Saying Goodbye to United Airlines

Good business people know that tough economic times demand greater emphasis on customer service and satisfaction. There are clearly no good business people in United Airlines' top-level management. The airline that MSNBC declared the "worst of the worst" in June 2008 is striving mightily to maintain that status in 2009. I should know, over the weekend I had the "privilege" of suffering through two of United's cross-country flights. Here's my humble advice: spend your travel money on any other option.

I should have known better than to fly United. The airline has arguably the worst business record of all American carriers. United's woes began in the 1980s with a bitter pilots strike. In the late 1980s the airline failed as a travel conglomerate called Allegis. In the mid 1990s United Airlines' management dreamed up a nightmarish Employee Stock Ownership Plan that soured any further interest in employee ownership of public companies. This was followed by a scandal-ridden merger attempt with U.S. Airways. And then there was the December 2002 bankruptcy. It is now apparent the 38 month-long stay of execution should never have been allowed--United draws managers who are seemingly single-mindedly intent on killing the airline--if Washington would only let them.

But enough of this abstract history, let's talk about United's current reality. For amusement's sake let's be even more specific and discuss my time with United over the Columbus Day weekend. I live in the nation's capital--an option largely dictated by my chosen profession. My parents reside near Seattle. Needless to say, I don't make it out to Washington State as often as they would like. I either am trapped by work obligations or have committed to family concerns closer to the east coast. That said, there are times when no excuse should be brought to bear. This was one of those occasions, so plans had to be made for crossing the continent in the most expedient method possible.

As you might guess, moonlighting as a national security consultant will not make one independently wealthy. Nor will it make you famous. So there is really only one option--take to the skies on one of our commercial airlines--preferably without spending a fortune. This means going on-line to search through a bevy of increasingly unbearable itineraries. Did you know it is possible to fly across the country from Washington and change aircraft three to four times? It's a cheap way to travel, but you better have a lot of patience and time to burn. I'm American--instant gratification is the rule of the day--and time, with a 7 month-old infant at home time is not something I am allowed to waste, particularly if I want my wife to speak with me in the near future.

All of which boiled down to a simple solution. It was United or United. The other airlines were either significantly more expensive or offered extremely circuitous routing. I should have spent the extra money.

Welcome to United Airlines. You know you are in trouble when the boarding pass in your hand says "Group 4" and approximately 300 people have entered the airframe before they reach us unfortunate stragglers. How is this possible? Well. United maintains a boarding protocol that opens with first class and then steps through at least four other "premier" programs before declaring a willingness to consider "Group 1." This procedure is similar to other airlines--but United seeks to make the process more painful by apparently choosing to load the "group" designees--us low-class types who would not pay an additional $90 for the "primer" status and thus be allowed to trod on the red carpet--from the front to back. Automatic traffic jam. One would think the computer would be programmed to load seats in a reverse order, back to front. That would be logical, and thus not considered at United.

Those of you who travel frequently can already see where this is headed. Because United charges for every checked bag, we are all trundling roll-on suitcases. The first on fill up all the overhead; the last 20 to board are simply silly if they think their bags are coming with them. United allows the first aboard to fill up the luggage bins, even if the personal stuff is nowhere near the owner's actual seat assignment. Now here's the rub. Rather than placate the poor slobs who are thus compelled to leave their bag on the passenger bridge by placing these items with the strollers and car seats, United has the remaining roll-ons tossed in checked baggage. See you at the carousel of eternal waiting.

Ok, so now we have crammed everyone into the over-sold plane and managed to depart the tarmac. The next unpleasant surprise is United's new service curtailment campaign. Instead of providing three attendants for those of us in the back of the bus, United is saving money by hacking the service/safety crew to a paltry party of two--who charge for everything on their cart except coffee and soda. "I'm sorry sir, that 69 cent bag of chips will now cost you 3 dollars, and don't even think about asking for free peanuts." I would feel sorry for these crew members, but they appear to specialize in being disgruntled and slow. So much for customer service.

