Take Em

Do any of us really think the US gubernet has it in them to actually challenge the shieks and ME3 carriers? Are they really going to go crying to them and say..."you need to hire more moody flight attendants, you need to start serving crappier food, quit buying new Boeings, quit offering cheaper tickets to our county, you're airports are too nice...waaaaa". The US airlines are not going to win in the court of public opinion unless they can explain to the average (I use the term lightly) consumer that the ME3 worldwide take over will hurt the consumer in the American economy to the point of no return. The unfortunate truth is that providing a travel experience similar to that on the ME3 airlines is unattainable due to the highly protected American worker. Our labor rules that we speak so highly of have become our own worst enemy. The avg joe traveler does not care $.01 about the plight of the US Airlines vs ME3 as long as they can get from Seattle to London for 1/3 of the price and have a pleasant experience. I pray for my family and friends sake that the ME3 don't take over, but expecting the gov't here to fix it, ya when hell freezes over....

globalexpress

It's more than that. Apparently they're arresting journalists, too (foreign journalists I mean, obviously there's no free press in Qatar), and taking away their photos/video after throwing them in the clink. I think a BBC crew was just arrested a few days ago and got to spend a few days in jail for trying to report on the plight of the immigrant workers when they ventured outside whatever their "government approved" reporting areas were. Apparently the BBC crew was being tailed by security forces the whole time they were there, even when the journalists were "behaving." Big Emir is watching you in Qatar. These emirs and sheikhs are bad dudes.

But hey, these sheikhs and emirs own airlines that "provide good service," and that's what's most important. As western pilots and consumers of air travel, we should all do our best to make sure that these nice guys are treated "fairly" in the marketplace.

742Dash

How do you explain Lufthansa, KLM, BA and Virgin? All of which offer a higher levels of service than the American airlines. And the EU has labor laws that make California look like a Right to Work state.

This is not about FAs, it is about choices that have been made by American managements.

I believe that there are major issues with the ME3, but the CEOs in the United States are not going to be listened too while their service level is on par with an animal charter.

742Dash

United, ORD. Admittedly only once, so hopefully that was a short lived experiment.

Raptor

I've seen the tip jar at United's ORD Lounge for years.

Curiously, they will only give you a soft drink in a mixed drink glass as they don't have any soft drink/larger glasses and they save their beer glasses only for beer as they are short on them.

Just put some cans in a cooler and save us some time standing in a 15 minute line.

I know this is a whine, but there are a lot of other things that are substandard there too. I can't believe that place is so poorly run.

CousinEddie

Cheerio!

Check Out A 'Filthy' And 'Disgusting' British Airways First-Class Seat - Business Insider

gloopy

Look I'm a major advocate for (constantly) improving our product at all levels. We've collectively spend many billions, recently, on major improvements with more on the way. More work still needs to be done, and not because of ME3 but because you always have to improve in the market. Sometimes that "improvement" is A to B as cheap as possible because that's what the market wants, and sometimes its balling 70's style. I get that.

But what ME3 are doing is illegal according to our agreements with them. The Bank of Boeing has never had less support in general, and with wide bodys for flush filthy rich state owned megalomaniacs in particular. Time to pull the plug.

intrepidcv11

Are you referring to the tip jar at the bar? Only place I've ever seen one. Ah sorry dude but that's not outrageous here in good old America. No tip jar in the United Club in HKG btw.

iceman49

Dutch gov't blocks Gulf carriers' expansion at Amsterdam?s Schiphol airport - ArabianBusiness.com

gloopy

YES! Keep em coming!

Oh but now they might retaliate by returning all their Airbus planes and not allowing the Dutch to keep their troops there to defend them for free. Waaaaaaaa!