North by Northwest
Veteran
Well... apparently a few of your Loyal United pax feel even less thrilled with your service AND product. Thanks for searching for the few negative reviews of our AMAZING WBC. A quote from a few of your beloved X customers:United Airlines. I don't like to kick an airline when it's down, but readers didn't seem to have a problem pummeling this ailing carrier. "After United reconfigured its cabins to accommodate the 'Economy Plus,' those of us who generally fly in the economy section started suffering from leg cramps, numbness from having the circulation in our legs cut off, extreme heat, and lack of oxygen," says Sharon Miller, a traveler from Gardner, Mass. Among her gripes: hostile employees, lack of service and inadequate space. "If animals were treated the way human beings are on United Airlines flights, every animal rights organization in the world would be initiating court actions against it," she adds. The numbers don't lie: United's space between seats is about one inch less than the standard, so it's a real squeeze.
United Airlines - by Michael Penner
9 January 2004
UA First Class is to first class what Southwest is to air travel-a good deal but nothing special. The seat is flat and long but very narrow- needs to be upgraded to compete. Entertainment is OK but IFE screen is small. The duck entree was quite nice but the overall dining experience was unspectacular. The sundae had no nuts, fruits and the ice cream had freezer burn. The snacks consisted of potato chips and noodles. Once again, biz class on BA, CX, NW, SIA is still better. Overall, United is okay for an upgrade from business - but not worth the full fare at any price.
UA Won't Change Until Planes Fly Empty
from: Tom Farmer, Seattle
For some years I have been telling colleagues there IS a marked difference in service and attitude between UA and the other majors in the USA. (The difference compared to European or Asian carriers is immeasurable.)
I see some UA employees on this site blame new hires for the horrific customer-service incidents. But in my experience the worst, cruelest, angriest UA employees are senior flight attendants.
I have seen them ignore repeated simple requests for water; berate a disabled passenger for sitting in exit-row seats assigned to them at the gate; turn and walk away in silence rather than respond to polite, direct questions; stand and glare while parents struggle alone to stow toddlers' seats, paraphernalia, etc.; shout at passengers across the cabin; stolidly refuse to make eye contact, but stare off into space as you address them; and so on. Business travelers can certainly behave like jerks but the incidents I'm recalling mostly involved polite, well-behaved innocents.
Stepping onto a UA plane is like showing up for a dinner party at a home where your host and hostess have just had a terrific fight. They wish they didn't have to invite you in, and you wish you didn't have to stay, but you're both stuck. I don't think age and seniority alone create this behavior; you meet senior FAs on DL, for example, who are hard-working and friendly.
There is an embedded "UA mindset" which equates passengers with enemies, buffoons or hostages. The FAs' goal seems to be to get the planes completely empty so nobody can divert them from their main jobs: reading paperbacks, complaining about trip hours and bitching about Greenwald. (If these people hate their jobs so much, I don't detect any guns being held to their heads.) They don't seem to have deduced that no passengers mean no revenue and eventually no jobs.
I fly NW now and enjoy Preferred status. UA loyalists should know that numerous minor courtesies forgotten or forbidden on UA are standard practice elsewhere. Stuck at the gate on a weather delay? Want to get off and phone your wife? On UA: "No, SIR" (with that distant sneer which makes it plain that "sir" is UA-speak for "you pig"). On NW: Sure, we'll get a ramp guy to walk you back to the gate.
A few weeks ago a colleague and I arrived at LGA to fly back west, him to PHX, me to SEA; him on UA, me on NW. Numerous incoming flights were delayed by typical late-afternoon NY-area weather, among them the aircraft intended to serve as our outbound flights. My NW agent saw immediately that the late turnaround would make me miss my connection in DTW and, without being asked, rebooked me through MSP. My colleague's UA agent refused to rebook him or help in any way. He got stuck at ORD overnight. Typical.
