United Airlines fun...

I my humble opinion, I don't think you're looking at this without bias. Treating paying passengers like crap to preserve profitability or the relationship with the mainline carrier is immoral and unethical. Flights are late and cancel all the time. The reason the FAA gets involved is sometimes these events are symptoms of a more serious underlying problem and they have to look out for the flying public. FAA has the dual mandate to promote and regulate. They get involved because that's their job. If the airline has nothing to hide, it shouldn't make them nervous.

After congress passed legislation to protect passengers, airlines PREFERRED to cancel flights rather than leave the gate on time if there was a possibility of a long tarmac delay. Over 3 hours domestic or over 4 hours for international sitting in an airplane on the ground and the airline can be fined up to $27,500 per passenger. Once you leave the gate, there's no guarantee to get another one especially in a weather event. The other issue with late departures and arrivals is slot times at the major airports. If you can't be in the sky when you say you will be, it causes strain on the air traffic control system due to increased air traffic at certain times. At major airports, slot times are everything and if your airline loses the slots, it can't operate there any more. Republic, Trans States and Skywest all operate between ORD and SDF wearing the United colors. It's the nature of the beast that the mainline carrier pits each one against each other in a race to the bottom. United makes the rules that they have to work under and choose to do so. The industry is cutthroat and it sucks. I still don't think the airlines should be able to treat customers like crap to due to poor planning and scheduling practices. If that crew wasn't moved to SDF and the flight was cancelled the next morning, it wouldn't have been because of the unscrupulous doctor. It would be due to 30 years of mainline carriers treating their regionals/commuters like crap with mechanics making just above minimum wage and pilots graduating school with 120k in debt and starting salaries of 16k per year. In my opinion, the mainline carriers got what they bargained for. Now they are paying the price for shortsightedness. They should not be able to pass that burden on to the flying public.

 

The corporate executives make multiple millions $$ salaries
They're Not gonna mess with their profit margins
They are worth 1000 times more than a low mechanic

Seems to me they could hire more crews ,
Stationed at locations so they don't have to bump
paying passengers to move crews around

 

Can we get back to the "fun" part of this thread?

 

The airlineswould just about kill to have those extra crews!
Right now aviation is in the eye of the perfect storm.
The baby boomers are hitting their mandatory retirement age, and due to idiotic manipulation by Congress the pipeline for new pilots just about dry.
A few years ago a regional airline with a shoddy training ethic, had a lower time, over tired copilot cause the final nail in the coffin for flight where the crew violated many regs and ignored proceedures.
At the last moment, just outsideof Buffalo, NY, they stalled and crashed, killing everyone on board, and at least one person on the ground.
After congessional hearings, Congress decided that it wasn't the fact that the crew spent all day riding on flights to get to their own flying legs, or that the crew failed to check for ice build up on the aircraft as every rule requires on auto pilot, or that they violated the sterile cockpit rule, or that Colgan training was poorly run, or that poor training caused the failed recovery of the plane when it stalled due to ice build up.
Nope they decided that the copilot caused the crash because he didn't make enough money.
So to make the airlines pay enough money they doubled the required number of flight hours a copilot must have for the airlines. Which requires more pay to get people with enough time in the door.
The normal way pilots earn time after they earn their ratings is by flught instructing. Under the old system 5 years could get you into a good paying job.
With the new 1,200 hour rule, you are looking at 15 to 20 years making peanuts, saddled with 60 to 100 thousand in debt for your training.
Many people have given up on being a pilot and dropped out of flight school.
Unless you have a rich parent or a spouse to support you, being a pilot is a poor choice for a career.
The major airlines are able to get people by hiring from the regionals, and smaller operations, like mine, are parking airplanes, and cancelling runs, because the regionals hired their pilots.
And the regionals are paying retention bonuses almost as large as salaries.

