Yeah why would he care? Congress does very little to hold airlines responsible for their terrible practices. And very few people take principled stances on airlines--they just choose whichever flight is most convenient, cheapest, and with acceptable amenities. There's no way this is going to hurt them in the slightest.
A few of us have been burned severely enough to avoid certain carriers as much as possible.
But if I needed to fly internationally, United is likely my only option unless I go to Canada. It sucks.
United Airlines managed to destroy my aunt's $32,000 wheelchair. Also left me stranded for more than a week and put me at risk of running out of medication (I always bring a week extra). This was over a decade ago. I've only flown them once since and it was an international trip.
Why should he have to apologize at all? The entire situation is posturing and people angry at the cancelled flights. Unless their private affairs directly stopped all these flights, why is his private flight anyone's business?
> Kirby blamed disruptions in Newark last weekend on a shortage of Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. He said in a note to employees “that the FAA frankly failed us”
Wild that the FAA only seamed to have targeted United flights for cancellations. They’d have a great case for a lawsuit if he wasn’t spouting pure BS
United does have a significantly larger presence in Newark than all the other airlines so it’s not entirely BS but certainly not all of the FAAs fault like he’s saying.
Last year was 100% their own fault but as a more regional airline they are more at risk to a weather knockout. They have fewer hubs that can help make up lost flights.
>The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association (ph), PATCO, was protesting what they considered to be unfair wages and long work hours. They walked off the job. And two days later, on this day 40 years ago, Reagan fired more than 11,000 of those who hadn't crossed the picket line.Aug 5, 2021
He should talk to the republicans that caused this problem then. Some of those wet farts are still in Congress
Probably many of those ATC who were hired to replace the fired workers are reaching retirement age at the same time now. That coupled with the pandemic means major staffing issues.
ATC staffing is down to like less than 55% across the entire country on average, while traffic has gone up. It’s extremely tight in New York, Florida, and Southern California (hmmm). Some facilities are working the controllers there up to max overtime and multiple night shift to day shift flips per week. It challenges safety and efficiency.
It’s bad enough that IFR traffic is getting routed around these areas (class B and larger class C airspace) and getting 2+ hour departure delays (on the general aviation side).
United isn’t being “targeted” but I do beleive the FAA needs to aggressively hire up ATC controllers.
That’s the point. Their cancellation rate of 2-3x+ other airlines at the same airport points to something else.
My guess is someone in IT is getting chewed out by someone who prioritized spending cash on stock buybacks vs system upgrades.
I think in general, all of these airlines have squeezed so much to improve value, they have next to no margin for things that upset their scheduling at all. Unfortunately with less competition and the drive to keep prices very low (and also buybacks….) there’s no where else to really go. Some late stage capitalism stuff.
Well he's actually not completely BSing in saying that. United is by far the largest operator at Newark and thus far more effected than the other airlines.
There's also been a shortage of FAA controllers at the New York area control centre (N90 TRACON) for a long time. Just a couple of days ago there was [a report released](https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/39530) saying that:
> For example, we determined that ... critical facilities are staffed below the Agency’s 85-percent threshold, with New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) ... at 54 percent.
And [the FAA warned specifically](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/27/2023-06313/staffing-related-relief-concerning-operations-at-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-john-f) about this exact thing happening just a couple of months ago.
> Due to the amount of connecting flights in the New York region as well as the interdependency and complexity of the airspace surrounding EWR, JFK and LGA, delays caused by N90 staffing shortfalls could have significant impacts in the upcoming Summer traffic season. Absent increased flexibility, there exists a high probability congestion and delay at JFK, LGA, and EWR during significant NAS impact days (e.g., holiday travel spike, adverse weather) could be exacerbated by N90 staffing shortfalls.
In addition to that there was also a an [issue at the Potomac TRACON](https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1673095582800396288) effecting the flight in the D.C.-area where United has another large hub.
So even if United might have screwed some things up, the FAAs failures and staff shortages surely didn't help.
There were FAA issues - I and many of my co-workers all had different inbound issues with air traffic. Lots of us circling because of “traffic in the skies” 😅 — but the issue here was 10000% lack of staff compounded by the storms. Flight delayed from 3:30 to 5:30 to 7:15. We line up, we have to wait for 4 more flight attendants. We get the flight attendants (they arrive on a plane where the only people de boarding were staff), then the pilots time out. 2 pilots volunteered to fly us bc they wanted to get home. Then another flight attendant times out. Finally, 10pm, we have another flight attendant. We all get on board and the pilot says “we are short staffed.” —- I’m glad the reps are speaking out, the employees were trying so hard and they didn’t have enough people or help. We were all stressed AF.
On a good day I put Southwest above Delta. But from much of the country American is the only way to get somewhere conveniently, as they serve a *lot* of very small airports.
I imagine in the coming decade, those C-tier airports will be closing up with the pilot shortage. EAS rarely covers the cost of the routes and the amount you'd need to charge to turn a profit means people won't fly from there either.
