Hanging out with two awesome United Airlines flight attendants on the tarmac at LAX. That's a sweet Boeing 747-400 behind us.
I am an airline advocate. There are lots of media sources and people that love to bash the airlines. If an airline does something major enough to deserve a good bashing, then I will give it to them, but mostly I try to find the positive even in a negative situation.
When I recently connected with Rahsaan Johnson with United Communications while in Chicago earlier in the month, I was dead honest with him. I told him that I feel as though many are under the impression that United Airlines is lacking spirit. Being one who always wants to find the silver-lining with airlines, I wanted him to help let me show people that there is spirit within United.
It wasn’t long before Johnson thought of an idea to help me see, first hand, the energy and spirit most United employees have. I was invited for a day trip down from Seattle to Los Angelas (LAX) to see United connect with some of their best customers, experience some unique things and witness the delivery of Emmys.
United Airlines pilots talking to customers about what they do before flight.
The morning I left, I posted about the font change of the new Continental and United merger. Throughout the day I was getting some critical comments from you, my readers, about United’s perceived service and I was reading each one to Johnson to give him an idea of your impressions. You all echoed what we have both seen and heard from other sources.
After interacting and connecting with so many United employees and customers through out the day (on and more importantly off record), I honestly feel United is heading in the right direction. A lot of people I spoke with will openly admit they know that United has had their ups and downs, but everyone I spoke with feels positive with the direction United is heading and pumped about the likely merger with Continental.
Two United Airlines pilots welcome the Emmys to LAX
Things have changed a lot for United Airlines in the past forty years. From deregulation, to a few spikes in oil prices, to strong competition from low cost carriers and of course bankruptcy in 2002, United has persevered through it all.
There are a lot of hard working employees who are there to treat their customers well. During my visit to LAX, United invited important customers and showed them how they operate. This was to share what they are looking to do in the future and get feedback from customers on how they can improve their performance. They were able to get helpful feedback on schedules, and service, even down to having the proper ratio of cheese to crackers.
United Airlines Boeing 757 and Continental Airlines Boeing 737 get close at LAX. Two airlines will (most likely) become one soon!
Not only was United able to share what they are up to with special customers, they were also able to share the Emmys with everyone. Later in the afternoon, the Emmys were flown from Chicago to LAX on United Airlines. They had nice comfy seats up front and were welcomed by a crowd of people in the terminal. Being the huge airline nerd I am, when I was told the Emmys were being flown in, the first thing I asked is, “What kind of plane they will be flying in?” (It was an Airbus A320). Hey I am an airline reporter, not TV awards reporter! Yet it is always cool to see not only customers, but employees get really excited about an event like this. It does show there is some great spirit alive and ready to grow at United!
The people that I spoke with are very excited about the merger with Continental. Changes like this inject a feeling of motivation (for those not losing their jobs that happen in any merger) about the future. Continental and United both have interesting histories and will most likely make a solid future together.
Over the next few weeks I will share some of the very cool things I got to experience on my full day at LAX… a tour of the upper deck and cockpit of a Boeing 747-400, riding on a tug while pushing back a Boeing 757 and having an amazing view of LAX from the old FAA tower. Stay tuned!
What a beautiful morning to fly. United Express (with white nose - N708SK) CRJ-700 with a United Boeing 757 and moon in the background at SEA.
Back to Seattle Tacoma International Airport probably the last time before they install body scanners. Waiting for my United Express flight down to LAX for a special event that United holds for all their VIP passengers to connect and get feedback. Be sure to follow me on Twitter (what’s Twitter?) to see all the action.
I am excited to check out one of these events and also for the flight down to LAX. This will be my first flight on a Canadair Regional Jet 700. Being based in Seattle, there just aren’t that many regional jets that fly out of here and most of my connections with-in the US have been on larger aircraft.
I enjoyed flying on the ERJ-145 with its 2:1 layout and interested to check out this CRJ-700 with mostly 2:2 layout. The United Express flight is being flown by Skywest and according to SeatGuru.com, this plane should have First Class and United Economy Plus seats. I ended up with seat 6D which should be economy plus and I didn’t have to pay a dime more to get it. Should be a good flight.
The old and new combined livery for Continental and United Airlines
When United and Continental announced their new combined livery, a lot of people were not happy about the font used for “United.” Well, they must have heard, b/c they have changed the font and I like it!
From their merger site: “The new logo displays the combined company’s brand name in capital letters (UNITED) in a custom sans-serif font, joined with the global mark which has represented Continental’s brand image since 1991.”
This doesn’t help those that will miss the United tulip, but I think this is a good compromise for both brands.
Both United and Continental have interesting pasts
This is almost a guest post once removed. Dan Webb over on his blog Things in the Sky had a guest post from his friend Court who made a wonderful graphic showing the histories of both United and Continental Airlines. We are still waiting to hear the final word on the merger, but I expect it to be approved and the airlines will both move forward. Before that happens, let’s first take a little look back at where both airlines earned their wings (sorry I couldn’t help it).
Check out Dan’s blog to read more and see a larger version of the image.
United Airline's tail could use a little wash
On April 17th, 18 year old Jessica Cabot was flying from British Columbia to Florida, when she ran into some trouble while on a stopover in Chicago. Cabot is blind and she was waiting for flight attendants to escort her off the plane, but no one came. When she heard the plane door shut and latch she started to panic. After ten minutes two maintenance staff found Cabot and assisted her. She was told to wait until after all the passengers go off, then someone would assist her off.
After complaining to United, Cabot received a $250 airline voucher and a promise she would receive an apology. However, it took United five weeks to connect with Cabot and apologize. “They just called,” said Cabot. “I can’t even count how many times they said sorry.”
Sarah Massier, a spokeswoman with United Airlines in Chicago, said Cabot had a longer delay in getting an escort than expected. “We apologized to Ms. Cabot for the delay in providing her an escort, and have taken action with our employees and vendors at O’Hare to ensure this does not happen again.”
Cabot was told that the flight attendants were mortified Cabot was left behind. “She said they had done their sweep of the plane and I was a tiny girl,” said Cabot, who is 5-foot-3. “Does that mean if you’re short they’re not responsible?”
Cabot is returning home on a Delta flight soon and says she still plans to fly United (maybe just for the $250 voucher).
This comes after Air Canada Jazz recently left a sleeping passenger in one of their planes. This is not only bad customer service, but a huge safety issue. I know a lot of flight attendants are exhausted by the time they reach their final destination; I just can’t understand how a person can be missed.
Source: The Vancouver Sun Image: SFPhotocraft
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