UA - One of the Best
INTRODUCTION
United Airlines is one of the biggest airlines in the world. I had the privilege of flying united many times, being in US. All my experiences were excellent. Not once I felt uneasy, given that chances of getting frustrated due to air-travel is awfully large. What makes United so special?
HISTORY
Did you know that the first experimental air service was between Washington D.C & Philadelphia, run by the US Army?
The Kelly Act of 1925 authorized private operators to bid for mail contracts.
United Airlines history dates back to the early 20th century. United started its flying its own planes under the auspices of ''UAL'' tag in 1931.
Walter T.Varney started the first service in 1926 between Pasco, WA & Elko, NV marking the true birth of UAL.
NAT, PAT & BAT(Boeing Air Transport) started their sevices in 1926 & 1927. BATC acquired BAT & PAT finally changing the name to UATC. UATC then acquired NAT and Varney Airlines makin it the monopoly for its time. In 1931, UATC changed its name to UAL which is what we know as still. On the April Fool's day of 1931 the pilots started the ALPA(Air Line Pilots Association) which is one of the biggest unions still, given its stature and the number of white-collared professionals working. After this the famous airmail scandal of US happened and things took a turn.
OK, let me not delve into US commercial aviation history.
From its humble beginnings, UAL has grown leaps and bounds for now. Although it is going through a big patch and troubled times, it had its moments. Some of them are very big. United has a major fleet under its wings. It flies the latest and greatest planes (Boeing 777s & A-320s) for its premium destinations. I had a privilege of flying in a 777 when I traveled to San Francisco once, let me tell you it is so vast, as big as a shopping place!.
That’s enough for history, let us delve into what are the characteristics we look for in a major airliner. In my opinion, the following are the features I look for.
Ticketing, Pricing and Connectivity
Boarding
Inflight services
Flight experience
Post Travel services
TICKETING, PRICING & CONNECTIVITY
I have done this in two ways, for my own trips (travel and all), I have utilized United E-fare (Thrice), Priceline, Expedia &Orbitz (all once). I got exceptional deals except for one trip to Memphis which is a Northwest hub where the pricing was a highway robbery and It was the only option I had. All in all, you have many options and they match the best price for you.
The other one is for official trips which AMEX did it for me. No sweats. Wait for an email. Print the PDF. Go to the airport. Bingo!
It offers e-fares which is an excellent feature. I am subscribed to it and you get deadly deals via this. Only catch here is that you’ll have to travel during early Saturday morning, hence you lose almost 12-18 hours worth of early meeting your friends or go to your destination. (Friday evening& Sunday Evening are the most demanded timings). I once had a chance of buying tickets to Amsterdam and all for $199 (two-way fare). Can you believe it. The domestic e-fares are excellent.
Connectivity wise, I would say UNITED is the best due to its STAR alliance. They have a major code sharing system with Air Canada, Thai, ANA, Austrian, BMI, Auda, Lufthansa, Mexicana, SAS, Varig, Singapore Airlines, Span Air etc.
They also have a code share with US Airways for domestic airlines. For non-reachable places in US (Due to restrictions on United), they fly by the partner airways. (The pricing for my Memphis trip was due to the same as United was the only outgoing option for me at that point of time)
BOARDING
All the time I have flown United, I had an outstanding experience. As I am a mileage plus member too, I get somewhat of a preferential treatment too. Boarding is very smooth and easy except for the crowded holiday season, which is quite acceptable. After the wake of incidents and increased security measures, it has become a bit tougher for me but not frustrating and all. It is still a good experience for me.
After the latest security measure, every bag is being searched and scanned by the latest and greatest scanner machines. It may take 20-30 minutes extra. It is out of United’s hands right?
INFLIGHT
Due to the economics and other measures, I would say this has suffered quite a bit, at least in the food sense. We used to get free dinner/lunch and all, depending on the travel time, prior to 2001. As there is a drastic measure to cut cost due to its chapter-11 filing, we get a salted peanut packet(18 peanuts, I counted!) these days, apart from the courtesy soft drinks and all.
The stewards/stewardesses are well groomed and trained too. They are always courteous. Like always, you see some odd people behaving in a bit odd manner. Hey, they may be having a bad day, right?
The services and the movies are good (At least when they used to show it free). Now they charge 5 bucks per movie and headset. United always has an exceptional audio collection and all.
They show some great movies and have different sets of flavors for various regions that they travel to. They also have an air phone, if you dare to spend $15 a minute on phone calls.
FLIGHT EXPERIENCE
My life has been easy all the time as I have always flown in some advanced fleets except for once when they took us in a jet. The pilots are extremely skilled and there were no scary incidents so far except for the occasional bumps due to turbulence. The timing and the major maneuvers are always a pleasure to look forward to in United. I was never put on a wait-list or not given an earlier flight or not treated well, not even once. The timing for take off and landing is almost punctual except for couple of connecting flight delays. I would say they always make it on time.
POST TRAVEL SERVICES
This is very important, if you miss your baggage or something. I never had that luck (What??), even once. My friend had his rudimentary clothes in a bag and he was too lazy to carry it. He checked in and know what, he didn’t get it at his destination (Actually, he was returning home anyways, where he had tons of clothes). Anyways, he got a lot of apologies, a $500 coupon and the bag very next days. May be this was in the golden days (1998 it was). I don’t know if they have the same offer nowadays, given the economic scenarios.
Their Mileage Plus membership plan is also excellent. United follows up with some excellent deals, if you opt for the same. I got some excellent deals and my miles are growing. I am just waiting for my free trip to India.
PERSONAL MUSINGS
You may be wondering how come a bankrupt company provide excellent service given the fact that there is a drastic measure to cut costs. Well, friends the people who are retained are the best of the best and they understand both the customers and the company. They strive harder to make things better. The earlier, the better for them, company and the customers. Right? That’s what United Employees are striving to do for now. If you have any hesitation about the same, you can all shelve it. I have flown in NWA, Delta, ATA, American Airlines, Southwest, America West, US Airways and Reno Air. United just takes the cream of all these good airlines in US. I have flown few other airlines too. United is my all-time favorite for now. It will be unless something happens.
Your comments are most welcome
Kalil