This poll appears to be more of a reflection of each company's financial performance rather than the performance of the CEO. On the bright side, he's nearly doubled his approval ratings since March 2003.
Let's step back for a moment and consider the demographics of those who responded to this poll. Many Forbes readers are investors. How many investors have an axe to grind after losing a decent chunk of money in UAL stock?
Also, it seemed to me that when UAL was the largest airline (prior to AMR's acquisition of TWA), UAL was constantly a target of negative comments. That is the price that you pay in the US for being successful. Compare public attitudes of United with Microsoft or the Dallas Cowboys (during their glory years with Roger Staubach). Americans tend to root for the underdog and dislike Goliaths.
RowUnderDCA, as for Tilton not having a reorg plan, where did you get that information? I would bet my house (disclaimer: I'm a furloughee, so it's currently a cardboard box) against the change in your pocket (including the lint) that UAL has not one, but several plans in the works. And I'd bet my dinners for the next week (fresh from the dumpster out back of Denny's) against a can of spam that UAL management can deftly switch plans on a dime. Current UAL management may be a lot of things :censored: , but incompetent is not one of their traits.
Just as President Bush didn't publically release the military's plans for Iraq, Tilton is keeping UAL's reorg plan close to the vest.
To all of the UAL employees still on property, I'd like to comment on the job that you're doing. Specifically the CSRs and Flight Attendants out there. I've been nonreving quite a bit lately, and I don't recall ever getting treated so well so often by any airline. And it's not just me; it's all of the passengers.
The place where I've noticed the biggest difference is with ORD CSRs I've passed through ORD ~5 times in the last month. I was only treated with less than red carpet service once, and that was after the CSR found out that I was a nonrev. The CSRs and Flight Attendants, IMHO, have the toughest jobs at UAL. They are the face of UAL, and have the greatest influence on our customers. Keep up the great work.
How full are UAL's planes? I have spent a lot of time sitting in airports waiting for flights, only to have them fly away full of revenue passengers while I shuffled down the concourse hoping to get on the next flight. This week was the first time I got a seat in F in a LONG time.
As for UAL's RPMs, it looks like UAL is dumping less and less tickets on hotwire.com and priceline.com, increasing our yields. As the economy continues to recover, so will United and the entire airline industry.
