Should Ual Think Over Ted?

Andre1980

Advanced
Sep 8, 2003
126
0
As we all know United wants to start their own low fare carrier but I have been watching what Delta was experiencing with its Song brand and their are fighting to make it sucessful according to many sources and what I have seen what Dal is planning to expand NY with their old Delta brand and not the song brand especially on routes where there is head to head competition with Jetblue. I know some may say that Delta's casm is higher than UAL's (due to pilot costs) but I don't know if that is the key problem for this case but I don't expect song to be around much longer. Ual should really think this over and scrap this plan and put the money they want to invest in UA in making it a better airline.

What do you think?
 
The real story of Ted is that there is no story. If you count the flights from Denver in the markets where Ted is there is no change before/after in total. All they have done is removed some of the perks (no first class upgrades, for example) and fooled the dim-witted into believing this is an improvement. As for fares, they matched Frontier before and they match Frontier now...big deal.

By the way, the costs are no lower and the utilization on Ted A320s is actually lower than United's average A320 utilization. The turns aren't short and they don't fly any later/earlier.

So, who cares. Let 'em roll out another brand, it will be gone soon enough not because it will "fail", but because it really doesn't mean anything and eventually a pencil pusher will say, "two sets of uniforms costs too much" and "our advertising would be more useful if we had one brand to sell".

The real issue is that they spent millions painting airplanes, ripping our first class, changing uniforms, putting up signs, and buying advertising while they plead poverty over their pensions...pensions they agreed to pay to employees that gave their lives to United.
 
I think TED is cheesy but it looks good on paper. With TED's expected CASM to be around 8.5 cents, it's well within range of Frontier's latest 8.3 cents and can compete with target number one (Frontier).

I guess we should take a step back though... TED is designed to be a means to enter into leisure markets and add feed to our worldwide network. Eveyone will agree that UA has a fantastic route map to all the worlds large business centers, but lacks service to the leisure markets. With a lower cost structure UA can effectively enter leisure markets that are dominated by LCC's. By having TED and it's all economy class seating the CASM is diluted with all those seats and it can effectively compete against Frontier and eventually JetBlue, Independance Air (if they make it), Alaska, and even Southwest along the West Coast.

Delta's Song doesn't provide feed-- it's mostly based on O & D traffic. TED feeds the hubs with more passengers so this might just work.

It's also important to realize that the fastest group of Aviation Consumers (is that a real phrase?) is the leisure traveller. United must react to this change in the marketplace and TED is the vehicle.

I just went through the Flight Attendant TED training and honestly it seems pretty cheesy. I know their not targetting the professional business traveller and while the Flight Attendants WON'T be doing hand-stands or balloon animals, it's gimmicky and cutsey... two words that often don't bode well for "Staying Power". Hopefully this relaxed style will appeal to the leisure traveller and be a good addition to the United Portfolio of Products! Here's hoping!

FA4UA
 
enilria: I'll agree that branding one company is easier then two operations at the same time... you do have your facts off a bit. TED's Airbus planes will have higher utilization and turns will be done in less then 30 minutes. Also there is only one uniform for Mainline and TED so no added costs. Also by adding "Buy on Board" it will save millions a year just on the 10-15% of flights ran by TED.

FA4UA
 
FA4UA

You said:

"and while the Flight Attendants WON'T be doing hand-stands or balloon animals, it's gimmicky and cutsey..."

My question is, how so? Please tell me they're trying to emulate the antics of WN's FA's.
 
I believe Ted will be an asset to UAL. One thing that had been missing from UAL's route structure was leisure destinations at reasonable prices. Ted will fill this void and also allow the vacation traveler access to UAL's global network, something traditional LCO's don't have.

I'm hoping for the best, and as someone who will soon get to pilot Ted, I'll be doing everything I can to make it a success.

