I stand by United Airlines

It seems every other blogger out there just hates on United Airlines nonstop. They complain about bad delays, poor service, and old planes, among other things. Yes, you can have a bad experience on any airline, but it seems like everyone is always having bad experiences on United. And until recently I agreed with how the other bloggers felt and really have avoided United unless it makes clear sense ot fly it. But I’ve changed my mind.

I’d like to take a moment to defend what I believe is now a great airline. Now, United is not exactly the Bad News Bears needing saving from the mighty Yankees. Actually, as the largest airline in the world, they’re pretty much the Yankees in that story. But still, everyone could use a little love sometimes.

My most recent United experience

Ironically, it was my Labor Day weekend from hell that has brought me to my newfound love of United.  

8/30 – RIC-ORD

Friday night I was scheduled to leave Richmond at 6pm to O’Hare where I would meet up with my girlfriend and travel on to New Orleans with her. We boarded at the regular time but were immediately deplaned thanks to a ground stop at O’Hare due to thunderstorms. Why we boarded the plane in the first place when a ground stop was in effect, I’m unsure, but this ended up being the least of my concerns.

I had built in 3.5 hours to layover in Chicago, so even with two hours of delays I was still going to be fine. Even so, I brought my ticket to the United agent to see if they would get me a seat on a flight tomorrow just in case. It was a shot in the dark; no airline in my experience has been willing to do that unless you’re cancelled or actually going to miss your connection. Amazingly, the agent was more than happy to protect me on flights the next morning. Not only that, she protected my girlfriend too, despite her ticket not being affected by my delay. I was shocked but very happy.

We boarded a second time around 9pm but were held at the gate. The crew was upbeat and passed out water and snacks while answering questions from concerned passengers about their connections. The ground stop continued and we had to get off again. The agents had remained at the gate and began to process every remaining passenger’s flight changes, all the while maintaining fantastic attitudes.

When the flight was finally cancelled at 11pm, they were all very apologetic but obviously there was nothing they could do. They had put people on other airlines or other flights as best they could, and remained after the cancellation to continue doing so.

8/31 – RIC-ORD (Take 2)

The next morning I came back to the airport and the ticket agent recognized me from the night before and volunteered to put me and my girlfriend together on our ORD-MSY flight, as well as get me a far-up seat for my RIC-ORD flight so I could get off quickly. This time around we actually got off the ground!

After landing I got off the plane to wait for my gate-check bag. While I was waiting, the flight attendant came running up the jet bridge to hand me my Kindle that I had left in the seatback pocket. I was incredibly impressed at her hustle but also at the fact that she remembered I was reading a Kindle and knew who to give it to.

8/31 – ORD-MSY

For some reason my girlfriend had been unable to check in for her flight online, so I tweeted @United and they took care of it within minutes and sent her her boarding pass. Amazing. Especially since only a year ago United wasn’t even using Twitter to interact with customers.

After a great few hours in the brand new United club in terminal F (best plane views of any lounge I’ve been to yet), we went to the gate to board our New Orleans flight, only to discover that the plane had a mechanical issue and had to be taken out of service. Luckily there was another plane available that we were moved to, so we only ended up leaving about 30 minutes late.

9/2 – IAH-ORD/DCA

On the return, my girlfriend was again unable to check in for her flight, a problem quickly solved again by the United Twitter team. My flight had a mechanical issue discovered after we boarded, so for the third time in a weekend I had to deplane and wait. I was worried about not making it onto another flight that night so I tweeted @United and they protected me on the last flight of the night. Saved me a phone conversation (United’s phone reps are not nearly as helpful as their airport staff) and gave me peace of mind while I waited. We ended up departing about two hours late.

The staff on board, as had been the case with every previous flight that weekend, were courteous and threw a little fun into the delay announcements. They were also understanding of upset passengers and passed out water while we waited for info.

My conclusions

Operationally, United still leaves a good amount to be desired. The planes that had mechanical delays had been on the ground before the issues were discovered, so it annoyed me that in one case I had to board for basically no reason, and in the other that were in not for a stroke of luck our flight would have been cancelled with very little time for recourse. Additionally, the weather in Chicago and the ground stop were known about before boarding on Friday evening, and therefore I don’t think we ever should have boarded the plane. And given the severity of the storms, the fact that they took so long to cancel it really made no sense to me.

But what United lacks in operational excellence, it has gone above and beyond to make up for with incredible customer service. I am not an elite flyer on United but at all times I felt I was treated like one. Very rarely has an airline, even one I do have status with, gone the extra mile as United did for me at pretty much every point during the trip.

I was also very impressed with United’s airport product. I am used to their dingy old chairs, no outlets anywhere, and just generally gross-looking gate areas. But they have completely upgraded even their smaller airports like New Orleans to be outfitted beautifully. And their clubs all look brand new.

So in the end I don’t think United is as terrible as everyone says it is. I recommend giving the airline another shot.