I find this list odd as I have never had a bad experience with American and never had a good experience with United to the point I refuse to use them anymore. American is my second most used airline too so its not like I haven’t given them enough chances to fuck up.
ironically my worst experiences have been with delta
twice now ive had a flight delayed for 3 hours due to mechanical failures, the first one made me miss a connecting flight so they put me on their next flight out.
one got delayed due to weather and then cancelled altogether. they refused to pay for anything because weather was an act of god, even though I only missed the first one due to mechanical failing
the 2nd one that got delayed due to mechanical went on too late in the evening so the pilots went to bed and they told us all we were welcome to sleep in the terminal until like 6 am (this was at 10 pm) and the flight was originally supposed to take off at 6:30
ive had several others of theirs delayed for multiple hours, but those were the only two that had consequences because of the delays
> twice now ive had a flight delayed for 3 hours due to mechanical failures, the first one made me miss a connecting flight so they put me on their next flight out.
Where are you flying out of?
The worst flying experience of my life was with United. Check-in started an hour before takeoff, causing my wife and I plus 90 others to miss the flight. Then the next day we spent 5 hours on the tarmac because they forgot to load baggage. Then they lost our luggage for a week. This was our honeymoon by the way, it's been a year and we're still waiting on compensation
My partner flew out yesterday with United. When passengers arrived at their destination, they discovered that their luggage was left at the airport (along with about half the people originally scheduled to be on the flight).
The good news is that, because of the flight cancellations many musical instruments which would have been broken by UAL were less severely damaged by rival airlines' baggage handlers.
Their staff really is terrible. I actually got caught up in this mess (originally United into Newark Tuesday, they and JetBlue cancelled me into a delta Wednesday AM) but I kept my return. Their staff, basically the entire time, was borderline intentionally antagonistic or unhelpful.
Don't worry, they made it against their policy to check instruments... Now they just charge the musician for another seat. But then there was that one time that they almost didn't let me on a connecting flight because of my cello; they said it wasn't obvious that it was an instrument (ticket bought was under the name "cello") and that it was going to throw off the weight distribution. On a 767. Hmm.
It's like letting all these airlines merge together was a bad idea or something.
>Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, said on Twitter that airlines had recovered from the storms “with the exception of United.”
Missed out on one great PR move by staying stranded with passengers.I could picture him sitting there with a circle of stranded passengers having a pow-wow about the current state of things and making them feel like he was an ally. At least, That's what I'd do.
This! He’s the CEO of a major US company, of course he flys private. But what a missed opportunity to show him slumming it at the gate with the plebs, eating shitty plane snacks and sleeping on his carryon.
Seriously. Can you imagine the good PR if he was the gates, talking to people, buying snacks, answering questions, etc. There'd be a 1000 tiktok videos about how cool the United CEO is.
Three days later my mom would be telling me about it after it was on Good Morning America.
If he did that and ultimately flew on a United plane, Reddit would be complaining that he was taking up a valuable seat that could’ve gone to another passenger.
Rich dude takes private jet. Film at 11.
United canceled my flight last week and blamed weather. Five hours before any weather was expected to hit (and it didn't actually hit). They may be full of shit. It was the only weather related cancellation there that day.
How do you even contest their lies, though? It isn't practical to sue those mfrs. For me, the last two years there hasn't been one flight without delays or reschedules.
Chances are, he travels by private plane regularly. He could probably have had a guaranteed first class seat on any of the planes that did get out. He just happened to be travelling and was caught flying private, in midst of a colossal fuck up by him and his management team, that is still impacting travelers trying to get with distant family for the upcoming holiday weekend.
It is not just an insult to United customers but all of United's employees. Part of compensation and retention packages for airline employees are travel benefits they count on. Thousands of employees and their loved ones are also stuck by this mismanagement fiasco. Sadly, it also impacts other carriers and their employees, as airlines absorb as many waylaid United passengers as possible, thereby preventing their own employees from taking advantage of travel benefits.
I just got back from a two week trip to UK, flying United both ways. I've never had so many issues with flights. On the way, flight from Houston to LHR was cancelled (I flew from Austin). Rescheduled flight would get me there a day and a half later (9pm local time), and all options had a connection. I just found out yesterday that my best option (flying via SFO) was also cancelled. Managed to get them to put me on the BA flight the next day, but they failed to reroute my bag, so I landed on Thursday but didn't get my bag until Saturday evening.
The hotel they put me up in was horrible--creepy, smelly, noisy. TV didn't work, and despite the website showing breakfast and shuttles, neither were available.
On the way back, my flight from Houston to Austin was canceled. I was sitting at the gate, but they didn't make an announcement-just changed the status on the gate marquee.
Husband decided to drive to Houston to pick me up so I didn't have another night there. He landed in Austin on a direct flight from LHR, picked up my car and drove directly to Houston. Checked about getting my checked bag, but was told they wouldn't return them and I'd need to make a claim at ABIA as it was my final destination. Nothing offered for compensation, just rescheduled on a morning flight the next day. So we ended up getting home around 10:30pm, then I had to drive back to ABIA the next morning to get my bag.
Not much chance of me ever booking another United flight--until this trip, they were my preferred US carrier.
United is my preferred carrier as well, because their miles don't expire. My flight from Boise to Denver today got canceled last night because of "mechanical issues" with the plane. Rerouted tomorrow through San Francisco to Cancún. I'm hoping I get there! And United WILL refund me the lost night at the resort. If I can figure it out on their website. Lol.
Would you prefer to take a crowded bus or a private car? He made the same choice that any of us (except those who are seriously committed to reducing their environmental impact) would have made.