United Airlines - by Steven Edwards
8 February 2004
United's lounge at Seattle was absolutely atrocious. From the filthy bathrooms to the stained furniture and carpets, I was embarrassed and bewildered. The receptionist initially refused entry despite my first class ticket, saying they wouldn't take a domestic traveler. When I told her I was on a layover to LAX from Seoul via Asiana, she changed her mind. "Go ahead," she said, "We'll just charge it to Asiana." United should refund their money as I quickly departed the lounge for the terminal because of the filthy conditions.
United Airlines - by Doan Nguyen
7 January 2004
In the past 2 years quality of their business class offerings have declined to where I would rate their business route food and service from SFO-Hawaii destinations a one star and on the stated international routes a 2 stars at best. The planes are downright dirty. I don't dare to look on the sides of my seat or in the divider sections, anything from hair to crumbs and droppings of mashed potatoes from the previous nth number of flights are still dwelling residents. The headsets most of the time are broken. I bring my own but imagine someone shelling out $5000 to take their new bride for a honeymoon. The flight attendants nowadays try their best to not make eye contact for fear that you may ask them for something they have to do. Food is most of the time overly salted even if it's so-called Sam Choy signature dishes. The worst food is usually on the outbound from SFO. From the islands, it's tolerable. Same goes for food on the outbound to Asia. Bottom line compared to the old friendly skies, United really needs to pay attention to their inflight staff service and attitude and food. I have stopped spending the money on "first class" cabin to the islands. It's just not worth the money or the 30,000 points upgrade. As for the international product. Service: United just needs rotate those old--tired-flight attendants to other duties and bring in new blood that really wants to do the job because they want to not because they have to stick in there to collect a pension. Service from NRT-SIN changes significantly. Food and service are much better. Bento box and filet mignon options are actually worth trying. SFO-HKG is abhorant and gets worse over the years. Toilets are smelly, sometimes clogged and always water everywhere, no cups to rinse four hours into a 14 hour flight and goes downhill from there.
On another note: This rating is conducted annually by the UNO Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at WSU. The AQR, as an industry standard, provides consumers and industry watchers a means to compare quality among airlines using objective performance-based data. It is a cooperative research project funded as part of faculty research activities at UNO and WSU.
The AQR ranked the 14 largest airlines for 2003 as follows: 1) Jet Blue, 2) Alaska,
3) Southwest, 4) America West, 5) US Airways, 6) Northwest, 7) Continental, 8) AirTran,
9) United, 10) ATA, 11) American, 12) Delta, 13) American Eagle, and 14) Atlantic Southeast.
Fly NORTHWEST....."Now you're flying Smart"
United Airlines - by Michael Penner
9 January 2004
UA First Class is to first class what Southwest is to air travel-a good deal but nothing special. The seat is flat and long but very narrow- needs to be upgraded to compete. Entertainment is OK but IFE screen is small. The duck entree was quite nice but the overall dining experience was unspectacular. The sundae had no nuts, fruits and the ice cream had freezer burn. The snacks consisted of potato chips and noodles. Once again, biz class on BA, CX, NW, SIA is still better. Overall, United is okay for an upgrade from business - but not worth the full fare at any price.
UA Won't Change Until Planes Fly Empty
from: Tom Farmer, Seattle
For some years I have been telling colleagues there IS a marked difference in service and attitude between UA and the other majors in the USA. (The difference compared to European or Asian carriers is immeasurable.)
I see some UA employees on this site blame new hires for the horrific customer-service incidents. But in my experience the worst, cruelest, angriest UA employees are senior flight attendants.
I have seen them ignore repeated simple requests for water; berate a disabled passenger for sitting in exit-row seats assigned to them at the gate; turn and walk away in silence rather than respond to polite, direct questions; stand and glare while parents struggle alone to stow toddlers' seats, paraphernalia, etc.; shout at passengers across the cabin; stolidly refuse to make eye contact, but stare off into space as you address them; and so on. Business travelers can certainly behave like jerks but the incidents I'm recalling mostly involved polite, well-behaved innocents.
Stepping onto a UA plane is like showing up for a dinner party at a home where your host and hostess have just had a terrific fight. They wish they didn't have to invite you in, and you wish you didn't have to stay, but you're both stuck. I don't think age and seniority alone create this behavior; you meet senior FAs on DL, for example, who are hard-working and friendly.
