought the question was stupid, which it is and his reply is absolutely correct. Tilton knows how to make a crisp analysis of a situation and stated his analysis without hesitation because he knows he is right. Glenn Tilton is disliked because he speaks the truth and does not care if he alienates people, particularly people who don't matter like flyertalkers.

He answers to a board of directors and majority stockholders who are thrilled with his work. Tilton will be a highly sought executive even after leaves United.

In my opinion the merger topic has brought out the worst in flyertalk and any executive who gives its input any value needs to have his head examined. Flyertalk could be valuable market research but the noise to data ratio is just too high for this topic.

youreadyfreddie

Hey, at least he didn't call us "ugly girls".

I suspect Mr Tilton is just a tad out of touch.

channa

CO needs to have active participation and monitoring of FT because they, for the most part, don't have a working CS organization.

If CO didn't listen to FT, I don't know what they'd listen to. Last time I called their CS line to report something, the rep didn't even want to document the call. They are highly trained in dismissing you on the spot.

Rpcfly

LOL....Typical.....Enough to make me head to NH for the rest of the year....darnit where are those lay flat seats....

transpac

I susepct you don't follow the UA/MP - FT relationship very much. The attitude on the legacy UA side has been overwhelmingly positive. Over ~ 10 years UA/MP have been incredibly responsive to issues raised on FT. They have implemented changes we asked for, and reversed poor decisons many times. Early granting of SWU's, extension of SWUs, CR-1 reversal, grandfathering 500 miler conversion, gfowler's 5x promotion, easy upgrade sponsorship, reversing the H-fare min. on SWU's are just a few that come to mind. But if you're saying it will get even better then I say "great".

I have no problem with Tilton's response not do I take it personally but he might have said, "As this is the largest airline merger it is drawing the attention of our loyal customers. We value their business, and feedback, and hope to serve them going forward."

PanHam

Yeah, it's done all the time on FT when a new poster asks a question!

GoAmtrak

As a chief executive, making a demeaning remark about a subset of your best customers is considered a respectable response when asked about their use of an innovative crowdsourcing technology about which you're apparently ignorant? I guess restraint and reserve is for wimps.

Even UA seeks FTers to sample food. All the most forward-thinking companies engage their customers online. That is reality. Even if most of the "@UnitedAirlines" tweets are cringe-inducing in their level of knowledge about how airlines work, that doesn't mean UA should cower from Twitter. And just because there's a lot of emotional noise here on FT, the valuable data is worth the gleaning.

CO Insider, Starwood Lurker, and other official reps on FT see the value here. I hope the new UA will get with the program. Many FTers are more than happy to provide constructive feedback for free, even if we're blowhards sometimes. The future is here. Making like an ostrich will not change that fact. And overtly dismissing us because we're whiny proles who don't matter is just arrogant and mean. No leader, corporate or otherwise, should ever find that kind of attitude acceptable.

Exactly. Diplomacy should be the default position.