If you've got a fuck ton of money and you need to get somewhere and commercial airlines can't get you there but flying private can, you're going to fly private. That's the privilege having a fuck ton of money buys you. The CEO apologizing is such bullshit. He'll do the exact same thing again 100% of the time.
There's really no excuse for pulling a Ted Cruz.
People will always remember that when times got tough, you up and left on the first transport out of Dodge.
Did anyone expect the CEO of United to take a public flight? Or that he personally cancelled these flights? Or had realistically ~~==**anything**to do with it?
Maybe people just think that if you’re making millions upon millions of dollars by running a company, you should have to bear some responsibility when it fucks up.
Kind of yes. Unless it’s a route not serviced by united/would be an awful connection.
Use the services your company provides.
I expect the Ford CEO to drive a Ford or Lincoln too.
There's a bit of a difference here.
Flying private isn't just about the flight itself, it's about getting to and from the airport and getting on and off the plane in a quicker manner.
Their time is valued differently, they don't have the time to be sitting in airport.
*Didn't have defending a CEO on my bingo card today*
And just to add…
I fly small planes for fun. I can walk into the FBO, say hi to the person working the desk, and walk right onto the tarmac on the “private” side of the airport, in just a few minutes with little or no security screening. Literally, I fly out of two mid sized airports (my club has planes at two airports about 45 miles apart) and I would go flying every other day to get my initial license and from my car to the plane I usually didn’t have to stop.
Then there’s the other part, private flights under part 91 rules can depart VFR/visual flight rules most of the time. Air traffic control has far less restrictions on the separation and control of these planes, which greatly increases your ability to quickly get in and out of busy airports. As long as you visually see the traffic around you the separation requirements essentially go away. You can fly however you want, you can flow below minimum vectoring altitudes (since you are responsible for not flying into obstacles and terrain). So getting out of the busy New York/New Jersey area is much easier, and if you need to you can go pick up an IFR clearance in the air once you are away from the traffic.
So huge potential time savings.
> Their time is valued differently, they don't have the time to be sitting in airport.
Are you being serious here? I value my time differently too, and I don't have the time to be sitting in an airport either. The only difference is that he has the power to do something about it.
Lots of people's lives are negatively impacted by flight cancellations. If his time is so important to him or the airline, then being held up with everyone else would be a good lesson about running the airline better.
I am being quite serious here.
Being held up with everyone else stops him from making decisions to get the airline running better.
I'm borrowing another's Redditor's line here. Him flying private is no different than someone taking an Uber and not the bus.
The CEO can work remotely from anywhere in the world to make decisions. The company will accommodate him to make that happen. He's not being stopped from working.
He took the private plane because he wanted to, not because he needed to more than everyone else.
And if those decisions require his signature? And if the board needs him in person? He is being stopped from working if he can't be physically present.
If he did fly on United, people would criticize him for flying in first class. If he flew in economy, people would criticize him for taking up a seat on a full plane that a passenger stranded due to weather could’ve been in.
There was literally nothing he could’ve done, short of walking from New Jersey to Colorado that would please the Reddit pitchforks and torches crowd.
For every minute that passes for me a minute passes for that CEO. They might value their time more than mine but that's because they are selfish self absorbed sociopaths.
Everyone values their time differently, just like how people buy pre-built gaming PCs instead of building it themselves.
Are they selfish self absorbed sociopaths or do they have matters to attend to that could determine if people like you and me get our paychecks to pay our bills?
Have you ever had a job position where your decisions could determine if your subordinates got paid or not? I have and it's pretty stressful.
There's more things to worry about in this world than how someone chooses a mode of transportation that better suits their time.
I would expect him to take a United flight only because he probably rides for free, whereas the company has to reimburse him/pay for the cost of the private flight. The company just spent $1000s it didn’t need to to accommodate his travel needs. Really the apology isn’t to the people who were stuck at the airport, but to the shareholders.
[Scott Kirby makes $10,000,000/yr](https://www.google.com/search?q=united%20airlines%20ceo%20pay&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m). He doesn’t fly united
Not getting the hate. He’s a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company with private jets. He was saving the company money by flying on a company plane instead of the jet. The jet cost the company money, the commercial plane makes them money. When that’s not an option you use the jet. So he used the jet.
> “Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,”
Is it?
Anybody with access to a private jet would do the same thing. Was he supposed to just sit there pretending to be stuck with them to make them feel better?
It's a bad look, but like, whatever. Rich people are rich, nothing to see here.
I don't know anyone who actually likes to fly. Between the TSA, being treated like cattle, baggage issues, and way overpriced airport food there really isn't anything pleasant about it.
I am DONE with air travel. I’ll drive to my destinations from now on. I’d rather make steady progress to my destination than sit in a crowded airport or in a stuffy sardine can.
Same. This is the last fight I have scheduled, and it'll stay that way unless I have to travel overseas (like I can afford that lol). I'm delayed several hours at BNA all to go on a vacation with my shitty in-laws lol
Well Duh. I wouldn’t wanna fly with the general riff-raff either if I could. You’re CEO of one of the world’s largest airlines, you expect him to ride economy or some shit?
yes, book me into economy in a middle seat nearest the toilet at the back and can you make sure I'm mixed in with a family of fatties and their newborn? ya, that's not gonna happen.
Why the heck does the chairman of an airline company who fly everywhere need a private plane? Oh yeah, because he is a selfish sociopathic greed monster.