Dave
 
I think that UAL will start to cater to leisure travelers. In the long run it will not be as TED. They should have started catering to the leisure traveler years ago, but instead they said they ONLY wanted the business traveler not the "Backpacker crowd or "garbage"" that the other airlines were carrying(LCC'S). United gets everything they deserve. I have always been treated like a second class citizen when non-reving on United. You can have the lowest costs in the industry, but you still need a good product. Your gate agents are rude and so are your flight attendants. United is a good ride with nice airplanes, but the employees really do suck. They make you feel as if they are doing you a favor by letting you ride on their airline. Good luck!! Joe
 
I am confused by Ted. As far as I can tell, Ted isn't starting any new routes. It is only replacing UA mainline routes. By adding more coach seats, eliminating FC seats, adding a Flight Attend, carrying more bags(due to more pax), paying more in landing fees(due to increased pax, seats, bags, fuel, Flt attend), painting planes, more advertising, and by having fleet constraints with aircraft on mechanical or ATC delays(can't swap a mainline A320 for a TedA320) isn't TED actually going to be a little more expensive to operate? Just wondering.......
 
TJOE: sorry you had such a bad experience on United! You obviously weren't being cared for by me or one of my crews! I hope your future flights with us improve! Obviously with an average load factor of well over 150,000 people a day, we're doing something right though!

Kev3188: it's not like WN exactly. They want us to personify TED. All the announcements are in first person: TED thanks you for flying today, can TED offer you a beverage today? TED this, TED that. We also have to wear a bright orange pin on our aprons which looks like something from TGIFridays. No thanks! No overt encouragement from management to make jokes, however throughout the tutorial and a discussion with my supervisor, they keep insisting that TED is supposed to be more relaxed, yet retain some class and dignity that UA is known for.

It's going to be ackward... for so long the Flight Attendants are used to being formal (especially if you work international flights) and classy, and now they want us to make up an imaginary character named TED and offer his drinks and sell his food. Or we could see the other extreme where smart-arses out there take the "relaxed attitude" too far and start offending people (especially customers who are used to United's professional experience). Kinda weird and difficult to digest if you ask me! Only time will tell! Again, it looks good on paper, but reality is a different ball game!

FA4UA
 
FA4UA said:
TJOE:

Kev3188: it's not like WN exactly. They want us to personify TED. All the announcements are in first person: TED thanks you for flying today, can TED offer you a beverage today? TED this, TED that. We also have to wear a bright orange pin on our aprons which looks like something from TGIFridays. No thanks! No overt encouragement from management to make jokes, however throughout the tutorial and a discussion with my supervisor, they keep insisting that TED is supposed to be more relaxed, yet retain some class and dignity that UA is known for.

It's going to be ackward... for so long the Flight Attendants are used to being formal (especially if you work international flights) and classy, and now they want us to make up an imaginary character named TED and offer his drinks and sell his food. Or we could see the other extreme where smart-arses out there take the "relaxed attitude" too far and start offending people (especially customers who are used to United's professional experience). Kinda weird and difficult to digest if you ask me! Only time will tell! Again, it looks good on paper, but reality is a different ball game!

FA4UA
Very disturbing news from the front lines. Why confuse the customer?

And if UA is now going after the leisure/backpack crowd then why don't they just do it with the mainline product? TED is just going to add costs/confusion.

Meanwhile, the ATSB sits and watches.

When is TED supposed to take flight anyway? Why did UA spend all those advertising dollars months ago when you couldn't buy a TED ticket anyway?

The only people who are going to make money from TED are the consultants and advertising agencies.

(the fat lady?? she's a 'hummin....)
 
Coolflyingfool, actually Landing fees WILL NOT increase. The landing fees are based on the MAXIMUN landing weight of the aircraft, so carrying 1 or 150 passengers does not change the fees charged to the airline.
 
One day I'd like to see one positive post that wasn't written by a non United employee. You can all keep hoping and praying for our demise but, as we keep showing you and the world, United doesn't quit so easily. We'll still be around when many of you are loooooong gone. Thanks for the support guys! geez


Oh yes,....and how many flight attendants does United still have on involuntary furlough??? Oh, that's right NONE! <_<
 
TJoe said:
United is a good ride with nice airplanes, but the employees really do suck. They make you feel as if they are doing you a favor by letting you ride on their airline. Good luck!! Joe
TJOE:

I disagree. I'm sure we have our share of unhappy employees, not unlike any other company, but the majority are hard working, dedicated professionals. Seeing how badly our F/A's and CSR's are sometimes treated, I really take my hat off to them. I don't know if I could do their job.

As someone who commutes to work on other airlines, I understand what it's like to be treated poorly. I'm sorry this happened to you on our airline. I hope this won't happen again. BTW, who do you work for?

Dave