Transportation Industry

Company Watch - United Airlines

AirGuide Business, Jan 7, 2008

Jan 7, 2008

There have been tentative first steps to get US travelers accustomed to paying extra for fuel. United Airlines added a USD$5 fuel surcharge to domestic flights in November and doubled it in December. Jan 3, 2008

United Airlines bases its decisions to cancel flights during severe weather on safety and minimizing the inconvenience to travelers, writes Chief Operating Officer Pete McDonald in a letter to the Chicago Tribune. "That is exactly what we did throughout December," he writes. "This was the most challenging December in United's history, with delays from weather and air-traffic control issues more than double those of our competitors." Jan 3, 2008

The United Airlines cancellations, as well as an extremely high number of delays over the last two weeks, underscore a tumultuous operating environment as the industry contends with soaring fuel costs and the prospect of weaker travel demand in a softening US economy. United's performance in December and on January 1 was not in that league, however, as many of its cancellations were made in advance of the weather to mitigate the impact on travelers. Jan 1, 2008

United Airlines pilots union said the airline was simply understaffed during the hectic holiday travel season. Other experts also doubted UAL's explanation but declined to speculate on the airline's staffing needs. Between December 23 and December 31, United canceled 1,033 flights, compared with 243 cancellations by American, which also has a hub in Chicago. United's pilots union blamed management for the poor operational performance over the holiday period. United disputed ALPA's claim, saying it had 115 more pilots in December than it did a year earlier. That equates to a 2 percent increase in the number of pilots, despite a 1.5 percent decrease in flying, United's McCarthy said. ALPA has long criticized UAL management for labor cost-cuts during the airline's bankruptcy, which ended in February 2006. UAL used its court protection to cut its work force by 25 percent and dump its underfunded pensions on government pension insurers. Jan 1, 2008

United Cancels More Flights, Pilots Dispute Cause. United Airlines canceled dozens of flights on Wednesday, adding to the more than 1,100 cancellations since December 23 that the carrier blamed on weather but its pilots blamed on insufficient staffing. United has canceled more than four times as many flights as its closest competitor, American Airlines, since a December 23 storm hit its Chicago hub. United had canceled 58 flights as of Wednesday afternoon, compared with 78 on Tuesday. The cancellation rate, while lower than the peak rates last week, is tracking well ahead of rivals, according to data from FlightStats, which tracks airline performance. Jan 1, 2008

Editorial eMail: edit@AirGuideOnline.com For Air Transport & Travel Business Experts contact our Director of Content Aram Gesar eMail: bizintel@AirGuideOnline.com

News You Can Use. For more global news, reviews, features and analysis, please subscribe to our Newsletters: http://www.airguideonline.com/order_formsubs.htm#news

To Advertise: advert@AirGuideOnline.com

AirGuideFlightTracker is a new real-time service that keeps travelers informed on flight and airport status, delays, security wait times via the Web. For more go to http://www.airguideonline.com/airline_tracker.htm