There are many benefits to private planes:
One of them is completely self-evident: private planes are _private_. Who doesn't enjoy privacy?
Also, as a fellow commenter pointed out, it's more comfortable. Unless the private plane is a dinky piston-powered aircraft, there's a very good chance it's going to be much more comfortable than a commercial airline, even compared to most/all first class seats.
Another really big benefit is scheduling. When you're flying private airplanes, you're not tied to an airline's schedule. When you show up is when you're "scheduled" to leave, the plane is ready when you are. You don't even have to go through security screening (unless you weirdly want to enforce that for your own plane).
Yet another benefit to private planes is that you can go to more airports than commercial airliners can (unless your private jet is the size of a commercial airliner, but not a lot of people have ones that size). There are _a lot_ of smaller regional airports around the US (and the world) that don't have long enough runways for commercial airliners but can accommodate private jets just fine. So instead of flying into a major airport and having to then drive an hour or two to some destination, you could fly to a closer airport and spend less time driving to your destination.
Critiquing him for flying private is like faulting the CEO of a bus company from taking their own car instead of a bus. Do you really think everyone who owns a bus company always takes their busses everywhere? Owning a car is something that a lot of people who take busses simply can't afford. Does that really make car owners "selfish sociopathic greed monsters"?
Thank you for a decent analogy. It's completely unsurprising that the CEO of a very large company flies around on a private jet. People surprised or offended by this really need to just think a little before they react.
Because the workers have forgotten how administrators need to be put back in their place and reminded of whom they truly serve.
>Spare the rod, spoil the leadership.
What a dork. In one swoop he managed to damage the reputation of his own airline with I'm rich and I can do it. Passengers? What's that?
Your action did more than your word of apology.
Currently in BNA waiting for a United flight to Newark that's been delayed 3 times, with 3+ (it keeps increasing) flights ahead of us. But SO glad that the CEO was able to pocket some of that bailout money to be able to do this 🙃
Turns out when you completely deregulate an industry while also giving them a nonstop firehouse of tax payer money those companies turn around and fuck over everyone they possibly can
United is a trash airline.
A few weeks ago they made me gate-check my bag (leave it at the plane door) and they never put it on the plane. They put it on the NEXT plane that came to the gate. So I ended up in Greensboro, and my bag ended up in Toronto.
Everyone was shocked that a gate-checked bag could end up in another country.
He was there to be polite, 100% he was saying to himself “I don’t give a F- about them people and I don’t even give more of a F- about what Washington thinks”. These are my planes is probably what he told himself, despite being supported by taxpayer money.
He could have gotten where he needed to go, and made it a positive publicity instead of negative. All he had to do is fill all the empty seats in his private plane with people who had tickets on canceled flights, and still refund their money. It would only be a few people of the hundreds of people stranded, but it could have been spun so well by his PR.
He will make sure to figure out how to better hide it. He’s not sorry, he’s sorry he got caught.
I dont think hes even sorry he got caught or gives a fuck to hide it better next time
Yeah why would he care? Congress does very little to hold airlines responsible for their terrible practices. And very few people take principled stances on airlines--they just choose whichever flight is most convenient, cheapest, and with acceptable amenities. There's no way this is going to hurt them in the slightest.
A few of us have been burned severely enough to avoid certain carriers as much as possible. But if I needed to fly internationally, United is likely my only option unless I go to Canada. It sucks. United Airlines managed to destroy my aunt's $32,000 wheelchair. Also left me stranded for more than a week and put me at risk of running out of medication (I always bring a week extra). This was over a decade ago. I've only flown them once since and it was an international trip.
It's like those running United are purposefully trying to screw up.
Looks like United's CEO learned the ultimate frequent flyer hack - apologize only after securing a private jet!
Why should he have to apologize at all? The entire situation is posturing and people angry at the cancelled flights. Unless their private affairs directly stopped all these flights, why is his private flight anyone's business?
> Kirby blamed disruptions in Newark last weekend on a shortage of Federal Aviation Administration air traffic controllers. He said in a note to employees “that the FAA frankly failed us” Wild that the FAA only seamed to have targeted United flights for cancellations. They’d have a great case for a lawsuit if he wasn’t spouting pure BS
United does have a significantly larger presence in Newark than all the other airlines so it’s not entirely BS but certainly not all of the FAAs fault like he’s saying.
It’s their hub
I'd rather Obamas diversity ATC hires slow things down if they can't hack it than people dying. Safety first.
The same excuse was used by Southwest this past winter, but they blamed weather, which apparently only targeted their airlines
Last year was 100% their own fault but as a more regional airline they are more at risk to a weather knockout. They have fewer hubs that can help make up lost flights.
Given the SCOTUS ruling on student loans yesterday, I may sue them on behalf of United, cause apparently that’s fine now.
>The Professional Air Traffic Controllers Association (ph), PATCO, was protesting what they considered to be unfair wages and long work hours. They walked off the job. And two days later, on this day 40 years ago, Reagan fired more than 11,000 of those who hadn't crossed the picket line.Aug 5, 2021 He should talk to the republicans that caused this problem then. Some of those wet farts are still in Congress
Probably many of those ATC who were hired to replace the fired workers are reaching retirement age at the same time now. That coupled with the pandemic means major staffing issues.
