The recent failures of United Airlines are pretty laughable. They’re my least favourite Star Alliance airline out of the ones I’ve flown, but I always go back to them purely because the reward and tier miles you get credited to your Krisflyer account from them are brilliant. If you credit your airmiles to your United MileagePlus account you only get miles based on the price of your fare, but with Singapore’s Krisflyer you can fly with United and get a mile per mile flown. So on a recent trip to New York from Frankfurt, I only paid the promo fare, but got the full 3,852 miles credited to my Krisflyer account.
I digress. The recent failures of United just reinforce my personal belief that the company and brand is in dire need of a huge shake-up. The planes tend to be old and tired, the staff quite unfriendly most of the time, the entertainment system is painful to use, and the food…well…best we don’t go there. Not to mention in economy they no longer give you an amenity kit as standard, not even on red-eye flights…you have to request one.
To those of you not sure what on earth I’m talking about when I say they’ve had recent failures, well, this list from just the past week should enlighten you…
1. A bout of severe turbulence ended up putting 16 passengers in hospital
United Airlines Flight 880 was travelling from Houston, Texas to London’s Heathrow Airport, but was forced to make an emergency landing at Ireland’s Shannon Airport about 6am local time after severe turbulence injured 16 passengers, including three children.
Fourteen passengers and two crew members were taken to hospital with injuries sustained during the severe turbulence. According to various news sources passengers complained of people with cuts to the head, and broken bones.
2. A United employee was caught stealing 130k of a passenger’s jewellery
A 42 year old United employee from Colorado allegedly stole $130,000 worth of jewellery from a passenger’s bag in August at the Denver International Airport, according to the Denver District Attorney’s office.
3. Two United pilots were arrested due to being drunk before flying
Last Saturday morning two United Airlines pilots were removed from their flight and arrested for being intoxicated. Their removal caused the flight to be delayed by a huge nine hours, and the flight later took off with a replacement crew. They were due to fly 141 passengers from Scotland to the United States. United has temporarily removed both men from flying duties.
Obviously the turbulence isn’t United’s fault, and the last two things aren’t completely United’s fault. Many airlines face similar issues with employees, especially when they employ so many people, they just need to train their employees properly and make sure they’re employing the right people.
What are your views on United?
The Star Alliance Flyer #STAF