Granted, United is not alone in seeking to maximize income--profit would be a poor choice of words when describing a vast majority of the U.S. commercial airlines--but United manages to standout for indulging in a silly "premier" advertising blitz while simultaneously managing to antagonize almost everyone who steps foot on their planes. There is nothing "premier" about flying on United. The lesson for the future, if I want to fly cheap go with Southwest...they don't sugar coat the truth...and if I want to be comfortable sign up with Virgin America.

As far as I am concerned United no longer exists...and the sooner other American consumers discover this truth the sooner we will all be better off. It sure seems like we could use fewer airlines in this country, and United is racing to drop off the abyss first. Hopefully my little push will help United's management reach that objective even more quickly.

 

 

Comments

[SeattleFlyerGuy]

nephdoc: ....but that's almost the same for most of the other airlines too.
1) Fruit: This has 100% absolutely nothing to do with United. This is a mandate from the US Department of Agriculture. If you have an issue with it, you should talk with them.
2) Being out of Food: It happens. Airlines in general do not stock one box for every person on board because on many flights they don't sell out and are left with extra inventory. Sorry it happened to you, but again, it's not like this is only a United thing.
3) E+ Access: Or, if you're premier you get free E+ or pay for annual E+ access. It's actually one of the best things about United!
4) Change fee and ticket expiration: This is absolutely standard for the airline industry. For example, from the ticket rules from Northwest Airlines: "CHANGES ANY TIME CHARGE USD 150.00 FOR REISSUE. NOTE - DOMESTIC TICKETS ARE VALID FOR ONE YEAR FROM DATE OF ORIGINAL PURCHASE." That's virtually identical to the TOS from United (and most other carriers).

[jcrawford999]

Eric,

I think the real issue is that you bought a ticket in the wrong class NOT the wrong airline. Had you bought a ticket in first class, you would have boarded first (on the red carpet), you would have checked your luggage for free, you would have gotten free food, and some free premium drinks to make time go by faster.

Unfortunately, all of the legacy airlines now charge for checked luggage. The last holdout, Alaska Airlines, started charging in July of this year. All of the legacy airlines let their first class and elite passengers board first. I'm not sure if you keep up with the travel news, but even Southwest has begun charging a fee for passengers who want to board the plane first (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/09/02/southwest-adds-charge-to-_n_274915.html)

I think you would have had a much better flying experience if you could turn the clock back by 20 years.

[nephdoc]

UA seems intent on shrinking itself via poor cust. svc; no plans to renew core business. Only recently have there been rumors of plans to acquire new aircraft.
I flew Kona->SFO Fri. One cannot bring fresh fruit/veggies on board from HI, but UA sells real food. Oops: ran out dozen rows from the back. "Apologies" from FA:
1. "This is a test. We hope to put what you want on board; sometimes we miss." (doesn't excuse running out of EVERYTHING, nor did FA log disappointed customers' choices).
2. "You could have upgraded to economy plus." (paid $64 for the "privilege" of PURCHASING sandwiches).
3. "It's a hassle to schlep food on board. I do it all the time, because of my Celiac Disease." (This is a vendor-customer relationship, not a support group).
SFO->Kona, FA whacked my wife's foot with service cart. She was concerned only by her own inconvenience; not a hint of apology to or concern for my wife).
Then there's ticketing: unused tickets? $150 "change" fee. Oops, $200 fee, because you PAY to speak with a person- can't use credit online even if you know the ticket info. Another oops: unused tickets expire not a yr from trip date, but one yr from PURCHASE.
Flights arrived on time; baggage claim efficient; likely reflects UA's diminishing customer base; oversold flights no longer the norm; empty seats on all my recent UA flights.
Of course, they're upgrading Chicago headquarters; now THERE'S customer service.

[packa]

Just a few corrections to some of the comments posted.

1) United has 6 distinct groupings for boarding the aircraft. First is first class, business class, 1K (100k mile fliers), United Global Services (status by invitation only, usually for high-revenue passengers). These folks board via the red carpet. Second, you have Premier Executive (mid-tier status) and Star Alliance Gold members (mid or top tier fliers on global partner airlines). They board via the regular lane. Third is Group 1, which consists mostly of Premier and Premier Associate (lower level status) and Star Alliance Silver (lower level fliers on partner airlines), as well as those who paid extra for premier line privileges. From there, it goes Groups 2 (window seats), 3 (middle seats), and 4 (aisle seats). If you choose an aisle as a general member, you will be in group 4. For this reason, I suggest to my friends they should select a window.