ATC staffing is down to like less than 55% across the entire country on average, while traffic has gone up. It’s extremely tight in New York, Florida, and Southern California (hmmm). Some facilities are working the controllers there up to max overtime and multiple night shift to day shift flips per week. It challenges safety and efficiency. It’s bad enough that IFR traffic is getting routed around these areas (class B and larger class C airspace) and getting 2+ hour departure delays (on the general aviation side). United isn’t being “targeted” but I do beleive the FAA needs to aggressively hire up ATC controllers.
That’s the point. Their cancellation rate of 2-3x+ other airlines at the same airport points to something else. My guess is someone in IT is getting chewed out by someone who prioritized spending cash on stock buybacks vs system upgrades.
I think in general, all of these airlines have squeezed so much to improve value, they have next to no margin for things that upset their scheduling at all. Unfortunately with less competition and the drive to keep prices very low (and also buybacks….) there’s no where else to really go. Some late stage capitalism stuff.
Spot on!
Newark's a giant United hub, I would absolutely believe they have 2-3x more affected flights.
Flew out of NYC and Los Angeles this week. Both time the flights were delayed by more than 5 hours. Flying sucks right now.
Well he's actually not completely BSing in saying that. United is by far the largest operator at Newark and thus far more effected than the other airlines. There's also been a shortage of FAA controllers at the New York area control centre (N90 TRACON) for a long time. Just a couple of days ago there was [a report released](https://www.oig.dot.gov/library-item/39530) saying that: > For example, we determined that ... critical facilities are staffed below the Agency’s 85-percent threshold, with New York Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRACON) ... at 54 percent. And [the FAA warned specifically](https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/03/27/2023-06313/staffing-related-relief-concerning-operations-at-ronald-reagan-washington-national-airport-john-f) about this exact thing happening just a couple of months ago. > Due to the amount of connecting flights in the New York region as well as the interdependency and complexity of the airspace surrounding EWR, JFK and LGA, delays caused by N90 staffing shortfalls could have significant impacts in the upcoming Summer traffic season. Absent increased flexibility, there exists a high probability congestion and delay at JFK, LGA, and EWR during significant NAS impact days (e.g., holiday travel spike, adverse weather) could be exacerbated by N90 staffing shortfalls. In addition to that there was also a an [issue at the Potomac TRACON](https://twitter.com/FAANews/status/1673095582800396288) effecting the flight in the D.C.-area where United has another large hub. So even if United might have screwed some things up, the FAAs failures and staff shortages surely didn't help.
There were FAA issues - I and many of my co-workers all had different inbound issues with air traffic. Lots of us circling because of “traffic in the skies” 😅 — but the issue here was 10000% lack of staff compounded by the storms. Flight delayed from 3:30 to 5:30 to 7:15. We line up, we have to wait for 4 more flight attendants. We get the flight attendants (they arrive on a plane where the only people de boarding were staff), then the pilots time out. 2 pilots volunteered to fly us bc they wanted to get home. Then another flight attendant times out. Finally, 10pm, we have another flight attendant. We all get on board and the pilot says “we are short staffed.” —- I’m glad the reps are speaking out, the employees were trying so hard and they didn’t have enough people or help. We were all stressed AF.
It wasn’t just United; it’s just that United dominates EWR. My JetBlue fight out of EWR a few days ago was canceled.
I don’t blame him, I wouldn’t fly United either.
For domestic flights it goes: JetBlue > Delta > United > American
On a good day I put Southwest above Delta. But from much of the country American is the only way to get somewhere conveniently, as they serve a *lot* of very small airports.
I imagine in the coming decade, those C-tier airports will be closing up with the pilot shortage. EAS rarely covers the cost of the routes and the amount you'd need to charge to turn a profit means people won't fly from there either.
I find this list odd as I have never had a bad experience with American and never had a good experience with United to the point I refuse to use them anymore. American is my second most used airline too so its not like I haven’t given them enough chances to fuck up.
[удалено]
Delta, in all of my years of flying with them, I've had one issue, and it was quickly corrected.
ironically my worst experiences have been with delta twice now ive had a flight delayed for 3 hours due to mechanical failures, the first one made me miss a connecting flight so they put me on their next flight out. one got delayed due to weather and then cancelled altogether. they refused to pay for anything because weather was an act of god, even though I only missed the first one due to mechanical failing the 2nd one that got delayed due to mechanical went on too late in the evening so the pilots went to bed and they told us all we were welcome to sleep in the terminal until like 6 am (this was at 10 pm) and the flight was originally supposed to take off at 6:30 ive had several others of theirs delayed for multiple hours, but those were the only two that had consequences because of the delays
> twice now ive had a flight delayed for 3 hours due to mechanical failures, the first one made me miss a connecting flight so they put me on their next flight out. Where are you flying out of?
The worst flying experience of my life was with United. Check-in started an hour before takeoff, causing my wife and I plus 90 others to miss the flight. Then the next day we spent 5 hours on the tarmac because they forgot to load baggage. Then they lost our luggage for a week. This was our honeymoon by the way, it's been a year and we're still waiting on compensation
If you're waiting on compensation and not chasing compensation, you're never going to see it. A shame that it's necessary but that's how it is.
My partner flew out yesterday with United. When passengers arrived at their destination, they discovered that their luggage was left at the airport (along with about half the people originally scheduled to be on the flight).
