United's Quest To Be Less Awful.

Not "better", but "less awful." Boy, doesn't that say a lot about how good they are now.

Mission Statement = "Suck Less" Excellent work!

back when they had boeing 720's and 727's, and red and blue stripes and blue stars, that was an airline. No longer, and I have flown them over the years enough to have a fair vantage point on their decline. The supposed advantages of merging are elusive, and on the consumer side, nearly invisible. The corporate ethic covering how to treat passengers as real fellow humans is missing. They have a hostile work force, who feel entitled and regal, and hardly hesitate to show it. to heck with them....We have said the same about American Airlines, and now look how wonderful they have become. really......

On a different note, since United helped to significantly destroy my retirement package
when they invalidated their common stock during bankruptcy I've felt that no one deserved their troubles more than United. Maybe there is Karma!

"Primed for improvement?"
As in "the only way to go is up????"

In MY opinion, the merger settled on the median in customer satisfaction; Continental's was #1 for years, while UAL's was a the bottom and going no where. The result has been a major improvement from the legacy of UAL and a major set-back for historic CAL performance. However, it has definitely improved from it's nadir a year ago, on a positive trend, and looking up every day because of the attention it's getting at all levels of the company. I think the article's use of a few anecdotes and more than one unsubstantiated stories to make a point is a bit disingenuous, simply a tool to excite readers into thinking there's more substance to their article beyond the author's own opinions. I see the intense competition among the three major legacy carriers as driving customer service to new heights of satisfaction. In reality, if one compares flying today with what it was like historically, it's really a pretty good value and good experience. Of course, with (literally) millions of people flying every dang day, safely, relatively comfortably, and extremely economically compared to historical fares, you will have flights that have problems. It's just the nature of it. But, today, every flight is under extreme scrutiny to try to eliminate baggage mishandles and causes for customer complaints. Frankly, I'd like to see ANYONE put 10 strangers in their family wagon, drive 2 hrs, and NOT have 2 or 3 of them be upset over something..
Anyway, just my opinion..

United were amongst the best longest lasting innovative Airlines during the period working with Boeing on the 777 Project. As soon as the economy wen pear shaped along with chapter 11 bankruptcy they seem to never have climbed out of the hole trying to innovate too much instead of basic customer service.