I also agree with travelplanners comments. While United (and US moreso) has a poor reputation, the "issues" you faced are not any different with the other airlines, legacies especially. You'll still have to wait your turn to board after all the elites. You'll still have to pay for checked luggage. You'll still have to deal with lack of overhead bin space. You'll still have to pay for food. If you want a different experience, try Alaska Airlines out of DCA, or US out of Philadelphia (PHL). These are your 2 closest non-stop alternatives.

[Sesh]

Speaking as an international (based in London) traveller - I have flown in United numerous times, and whilst not beign hte best they are not the worst and the reason why ... I travel up the front of the bus buddy.
Virtually all airlines are exactly as described in the article above, hardly any difference and the reason why - people want low cost travel. Well you get what you pay for so don't be so tight in future.

[jackman36]

Have you flown in the past 5 years? You get what you pay for and I do not see that anything actually went wrong on your flight. When you pay a rock bottom fare that barely covers the full cost of trip, do not expect first class service. Also, the airlines are selling transportation, not hospitality. Did you get there safely and on time? You got what you paid for. The airlines make the bulk of their money off of the high fare fliers and frequent fliers and they treat those folks like the golden egg laying goose that they are. Indeed, the business people at United are focused on those revenue sources as they should be and they are doing their job for stockholders as they should be. Obviously, those passengers are getting more service. They paid for it.

I am sorry that we are not back in the regulated days of air travel when only the rich could fly, but the democratization of flying has many more advantages than the disadvantages that you mention.

[SeattleFlyerGuy]

Some facts on your situation: 1) You live in a place with poor air connections, but United offers better connections than other airlines to Seattle, 2) United was the most economical option for you and the fastest

Then you encounter three objectionable things: The boarding procedures that groups passengers, the check-on luggage situation due to checked luggage fee, and the lack of free food on flight. Because of these things, you have made the dramatic assertion that you will never fly United again. Oh please.

About your objections:
1) The boarding procedure is the best available procedure developed by United. Trying to get planes flying on time is THE golden rule for United, so if there was a better way they would do it. At United they load front to back and you, in group 4, are obviously in the back of the plane. That's not a real complaint against United, except that their policy is different than other airlines.
2) In regards to airline fees, EVERY major airline now has checked luggage fees. You would be out $20 or forced to compete with other passengers on every other major airline for a domestic flight. This, again, is not a complaint about United per se.
3) Most airlines have ceased to offer free food for domestic flights, so again, it's not United, it's just that you don't like what has been happening in the airline industry. If you flew on American, Delta, or others you'd still have to pay.

[travelplanner]

I understand your frustration with United Airlines. They have a poor reputation for service just like US Airways does. The 2 "hometown" airlines in Washington DC are dreadful. Seems like there are UA fans making most of the comments. That said, the boarding, bags and fees for everything are almost the same on all airlines except Southwest. Southwest may be the cheapest - but cross country you will take all day to get coast to coast - they are good for trips under 3 hours on non-stops only.

I am a travel agent and from Washington DC to Seattle the best service is Alaskan Airlines - they have nonstop service to Seattle from DCA National airport, the service is good and if you pay more it will be worth it - price is not everything. They tend to have decent fares no worse than UA. Give them a try!

[Brian DownUnder]

And the other airlines are much better????? Before writing your piece, maybe you should have flown them all and compared.

The carry-on luggage problem is the same on many airlines. Elites go in first and ignore the rule of "one in the bin and a personal item in the seat in front of you". The airlines (all of them), are too scared to annoy elite-status passengers by strictly enforcing the carry-on rules. They don't want to lose business.

[mreplus]

(continued)

So basically you wrote this entire post to say how mad you are that United had the cheapest fare and got you there with the least number of connections -- but you had to wait to board the aircraft and didn't get free food. Unbundling is a reality of the industry, and that's OUR fault, not any of the airlines. We have consistently as consumers made plain that we will always choose the lowest price over any other mediating factor. Companies are now removing amenities to subsidize ever-shrinking fares in order to compete for business.

