Ted's Revenge (or how United is making a HUGE mistake)
An upcoming major announcement by United leaked yesterday. It comes from a flight attendant newsletter and details some major changes to United's on-board meal services.
You might think of it as the return of Ted. Or at least Ted's Revenge.
No more hot meals in 3-cabin business class on domestic routes. That means if you fly LAX-IAD-FCO-IAD-LAX in business class for ~10 grand you can look forward to the same buy-on-board box that the economy passangers can buy. But you get your drinks for free. So it's still good service. Right? :(
Speaking of service. The other major thing you might not notice is that United is dropping their flight attendant staffing levels down to FAA minimums and/or other lower levels because of the reduced meal service because of the buy-on-board services. Expect frustraited flight attendants and slower service.
They are also dropping free meals in economy on many international routes and charging more for the buy-on-board and other food offerings.
This screams of desperation by United. And they are desperate. All of the airlines are. But this seems like a major tactical error by United. So much for United's premium international service advertising campaign that they've been spending big bucks on during the Olympics.
I'm not alone. Cranky Flier posts most of the leak on his blog and he just gave United a Cranky Jackass Award in response. One Mile at a Time thinks this may be the end of United (at least if they can't get new management). View from the Wing worries that Mileage Plus might be next.
As with everyting in life it is best to be prepared. Here is a link to the CDC for information on the Travel restrictions. http://pfx.me/NP
Posted by: Mira's Desk | April 27, 2009 at 10:21 AM