united

United CEO Weighs Fees For Speedy Luggage Delivery

United CEO Weighs Fees For Speedy Luggage Delivery

United Airlines CEO Glenn Tilton is determined to wring added lucre from his now-profitable airline. Tilton is considering 250 unpopular ideas, such as charging economy-class passengers a fee to avoid receiving their luggage last, and spinning off United’s already wounded frequent flier program, Mileage Plus.

United appears to be following a strategy set by Air Canada, which gained billions of dollars after it emerged from bankruptcy in 2004 by spinning off its maintenance division and frequent-flier program into separate businesses, analysts say.

America's 10 Worst Airlines

America's 10 Worst Airlines

We don’t mean to spoil the suspense, but Forbes agrees with us that Atlantic Southeast Airlines (Delta) is the worst airline. They’ve compiled a list of the 10 worst airlines along with information about on-time percentages and baggage handling miscues. We like it.

A Big List Of Airline and Airport "Tarmac Stranding" Policies

A Big List Of Airline and Airport "Tarmac Stranding" Policies

We’ve been looking over the Department of Transportation’s spiffy new report about “tarmac strandings” (or “long on-board delays” as their now being called,) and have located some pretty interesting stuff.

United Airlines Says It Will Deliver Your Luggage Within 25 Minutes

United Airlines Says It Will Deliver Your Luggage Within 25 Minutes

United is already one of our more entertaining airlines when it comes to stories—they’ve rerouted direct flights without telling ticket holders, given us duct tape heroics, and hire Disney executives to improve customer service (we hope that means pilots dressed up as giant huggable pilots). Now comes news that they’re pledging to reduce waiting times for baggage from nigh-infinity to 25 minutes, as part of a comprehensive new “Customer Commitment” pledge to improve customer service and avoid Federal intervention.

8 Airlines Raise Fares

8 Airlines Raise Fares

Despite what may be the most frustrating summer ever for airline travelers, 8 airlines have decided to raise their fares. Why? Jet fuel prices are up 24% this year.

United Airlines Hires Customer Service Specialist From Disney

United Airlines Hires Customer Service Specialist From Disney

The San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting article about the strategies that the big US carriers are taking to restore their tarnished (or completely obliterated, depending on how recently you’ve had to fly somewhere) reputation for customer service.

Are Airline Lounge Day Passes Worth It?

Are Airline Lounge Day Passes Worth It?

The Wall Street Journal bought day passes for several US airline lounges and reviewed each one to see if the lounges were really worth the hefty price of admission. Here is a summary of the results:

United Changes Direct Flight To One With Stopovers, Doesn't Tell Customers, Customer Service Reps Cheer And Clap In Background

United Changes Direct Flight To One With Stopovers, Doesn't Tell Customers, Customer Service Reps Cheer And Clap In Background

UPDATE: Executive Email Carpet Bomb, Consumerist Post, Prompt United To Solve Reader’s Complaint

Airline Complaints Up 47.2% In First Half

Airline Complaints Up 47.2% In First Half

According to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics complaints about airlines were up 47.2% in the first six months of 2007.

9 Airline's CEO Email Addresses, And Other Useful Complaint Resolution Contact Info

9 Airline's CEO Email Addresses, And Other Useful Complaint Resolution Contact Info

Travler’s friend site Elliot.org has these great customer service “cheat sheets” to help you if you have a dispute with your airline. CEO contact info, how to hack their phone trees, email addresses, phone numbers, mailing addresses, it’s all there.

How To Get Bumped By An Airline For Fun And Profit

How To Get Bumped By An Airline For Fun And Profit

An editor over at Jaunted has perfected a strategy for hassel-free airline bumping. We all know that we can grab some pretty nice rewards if we give up our seat on an overbooked airplane, but we’re never in a position to do so.

United Blames Human Error For Computer Failure

United Blames Human Error For Computer Failure

“It was human error during routine testing,” United Chief Operating Officer Pete McDonald told airline employees on a recorded call. “An employee made a mistake and caused the failure of both Unimatic and our backup system.”

News Footage Of The United Airlines O'Hare Traffic Jam

Airplanes were still allowed to land at O’Hare even though there were no available jetways at the United terminal. Wow, this looks like fun! —MEGHANN MARCO

United Airlines Computers Fail, All Flights Grounded

United Airlines Computers Fail, All Flights Grounded

United Airlines experienced a computer glitch that grounded all of their flights today, according to the AP.

United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said the airline did not yet know what caused the outage between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. CDT, when departures were able to resume.

Passenger's Rights Group Issues "Report Card" To Airlines

Passenger's Rights Group Issues "Report Card" To Airlines

American Airlines pissed off the wrong people when they stranded several flights at Austin International Airport in December. Now the Coalition for Airline Passengers Bill of Rights, which started as a blog full of irritated consumers from those flights, has grown to 15,000 members and is holding press conferences. Today they’ve issued the first “Airline Strandings Report Card,” in which they detail not only the failures and successes of various airlines, but also highlight the inaccuracies of the Department of Transportation’s statistics.

United Flight Attendants Scoff At Grounded Flier Compensation Plan, Lobby For Passengers Bill of Rights

United Flight Attendants Scoff At Grounded Flier Compensation Plan, Lobby For Passengers Bill of Rights

You know who has to deal with a planeload full of sweaty, angry grounded passengers? Flight attendants. Know who wants a passengers bill of rights? Flight attendants. Specifically, United Airlines flight attendants. They’ve issued a press release through their union criticizing United’s “Flights of Note” compensation plan for grounded fliers.

United's Executive Customer Service Saves Your Honeymoon

United's Executive Customer Service Saves Your Honeymoon

Nathaniel is a Milage Plus member with United who has been saving his miles in the hopes of cashing them in for two tickets to Ireland for his honeymoon. When he finally got enough miles, he called United to book his reward seats and got a nice “talking to” by their customer service rep for not booking far enough in advance.

United Airlines Solves Stranded Passenger Problem With 20% Off Coupons

United Airlines Solves Stranded Passenger Problem With 20% Off Coupons

Thank goodness for United Airlines, they’ve solved the problem of what to do with grounded, stranded passengers. You know, the problem that Congress has been having hearings about? The solution: a 20% off coupon, a $10 airport meal voucher and a note of apology! The Denver Post says that United will consider anyone with a taxi-out delay of more than 3 hours or a taxi-in delay of more than 90 minutes eligible for the goodies.