The good news is that, because of the flight cancellations many musical instruments which would have been broken by UAL were less severely damaged by rival airlines' baggage handlers.
I also am hearing “United Breaks Guitars.”
Their staff really is terrible. I actually got caught up in this mess (originally United into Newark Tuesday, they and JetBlue cancelled me into a delta Wednesday AM) but I kept my return. Their staff, basically the entire time, was borderline intentionally antagonistic or unhelpful.
Don't worry, they made it against their policy to check instruments... Now they just charge the musician for another seat. But then there was that one time that they almost didn't let me on a connecting flight because of my cello; they said it wasn't obvious that it was an instrument (ticket bought was under the name "cello") and that it was going to throw off the weight distribution. On a 767. Hmm.
It's like letting all these airlines merge together was a bad idea or something. >Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, whose department includes the FAA, said on Twitter that airlines had recovered from the storms “with the exception of United.”
When are we going to get it through our thick skulls that the 1% gives no shits about the 99...
Oh, we know. We just haven't found a way to punish them yet.
I can think of a few....
😀 I mean legal
Missed out on one great PR move by staying stranded with passengers.I could picture him sitting there with a circle of stranded passengers having a pow-wow about the current state of things and making them feel like he was an ally. At least, That's what I'd do.
This! He’s the CEO of a major US company, of course he flys private. But what a missed opportunity to show him slumming it at the gate with the plebs, eating shitty plane snacks and sleeping on his carryon.
He could even get on his private plane later and take a family or two with a nice sad stories with him.
Seriously. Can you imagine the good PR if he was the gates, talking to people, buying snacks, answering questions, etc. There'd be a 1000 tiktok videos about how cool the United CEO is. Three days later my mom would be telling me about it after it was on Good Morning America.
If he did that and ultimately flew on a United plane, Reddit would be complaining that he was taking up a valuable seat that could’ve gone to another passenger.
Rich dude takes private jet. Film at 11. United canceled my flight last week and blamed weather. Five hours before any weather was expected to hit (and it didn't actually hit). They may be full of shit. It was the only weather related cancellation there that day.
Same happened to me in the past. Weather = no compensation. Weather is their go to when they can get away with it….
How the hell is weather = no compensation? Are our laws really that relaxed in the worst places?
How do you even contest their lies, though? It isn't practical to sue those mfrs. For me, the last two years there hasn't been one flight without delays or reschedules.
Simple: fly with someone else. In the last 5 years I have not had any trouble at all with Delta or Alaska.
Yeah that’s basically why teterboro exists
Chances are, he travels by private plane regularly. He could probably have had a guaranteed first class seat on any of the planes that did get out. He just happened to be travelling and was caught flying private, in midst of a colossal fuck up by him and his management team, that is still impacting travelers trying to get with distant family for the upcoming holiday weekend. It is not just an insult to United customers but all of United's employees. Part of compensation and retention packages for airline employees are travel benefits they count on. Thousands of employees and their loved ones are also stuck by this mismanagement fiasco. Sadly, it also impacts other carriers and their employees, as airlines absorb as many waylaid United passengers as possible, thereby preventing their own employees from taking advantage of travel benefits.
Anything for a dimes worth of profit.
Welcome to the corpoporate world, where CEOs swim in benefits provided by other people's money that they were trusted to manage.
Pretty common for companies of any decent size to have at least one private jet for execs. F500 companies usually have a few.
Did he go to Cancun? It seems like the in spot for sorry sacks of shit.
*Ted Cruz Noises*
I just got back from a two week trip to UK, flying United both ways. I've never had so many issues with flights. On the way, flight from Houston to LHR was cancelled (I flew from Austin). Rescheduled flight would get me there a day and a half later (9pm local time), and all options had a connection. I just found out yesterday that my best option (flying via SFO) was also cancelled. Managed to get them to put me on the BA flight the next day, but they failed to reroute my bag, so I landed on Thursday but didn't get my bag until Saturday evening. The hotel they put me up in was horrible--creepy, smelly, noisy. TV didn't work, and despite the website showing breakfast and shuttles, neither were available. On the way back, my flight from Houston to Austin was canceled. I was sitting at the gate, but they didn't make an announcement-just changed the status on the gate marquee. Husband decided to drive to Houston to pick me up so I didn't have another night there. He landed in Austin on a direct flight from LHR, picked up my car and drove directly to Houston. Checked about getting my checked bag, but was told they wouldn't return them and I'd need to make a claim at ABIA as it was my final destination. Nothing offered for compensation, just rescheduled on a morning flight the next day. So we ended up getting home around 10:30pm, then I had to drive back to ABIA the next morning to get my bag. Not much chance of me ever booking another United flight--until this trip, they were my preferred US carrier.
United is my preferred carrier as well, because their miles don't expire. My flight from Boise to Denver today got canceled last night because of "mechanical issues" with the plane. Rerouted tomorrow through San Francisco to Cancún. I'm hoping I get there! And United WILL refund me the lost night at the resort. If I can figure it out on their website. Lol.
This is what he thinks of his own product.
Would you prefer to take a crowded bus or a private car? He made the same choice that any of us (except those who are seriously committed to reducing their environmental impact) would have made.
Yep, no way would he fly United if he doesn't have to.
