Is United Airlines a good air?
United Airlines is one of the leading airline companies operating in the United States and has hub airports in Chicago, Denver, Houston, Los Angeles, Newark, San Francisco, and Washington. It has a substantial domestic and international route schedule to cities within North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. However, what does it mean to fly with United?
Here are some strengths and weaknesses of United that have been established:
On the positive side, United has more routes that connect passengers to 355 destinations across the world. This ensures that travelers get many connecting flights to most of the domestic and international destinations from United’s hubs. United is also a member of the Star Alliance, which means that the members of its frequent flyer program can earn and redeem points on over 26 airlines that are part of the Star Alliance. Indeed, being an older American airline, United has a large number of aircraft ranging from the wider Boeing 767, 777, and 787 Dreamliners with some of the most comfortable seats and services for long-haul flights. Also, United provides free food and alcoholic beverages in all the classes during the long flights.
With regards to customer service, the company has embarked on increasing its investment in this area after several mishaps a few years ago involving mistreatment of passengers. Employee training and automated technology at airports have assisted United in enhancing its customer service image compared to the experience it offered a few years ago. There are also services in flight such as in-seat entertainment systems and power outlets, which United provides reasonably well compared to other airlines for a relatively old American airline.
Nonetheless, United Airlines’ customer perceptions remain comparatively low after the past service mishaps. It is often found to be lower than competitors in terms of customer satisfaction based on annual airline quality ratings. The on-time arrival rates and baggage handling accuracy at United are also slightly lower than those of the competitor airlines. While it has enhanced, United’s boarding process with Premier Access and numerous groups is still considered disorganized by passengers. Even years after the merger of United with the former Continental, problems with their reservation systems can sometimes still occur when integrated.
One of the issues United Airlines has is that due to its past, its evolution through mergers and acquisitions of Continental and other older airlines, it has a less homogenized fleet. This leads to higher operating costs and less flexibility due to the disparities in the structure of the different models it operates. The airline also has conflicts between management and workers that extend to customers in employee demeanor or short-term suffering from freshly signed agreements. Every airline faces this problem, but it is more evident at United, which offers its employees below-average wages.
In terms of value for money, it is found that United has some of the lowest base fares compared to other carriers, but it appears to hit passengers with hidden costs. This is evident in their change fees, baggage fees, where customers need to pay for food even in premium cabins, and tight seating in the coach class, among others, that customers perceive that they are paying more to use United than using other domestic or international airlines. This perception of low costs with high service chases away many potential customers, thus reducing the value proposition of United to many people.
In conclusion, it is possible to note that, despite the progress United Airlines has made in the past few years after the video with passenger abuse incidents, it still ranks lower than the average for US and international airlines in many service and satisfaction scores. This has good route connections within its hubs and as a member of the Star Alliance. For comfort over long distances, United does a good job. However, the somewhat disjointed scope of this fleet, issues with the unionized workforce, and certain unpleasant experiences customers had with this company create negative impressions that United cannot fully shed off.
Cunning passengers would still be able to book a flight with United when the price or the number of transfers that are made is reasonable. However, expectations should be realistic. Overall, United is just average at best when considering the entire flyer experience of major global airlines. On the domestic front, for instance, Delta and JetBlue are more likely to be rated higher on the service, while even a poor airline like American has improved compared to how customers feel about United. When it comes to a few aspects, United’s product appears very shiny, but overall, across all classes of cabins, most feel that United still has more to do to become a truly great airline.
However, there are some positive examples, like United Airlines, which introduced the Polaris business-class service concept in 2016 to replace the old Global First service. However, it is important to remember that United overall is still a very operational airline, with work still being done to fully integrate prior mergers as opposed to an airline that prioritizes hospitality and a positive experience for the passenger. Therefore, travelers should manage their service quality expectations and take advantage of United’s well-established route network when it is convenient for the journey. But if a person wants to have a better or even great flying experience, many passengers will still opt to choose the other major US carriers until United Airlines has enough time to learn from their experiences.
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