Do you remember flying pre-1978? I do. The adjusted-f­or-inflati­on price of the ticket you are griping about before deregulation would have been 2,000$+. Prices have fallen by a factor of 100, and all you've had to trade away is how long it takes you to board the plane and a meal that would have been mostly foul anyways.

Anyways I thought maybe you would appreciate commentary who spends a little more time on a plane than you.

[mreplus]

(continued)

- United divides boarding into 4 groups, with group 1 being for First Class and premier customers (rightfully so, as high-end business customers like me provide United with a vast majority of its earnings) and group 2, 3, and 4 the result of extensive testing over the past five years by the company. Believe it or not, boarding from the back to the front is a terrifically inefficient way of boarding an airplane, and things tend to work (as research conducted by the company that frequent fliers participated in) much better when you board from the outside (windows) to the inside (aisles.) So, what probably happened is that you were desiring an aisle seat and got group 4.

- You associated having to check your bag with having to pay to check your bag when overhead bin space filled up, which is untrue. You don't have to pay if there is no space for your carry-on bag.

- You claim that there is nothing "premier" about UA, but the International First/Business travel options that United offers to premium and high-mileage fliers like myself are outstanding. In the past month I've flown Cathay, ANA, United, Continental, and Delta -- and United's new Business seat puts all of these to shame.

[mreplus]

Eric:

Longtime flier (UAGS, AAPlat) and wanted to take a few minutes to address some of the comments in your blog post.

- You somehow are linking your poor travel experience to a pilots strike from 1985...just wondering, but did you check to see which other major airlines have had pilot (or other staff) strikes in the past 29 years?

- It is true that United went into bankruptcy in 2002. So did Delta, Northwest, USAirways -- Continental was in bankruptcy twice before 2002. The only major airline that didn't go into bankruptcy following September 11 was American, and they now have 14 BILLION dollars in debt to show for it. Who was the wiser one? Additionally, while Washington did have the option of providing DIP financing to United while in bankruptcy, they declined to. Washington DID choose to execute the company.

- Southwest Airlines -- who you hold up in your posting as a model of efficiency and overall greatness - is the airline that pioneered a "point to point" routing system. So when you complain about getting from Dulles to SeaTac in 4+ hops, that's Southwest, not United.

[mikeyc57]

Actually all those people in front of you, those 45 levels of status people or whatever number you made up, don't have to pay for luggage, it's free with status on United. So don't blame them for lugging on carryons to save a few dollars. And nobody sitting in in the front section of the plane will be lugging their stuff way in the back, it's one of the advantages in boarding first. loyal customers get rewarded with space over their seat. United, like most other airlines values their regular customers, and takes care of them. They board early. they have different check in lines. They get more space from the seat in front of them. They don't have to interact much with the people with a zone 4 on their boarding pass.

[bmvaughn]

Have to agree with Packa... while United isn't the best, there are a number of inconsistencies here which point to a lack of understanding of the airline market.

Not every airline is for everyone, and believe me there are some airlines that I'd love to fly internationally but they don't have the network for going where I want to go.

[packa]

Your article lacks credibility. You rail on United, but don't compare/contrast to others. I could write the same article about US. And 'm guessing you're an infrequent flyer. Your descriptions of wrongs perpetrated on you have been the norm across the industry for years.

1) Boarding procedures aren't better on any of the legacy airlines. Try Delta and tell us how you feel when you're in Zone 7.

2) United only allows First, Business and top tier elites to board via the red carpet, Continental and Delta allow ALL elites to board via their blue carpets any time after boarding has started. Not all Premiers on United are allowed to use the red carpet.

3) Lack of in-cabin storage isn't unique to United. Neither is the practice of sending gate-checked luggage to baggage claim. We could mitigate the problem if passengers, like yourself, wouldn't try to take the kitchen sink in an oversized suitcase on board.

4) All airlines try to get away with minimum number of required crew. That United only had 2 flight attendants in economy isn't a unique circumstance.

5) AFAIK, Continental is the only legacy with free food. USAirways even charged $1 for soda, but eliminated that policy after public uproar and nobody followed their lead. Paying for food on MOST airlines is the norm.

6) Change the names/dates of United's travails and you could've been referring to any other carrier. These are are hardly unique to United in the airline industry.