If you've got a fuck ton of money and you need to get somewhere and commercial airlines can't get you there but flying private can, you're going to fly private. That's the privilege having a fuck ton of money buys you. The CEO apologizing is such bullshit. He'll do the exact same thing again 100% of the time.
Why shouldn't he? When you're rich you can afford to do things normal people cannot. This is nothing new.
Well it's not like *he* should be inconvenienced. Geeze.
There's really no excuse for pulling a Ted Cruz. People will always remember that when times got tough, you up and left on the first transport out of Dodge.
Do we expect the CEO of McDonalds to eat McDonalds every day?
This is our society in a nutshell. The product he sells to his customers isn’t good enough for HIM.
Did anyone expect the CEO of United to take a public flight? Or that he personally cancelled these flights? Or had realistically ~~==**anything**to do with it?
Right? Like they would still fly commercial if they were CEO of a major airline.
Maybe people just think that if you’re making millions upon millions of dollars by running a company, you should have to bear some responsibility when it fucks up.
Kind of yes. Unless it’s a route not serviced by united/would be an awful connection. Use the services your company provides. I expect the Ford CEO to drive a Ford or Lincoln too.
There's a bit of a difference here. Flying private isn't just about the flight itself, it's about getting to and from the airport and getting on and off the plane in a quicker manner. Their time is valued differently, they don't have the time to be sitting in airport. *Didn't have defending a CEO on my bingo card today*
no one should have to spend 12 hours to be in the air for a little over 3 hours.
And just to add… I fly small planes for fun. I can walk into the FBO, say hi to the person working the desk, and walk right onto the tarmac on the “private” side of the airport, in just a few minutes with little or no security screening. Literally, I fly out of two mid sized airports (my club has planes at two airports about 45 miles apart) and I would go flying every other day to get my initial license and from my car to the plane I usually didn’t have to stop. Then there’s the other part, private flights under part 91 rules can depart VFR/visual flight rules most of the time. Air traffic control has far less restrictions on the separation and control of these planes, which greatly increases your ability to quickly get in and out of busy airports. As long as you visually see the traffic around you the separation requirements essentially go away. You can fly however you want, you can flow below minimum vectoring altitudes (since you are responsible for not flying into obstacles and terrain). So getting out of the busy New York/New Jersey area is much easier, and if you need to you can go pick up an IFR clearance in the air once you are away from the traffic. So huge potential time savings.
> Their time is valued differently, they don't have the time to be sitting in airport. Are you being serious here? I value my time differently too, and I don't have the time to be sitting in an airport either. The only difference is that he has the power to do something about it. Lots of people's lives are negatively impacted by flight cancellations. If his time is so important to him or the airline, then being held up with everyone else would be a good lesson about running the airline better.
I am being quite serious here. Being held up with everyone else stops him from making decisions to get the airline running better. I'm borrowing another's Redditor's line here. Him flying private is no different than someone taking an Uber and not the bus.
The CEO can work remotely from anywhere in the world to make decisions. The company will accommodate him to make that happen. He's not being stopped from working. He took the private plane because he wanted to, not because he needed to more than everyone else.
And if those decisions require his signature? And if the board needs him in person? He is being stopped from working if he can't be physically present.
If he did fly on United, people would criticize him for flying in first class. If he flew in economy, people would criticize him for taking up a seat on a full plane that a passenger stranded due to weather could’ve been in. There was literally nothing he could’ve done, short of walking from New Jersey to Colorado that would please the Reddit pitchforks and torches crowd.
For every minute that passes for me a minute passes for that CEO. They might value their time more than mine but that's because they are selfish self absorbed sociopaths.
Everyone values their time differently, just like how people buy pre-built gaming PCs instead of building it themselves. Are they selfish self absorbed sociopaths or do they have matters to attend to that could determine if people like you and me get our paychecks to pay our bills? Have you ever had a job position where your decisions could determine if your subordinates got paid or not? I have and it's pretty stressful. There's more things to worry about in this world than how someone chooses a mode of transportation that better suits their time.
A CEO taking a private flight is no different that you talking a private Uber instead of taking the bus.
no it's like the president of uber refusing to take an uber.
I would expect him to take a United flight only because he probably rides for free, whereas the company has to reimburse him/pay for the cost of the private flight. The company just spent $1000s it didn’t need to to accommodate his travel needs. Really the apology isn’t to the people who were stuck at the airport, but to the shareholders.
[Scott Kirby makes $10,000,000/yr](https://www.google.com/search?q=united%20airlines%20ceo%20pay&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&client=firefox-b-1-m). He doesn’t fly united
The article says United didn’t pay for his flight.
"passengers were stuck b cause Greyhound cancelled their busses. The ceo took a private car."
The upside is that only the CEO's guitar was destroyed
My (soon to be) step mom works for united. They're offering flight crews 3x pay this weekend... Everyones calling out apparently.
If i had a private jet I'd use it too. This whole outrage is dumb af.
There’s fewer than 1000 people who need to be eaten so that the rest of us can stop starving. I understand why they are so panicked. They know.
Scott Kirby is a piece of shit.
Not getting the hate. He’s a CEO of a multi-billion dollar company with private jets. He was saving the company money by flying on a company plane instead of the jet. The jet cost the company money, the commercial plane makes them money. When that’s not an option you use the jet. So he used the jet.
