United, possibly no more free meals for International flights.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Yep, lots of complaints on our flight to DFW from Maui from the people in coach that had to bring their own or fly. Personally I think it's wrong for them to charge for food on any long flight, a couple of hours certainly but once you start getting at 6+ hours or longer you could at least provide a snack.

 

and Maui's airport is HORRIBLE for getting a snack before the flight. I have flown to Honolulu from Maui before my flight to Miami just for this reason! I really hate Maui's airport but I like American Airlines big cookies.

[Globaliser]

Oh My, 8 or 9 hours on a United flight but no meal service in COACH whatsoever, unless you are willing to purchase it.

Another horrible cut back is in the works. Those booking cruise air could be assigned to a United International flight, and a big bad surprise soon.

There are now reports that United has decided not to do this on international flights.

 

A (small) measure of sanity returns to the airline.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

first smart call in a long time for them.

[6rugrats]

There are now reports that United has decided not to do this on international flights.

 

A (small) measure of sanity returns to the airline.

 

True, part of the email I received from them yesterday:

 

 

Thank you for your direct, candid feedback on the test we had planned to launch in the fourth quarter for food choices on some of our flights. We heard you and have decided not to move forward with the test of offering customers buy-on-board options in United Economy on certain trans-Atlantic flights. We will continue to offer complimentary hot meals on those flights.

However, they are continuing with their "experiment" for those flying in C class:

 

On October 1, we will proceed with the test of new, complimentary options for United Business customers on three-cabin aircraft used for domestic routes, which represents 16 daily flights. Customers on these flights will receive complimentary fresh sandwiches, salads, breakfast, snack boxes or snacks, depending on the length of flight and time of departure. They will also continue to enjoy complimentary beverages, including beer, wine and cocktails. We will evaluate the results and determine next steps by the end of the year.

[Globaliser]

At least there will still be some food in domestic business class, even if it's not hot food.

[SelectSys]

first smart call in a long time for them.

 

I wouldn't exactly call this retreat from lunacy "smart". The only reason they backed off was that the UA's management was smacked into submission by all the uproar they caused in their frequent flyer base and all the bad press. I can also see LH giving them grief over this as well.

 

Smart would have been to ignore the foolish product manager, consultant, or financial analyst that cooked this scheme up in the first place.

 

I can't imagine what it must be like to be an employee at UA with current "leadership" and "management" in place. Why aren't the major shareholders / institutions trying to oust the current leadership?

[FlyerTalker]

I can't imagine what it must be like to be an employee at UA with current "leadership" and "management" in place. Why aren't the major shareholders / institutions trying to oust the current leadership?

 

Because they went with an outsider (Tilton) with finance experience (at Texaco), rather than someone who actually knows how to handle the operational side of an airline. DL did the same with Leo Mullin (ex-banker at First Chicago, and then worked for Commonwealth Edison, or whatever they became known as) rather than an ops guy. To admit that they were wrong....well, what corporate board will ever concede that.