Shrinkage?
 

From today's ALPA blast:

Would United be Stronger if Divided? - TheStreet

So, along with the ME3, NAI, low paying ULCCs, and activist hedge fund managers we have to put up with carping money managers who can't think beyond the next investor call. Guess our improved operational performance in recent months counts for nothing on the Street.

Beyond handing out more wings to kids or replacing everyone at Willis, any realistic suggestions on what we minions can do out on the line to improve our performance further? If growth/hiring slows so be it, but don't think we should be shrinking traffic at any of our hubs. IAD may be a bit of a laggard, but I've said elsewhere at least there is room for growth there compared to EWR.

UAL's problem is a revenue problem.

We have the routes, the aircraft, and the employees but we are currently unable to earn the same $$$ per seat as DAL (for example). Both LUAL and LCAL were in the top RASM tier of the industry prior to the merger so this is JS's legacy, IMHO.

Many high value passengers defected to competing airlines after the merger and if previous cycles repeat we will see customers return as our service levels, operating performance, and employee moral improve.

But it will take time.....

I was in the pool!!

The first half of that article is Doom and Gloom speculation (by the writer) that UA would be better by shrinking Dulles, and pooling IAD's traffic into EWR.

OK, EWR is jam-packed now. So I thought was a bit myopic.

The second half of the article includes input from United, who said shrinkage would be short-term gain; long-term loss.

They cited that if we pulled back, some unbridled newcomer would try to fill the gap, fizzle, and wither.

So I thoughts that was a rare moment of clarity, and made me a little more optimistic than the title implied.

"If TheStreet Lets Anyone Publish Can I Try?" An article by ReadyRSV @ TheStreet.com

I'm an architect.

All you have to do is get on social media and read comments about of customer service. Its amazing how much hate we get..

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Y8mlodMRWw.../shrinkage.jpg

C'mon guys. Many of us have been here before. The ridicule, the public shaming, we are immune to it. It is what it is. Embrace the shrinkage and look for alternative avenues of pleasure.

It's all resolved in the other thread.... 18,000 pilots by 2018

It's to the point that it's almost unfair. Granted, we have a long way to go, but some people are just looking to be difficult. At the same time I see a lot of really cool things posted on social media that employees are doing to step up our game. Like others have said, I truly see things getting better. But it's going to take time. It will take time to get all the employees on board. The (perhaps rightfully) grumpy 30 year Captain/FA/Gate agent/etc that has been wronged by the company will take time to trust management and be on board with helping. And because of that it will take time for the customers to see a true change across the board. I hope the investors are willing to give it a chance because if management continues to lead this the right direction, it will improve. Employee morale will improve, in turn customer service will improve, in turn we'll get those high dollar customers back, and in turn profits will improve.

Really people, forget about the noise and enjoy life. It's definitely not worth worrying about or getting stressed over. If the last 15 yrs taught us anything, it was this.

Record profits and all of this negative media hype. Imagine what they wrote about UAL/CAL during the dark days of the early 2000's. My guess without researching - both companies would be long dead by now.

I wouldn't lose a second of sleep over this stuff. Not that bad things can't happen, but we are better poised now for profitability, attrition & growth then I can remember for a very long time.

If these analyst were so right all the time they would be long retired counting their millions.

This.

I can hardly speak accurately as to how much damage JS did in his short time here. As a commuter and interacting with the paying public twice a week I am still amazed at the level of contempt toward UAL ops...and I have seen a marked improvement in the past 8 months or so from the right seat perspective. Until we convince the public that we've gotten our sh!* together it doesn't matter the metrics we post on the daily email. I'm thinking that many valuable and loyal customers left in the years JS was in charge and the stigma has been perpetuated. Just goes to show how much a terrible CEO can affect your organization.

United has been hated for atleast 20 years. It is impossible for anyone to write something positive about United. It's just the way it is......how the hell do you take a half billion dollar profit and shrink it to profitability:confused::rolleyes:

I wouldn't waste too many brain cells on this. Sounds like the two weird hedge funds are starting rumors for some effect.

Our market cap is so high, it would be incredibly expensive to do any corporate shuffling.

Just noise. Back to important things, like beer.

Our market cap is not high at all. We are roughly the same size as DAL and our market cap is rapidly approaching half theirs.

The UAL flight attendants have been waiting on a contract for years. The only group that interacts with pax during flights is ****ed off. I would start there if I was in charge, but that would be spending money.

Don't confuse Probe with details - it causes his head to spin.

I disagree. As we have seen lately, these guys can have an impact with a small amount of holdings. We better get out s••t in one sock soon.

Good reputations can take years to build and destroyed in fraction of that time. I guess analysts aren't aware of that.

Here's my contribution, I try to entertain myself by making a game of burning less gas enroute than dispatch planned for. Sure, sometimes it's easy, but sometimes it takes studying the actual winds/turbulence enroute vs. forecast. Sometimes, it is by backing off on the CI a bit when we are running early. Sometimes it is by requesting direct to the FAF. Passes the time and makes me feel special. :cool:

Of course, after I bank the savings... I don't feel too bad drawing on it by firing up the APU when "Off" arrivals are in effect. ;)

There was a UAL commercial about that decades ago. A business was losing their best customers and was going to fly out (on UAL of course)to meet face to face and try to win them back. The old adage "It's easier to keep customers than to get them back." Oh, the irony.

Well said, my friend! Couldn't agree more. Still we're all old enough to know "times change".