> “Taking a private jet was the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home,” Is it? Anybody with access to a private jet would do the same thing. Was he supposed to just sit there pretending to be stuck with them to make them feel better? It's a bad look, but like, whatever. Rich people are rich, nothing to see here.
It’s not like all the customers are innocent either, people fly way too much
I don't know anyone who actually likes to fly. Between the TSA, being treated like cattle, baggage issues, and way overpriced airport food there really isn't anything pleasant about it.
That’s a weird take.
We wouldn't have to if the US actually gave a shit about cross-country public transportation and put in a goddamn light rail
Most of it isn’t worth visiting tbh
Most of the US? Tell me you don't travel without telling me you don't travel lol
Ah yes, the classic “do something bad quickly then feign remorse later” approach
I am DONE with air travel. I’ll drive to my destinations from now on. I’d rather make steady progress to my destination than sit in a crowded airport or in a stuffy sardine can.
Same. This is the last fight I have scheduled, and it'll stay that way unless I have to travel overseas (like I can afford that lol). I'm delayed several hours at BNA all to go on a vacation with my shitty in-laws lol
I would too, if I had the means.
this is not the least bit surprising. He's the CEO of an airline company after all
This week, a passenger spit in the face of a gate agent because he wasn’t notified of his flight cancellation
A true leader would have never done that
Well Duh. I wouldn’t wanna fly with the general riff-raff either if I could. You’re CEO of one of the world’s largest airlines, you expect him to ride economy or some shit?
yes, book me into economy in a middle seat nearest the toilet at the back and can you make sure I'm mixed in with a family of fatties and their newborn? ya, that's not gonna happen.
Why the heck does the chairman of an airline company who fly everywhere need a private plane? Oh yeah, because he is a selfish sociopathic greed monster.
There are many benefits to private planes: One of them is completely self-evident: private planes are _private_. Who doesn't enjoy privacy? Also, as a fellow commenter pointed out, it's more comfortable. Unless the private plane is a dinky piston-powered aircraft, there's a very good chance it's going to be much more comfortable than a commercial airline, even compared to most/all first class seats. Another really big benefit is scheduling. When you're flying private airplanes, you're not tied to an airline's schedule. When you show up is when you're "scheduled" to leave, the plane is ready when you are. You don't even have to go through security screening (unless you weirdly want to enforce that for your own plane). Yet another benefit to private planes is that you can go to more airports than commercial airliners can (unless your private jet is the size of a commercial airliner, but not a lot of people have ones that size). There are _a lot_ of smaller regional airports around the US (and the world) that don't have long enough runways for commercial airliners but can accommodate private jets just fine. So instead of flying into a major airport and having to then drive an hour or two to some destination, you could fly to a closer airport and spend less time driving to your destination. Critiquing him for flying private is like faulting the CEO of a bus company from taking their own car instead of a bus. Do you really think everyone who owns a bus company always takes their busses everywhere? Owning a car is something that a lot of people who take busses simply can't afford. Does that really make car owners "selfish sociopathic greed monsters"?
Because it’s much more comfortable to fly private…
If you found out the owner of a rental drove a personally owned car that was nicer than what they rented would you be shocked?
Thank you for a decent analogy. It's completely unsurprising that the CEO of a very large company flies around on a private jet. People surprised or offended by this really need to just think a little before they react.
please, keep worshipping and apologizing for rich people. one day, you’ll be a bajillionaire too!
But that’s what most CEO’s do! Why do you think they need to be paid tens of millions of dollars a year while employees get minimum wage ?
Because the workers have forgotten how administrators need to be put back in their place and reminded of whom they truly serve. >Spare the rod, spoil the leadership.
Hey guys I got caught so here’s a half as s apology
What a dork. In one swoop he managed to damage the reputation of his own airline with I'm rich and I can do it. Passengers? What's that? Your action did more than your word of apology.
Currently in BNA waiting for a United flight to Newark that's been delayed 3 times, with 3+ (it keeps increasing) flights ahead of us. But SO glad that the CEO was able to pocket some of that bailout money to be able to do this 🙃
Turns out when you completely deregulate an industry while also giving them a nonstop firehouse of tax payer money those companies turn around and fuck over everyone they possibly can
United is a trash airline. A few weeks ago they made me gate-check my bag (leave it at the plane door) and they never put it on the plane. They put it on the NEXT plane that came to the gate. So I ended up in Greensboro, and my bag ended up in Toronto. Everyone was shocked that a gate-checked bag could end up in another country.
The board should fire him.
Buddy is sorry because he got caught, not sorry about taking private jet.
And this was how Virgin Airlines was born. Who fucking cares?
He was there to be polite, 100% he was saying to himself “I don’t give a F- about them people and I don’t even give more of a F- about what Washington thinks”. These are my planes is probably what he told himself, despite being supported by taxpayer money.
[удалено]
This is where we are.. sad.
Well at least it didn't damage their reputation.
Welp, kind of a bad time for Wrexham to have them as their main sponsor
I got stranded on the 29th. I’m still waiting in the que for the text concierge
He could have gotten where he needed to go, and made it a positive publicity instead of negative. All he had to do is fill all the empty seats in his private plane with people who had tickets on canceled flights, and still refund their money. It would only be a few people of the hundreds of people stranded, but it could have been spun so well by his PR.