 

The new regs also changed the crew rest rules that caused this little flap

 

If you don't want to get bumped, pay for first class, charter the plane, or go by ground

 

This is also fun at the nudie bar.....er....um... I mean so I've heard and stuff

 

I always thought pilots flew as instructors then corporate flying and then regionals before moving on to the mainline. My buddy who now flies left seat for United came in through the Continental merger. He started as a ramp rat at a County airport. He flew as an instructor, Corp pilot for a bit, then hired on with mainline Continental as an engineer on a 727 before moving to right seat of a 737 based out of Guam. He's only been left seat for 8-9 yrs.

Most of his colleagues who jump right into the bigger jets come from .mil.

I have no doubt regulation has had unintended consequences, but it's not just regs at the commercial level. Just look at general aviation. Fuel prices, maintenance and hanger rental have driven the "passion" from many who might have had an interest. I know there is nowhere near the activity at the two local airports closest to me. Kids don't hang on the fence watching planes take off. Pilots don't offer a quick trip around the patch to those who do happen to pass by. This is a symptom of society, you see it in most all skilled trades too.

 

The death of GA was caused mostly by the Ralph Nader types. Sue anybody possible.

 

I'm still happy to drive and leave the flying for the birds!

 

And we have a winner!

 

I received this the other day from United.

Dear Mr Chester,

Each flight you take with us represents an important promise we make to you, our customer. It's not simply that we make sure you reach your destination safely and on time, but also that you will be treated with the highest level of service and the deepest sense of dignity and respect.

Earlier this month, we broke that trust when a passenger was forcibly removed from one of our planes. We can never say we are sorry enough for what occurred, but we also know meaningful actions will speak louder than words.

For the past several weeks, we have been urgently working to answer two questions: How did this happen, and how can we do our best to ensure this never happens again?

It happened because our corporate policies were placed ahead of our shared values. Our procedures got in the way of our employees doing what they know is right.

Fixing that problem starts now with changing how we fly, serve and respect our customers. This is a turning point for all of us here at United – and as CEO, it's my responsibility to make sure that we learn from this experience and redouble our efforts to put our customers at the center of everything we do.

That’s why we announced that we will no longer ask law enforcement to remove customers from a flight and customers will not be required to give up their seat once on board – except in matters of safety or security.

We also know that despite our best efforts, when things don’t go the way they should, we need to be there for you to make things right. There are several new ways we’re going to do just that.

We will increase incentives for voluntary rebooking up to $10,000 and will be eliminating the red tape on permanently lost bags with a new "no-questions-asked" $1,500 reimbursement policy. We will also be rolling out a new app for our employees that will enable them to provide on-the-spot goodwill gestures in the form of miles, travel credit and other amenities when your experience with us misses the mark. You can learn more about these commitments and many other changes at hub.united.com.

While these actions are important, I have found myself reflecting more broadly on the role we play and the responsibilities we have to you and the communities we serve.

I believe we must go further in redefining what United's corporate citizenship looks like in our society. You can and ought to expect more from us, and we intend to live up to those higher expectations in the way we embody social responsibility and civic leadership everywhere we operate. I hope you will see that pledge express itself in our actions going forward, of which these initial, though important, changes are merely a first step.

Our goal should be nothing less than to make you truly proud to say, "I fly United."

Ultimately, the measure of our success is your satisfaction and the past several weeks have moved us to go further than ever before in elevating your experience with us. I know our 87,000 employees have taken this message to heart, and they are as energized as ever to fulfill our promise to serve you better with each flight and earn the trust you’ve given us.

We are working harder than ever for the privilege to serve you and I know we will be stronger, better and the customer-focused airline you expect and deserve.

With Great Gratitude,



Oscar Munoz
CEO
United Airlines

 

I got the exact email. I've been driving more and more though. Mostly due to United's attitude towards customers, even those who fly a few times a months. Partly because they ditched Cleveland as a hub.


Most every place I go now includes at least one connection. I'm heading out to Little Rock tomorrow and I'll drive since the only flight option that would have worked was 8.5 hrs of flying time with a connection. That doesn't count me leaving my house 3 hrs prior since I live an hour and a half away, or the 45-60 mins on the arrival end collecting bags and rental car. It's a 14 hr drive for me, it's a 12.5 hr flight travel time. Bag that! Plus, there are a few gun shops I like to hit while drive that I can't hit while flying.