There is an embedded "UA mindset" which equates passengers with enemies, buffoons or hostages. The FAs' goal seems to be to get the planes completely empty so nobody can divert them from their main jobs: reading paperbacks, complaining about trip hours and bitching about Greenwald. (If these people hate their jobs so much, I don't detect any guns being held to their heads.) They don't seem to have deduced that no passengers mean no revenue and eventually no jobs.
I fly NW now and enjoy Preferred status. UA loyalists should know that numerous minor courtesies forgotten or forbidden on UA are standard practice elsewhere. Stuck at the gate on a weather delay? Want to get off and phone your wife? On UA: "No, SIR" (with that distant sneer which makes it plain that "sir" is UA-speak for "you pig"). On NW: Sure, we'll get a ramp guy to walk you back to the gate.
A few weeks ago a colleague and I arrived at LGA to fly back west, him to PHX, me to SEA; him on UA, me on NW. Numerous incoming flights were delayed by typical late-afternoon NY-area weather, among them the aircraft intended to serve as our outbound flights. My NW agent saw immediately that the late turnaround would make me miss my connection in DTW and, without being asked, rebooked me through MSP. My colleague's UA agent refused to rebook him or help in any way. He got stuck at ORD overnight. Typical.
United Airlines - by Steven Edwards
8 February 2004
United's lounge at Seattle was absolutely atrocious. From the filthy bathrooms to the stained furniture and carpets, I was embarrassed and bewildered. The receptionist initially refused entry despite my first class ticket, saying they wouldn't take a domestic traveler. When I told her I was on a layover to LAX from Seoul via Asiana, she changed her mind. "Go ahead," she said, "We'll just charge it to Asiana." United should refund their money as I quickly departed the lounge for the terminal because of the filthy conditions.
United Airlines - by Doan Nguyen
7 January 2004
In the past 2 years quality of their business class offerings have declined to where I would rate their business route food and service from SFO-Hawaii destinations a one star and on the stated international routes a 2 stars at best. The planes are downright dirty. I don't dare to look on the sides of my seat or in the divider sections, anything from hair to crumbs and droppings of mashed potatoes from the previous nth number of flights are still dwelling residents. The headsets most of the time are broken. I bring my own but imagine someone shelling out $5000 to take their new bride for a honeymoon. The flight attendants nowadays try their best to not make eye contact for fear that you may ask them for something they have to do. Food is most of the time overly salted even if it's so-called Sam Choy signature dishes. The worst food is usually on the outbound from SFO. From the islands, it's tolerable. Same goes for food on the outbound to Asia. Bottom line compared to the old friendly skies, United really needs to pay attention to their inflight staff service and attitude and food. I have stopped spending the money on "first class" cabin to the islands. It's just not worth the money or the 30,000 points upgrade. As for the international product. Service: United just needs rotate those old--tired-flight attendants to other duties and bring in new blood that really wants to do the job because they want to not because they have to stick in there to collect a pension. Service from NRT-SIN changes significantly. Food and service are much better. Bento box and filet mignon options are actually worth trying. SFO-HKG is abhorant and gets worse over the years. Toilets are smelly, sometimes clogged and always water everywhere, no cups to rinse four hours into a 14 hour flight and goes downhill from there.
On another note: This rating is conducted annually by the UNO Aviation Institute and W. Frank Barton School of Business at WSU. The AQR, as an industry standard, provides consumers and industry watchers a means to compare quality among airlines using objective performance-based data. It is a cooperative research project funded as part of faculty research activities at UNO and WSU.
The AQR ranked the 14 largest airlines for 2003 as follows: 1) Jet Blue, 2) Alaska,
3) Southwest, 4) America West, 5) US Airways, 6) Northwest, 7) Continental, 8) AirTran,
9) United, 10) ATA, 11) American, 12) Delta, 13) American Eagle, and 14) Atlantic Southeast.
Fly NORTHWEST....."Now you're flying Smart"
