Angry Flyers Lounge-United’s Star dims

United Airlines is supposed to be one of the brightest stars in the Star Alliance constellation of airlines. But Michael Durrant’s experiences suggest that it is fast fading, and he’s not alone in voicing his displeasure.

This is part of a letter he wrote to UA’s managing director in Australia:-

On October 6, 2008, I travelled on UA 839 from LAX to Sydney in Economy
Class. I am writing to express my extreme disappointment with most
aspects of this flight and I apologise that commitments after I arrived
home in Sydney have prevented me from writing sooner.

I have flown with United from LAX or SFO to Sydney on numerous occasions
in the past 20 years or more, the last time being one year ago (UA 839
October 13, 2007). It was very obvious on my most recent flight that the
standard of service on this flight has slipped dramatically in almost
every way.

My first specific complaint is that United has begun charging for
providing cocktails, wine and beer on the flight. While I am quite used
to having to pay for alcoholic beverages on domestic flights, I was
appalled that United is now charging on international flights. On this
same itinerary, I flew Sydney-Singapore and Singapore-London with
Singapore Airlines in Economy class. Not only were alcoholic beverages
complimentary on both flights, but also they were provided generously
and were of a very high standard, with wine being poured directly from
full-sized bottles of premium wine rather than the miniature bottles of
wine sometimes provided by airlines. Similarly, I flew from Sydney to
Singapore on Qantas a few months ago and cocktails, wine and beer were
complimentary in Economy Class.

Once I realised I had to pay for alcoholic beverages, I decided I would
have a Scotch whisky first and then some wine to accompany my meal. When
I asked the flight attendant for a Scotch and a wine, I was told firmly
that she was only allowed to serve me one alcoholic beverage at a time
and that I would have to purchase my wine later in the flight. When the
meals were delivered a little while later, I asked if I could purchase
wine and was told that I would have to wait until the drinks carts came
by again. At no time did the drinks cart come down the aisle again.
Twice more during the flight, I pressed the flight attendant call button
and asked if I could purchase a drink; yet a drink was never brought to
me.

I was NOT wanting to drink an excessive amount. It seems to me that one
cocktail and one wine on a 14 hour flight is not unreasonable, yet I was
unable to obtain these (despite having correct change).

Notwithstanding my comment above that I understand that alcoholic
beverages are not complimentary on domestic flights, it is worth noting
that I have flown domestically within Australia recently with Qantas and
with QantasLink (their small, regional carrier) and premium wine has
been complimentary on each occasion, despite being only short domestic
flights.

Also, your own web site says that alcoholic beverages are complimentary
on trans-Pacific flights.

We serve complimentary meals on most international flights between the US, South America, Europe, the South Pacific and Asia. … Alcoholic beverages are complimentary on trans and intra pacific flights and available for sale on other international flights.

In some ways, the provision of beverages might be considered a minor
matter. However, it seemed indicative of the serious deterioration in
the standard of United’s customer service on this flight. The standard
of the meal has deteriorated compared to a few years ago and the dinner
on this flight was almost inedible. The flight attendants were polite
but hardly friendly or attentive.

Three weeks before this flight, I had flown (as mentioned above) with
your Star Alliance partner, Singapore Airlines, on a Boeing 747-400,
similar to the aircraft I flew with United. However, the contrast was
obvious. The United aircraft was clearly showing its age and had
substandard facilities. Singapore (and other of your Star Alliance
partners) have had video-on-demand for a number of years with an
extensive movie selection, even in Economy. By contrast, United’s
entertainment service has not moved into the 21st Century and is below
standard for a long, trans-Pacific flight.

For many years, I chose to fly United and experienced superior service
than on other airlines. It was because I chose to fly United that I then
flew other Star Alliance carriers. Following my recent experience, I
will now ONLY fly United because it is a part of Star Alliance. Because
I generally prefer Star Alliance carriers, I will endure United (or I
will ask my travel agent to explore booking my from LAX to Sydney on Air
New Zealand).

I deeply regret that The Friendly Skies, at least between the US and
Australia, have clearly become decidedly unfriendly.

Durrant says having to pay for alcohol on the flight was NOT his primary complaint; it was, rather, indicative of the general change in United’s customer service .

He says that in her reply the UA Australia managing director concentrated on the alcohol misinformation, admitting that one part of their web site had included incorrect information about paying for alcohol, but pointed out that another part of their web site (which I had not accessed) contained the correct
information.

“However, she COMPLETELY failed to respond to my more
general question about the deterioration in service in United’s economy
class, ” he says.

“Her reply was to send me a glossy brochure about business class!

“My colleagues in the US tell me that flying within the US, on virtually
all airlines, is now no different from travelling by Greyhound coach. It
seems that SFO-SYD or LAX-SYD on United is now just a longer Greyhound
ride!”.