Sure, when you consider the customer complaint levels, on time rates and the route networks, UAL wins hands down. But lets clarify things a bit. Most people have a loyalty level of around .5% when it comes to airlines. they go to Travelocity.com to buy the CHEAPEST ticket. If it pops up TED, they buy TED. Are they expecting warm towels and a backrub? NO, they are expecting a CHEAP TICKET!! now lets consider Bob the businessman. He likes FC when he goes to HKG, but when he is taking the kids to Disney, he wants a SEAT. When he takes his wife on the short flight to Vegas, he wants a SEAT. dispute that all you'd like, but Bob's habits are CLOSELY tracted, and his preferences are PRECISELY the reason certain cities were chosen. Now, you add the additional bonus of rewarding his loyalty with econ + at NO additional charge on EVERY TED flight, and you are in fact giving him BETTER service than previous LCC attempts. Shuttle had no Econ +. Mainline 737's only have 8 FC seats, narrower Y seats and NO video. The 32S's are an IMPROVEMENT in quality on the routes they serve, and with the bonus of reducing CASM by AT LEAST 12%.mweiss said:I'm not talking about the level of difference between the ES300 and the Avalon. I'm talking about the difference between the LS400 and the Tercel. Nobody's going to confuse those two manufacturers.
To draw a comparison between the ES300 and the Avalon, the analogy would be between UA's coach (their bottom of the line) and, say, FL's business class (their top of the line). After all, the ES300 is Lexus's bottom of the line, and the Avalon is Toyota's top of the line.
So, based on that comparison, UA comes out even worse. Still want to stick with that?