Includes a lot of things I missed while in Alaska.....
USADA has been after Lance for years. - They finally got their man, never mind that they ignored due process and the rule of law to do so.
The Agenda 21 nut-jobs now have a National face. - Maybe they can recruit Craig James?
Taxpayer funds to downtown developers to build homes for the well-off. - The Houston Way.
Randy Travis is either melting down or he has a new album coming out soon. - I haven't heard anything on the latter so I'm assuming the former.
You see, weather is a system. - Not just a series of single events. The problem with the AGW nuts is that they don't understand this.
The voice of Sesame Street's Count passed away.
Neil Armstrong passed away.
One man helped teach a generation to count, the other inspired Millions of people to dream. RIP to them both.
The debate over airlines and dress codes. - Airlines should be able to enforce them, but they should also be required to clearly spell out what is acceptable and what is not. It should not be arbitrary.
Samsung cribbed ideas from Apple. - OK then. (Still not buying an Apple device)
Houston Democrats gone wild. - In what could be the funniest story of the local election news cycle.
So much for Berger being "non-alarmist" - This guy is worse than the real meteorologists on TV.
Free Texas Prostitutes! - I can't see that being an election-year battle cry, but you never know.
Perry Derangement Syndrome continues. - Let me help the political writers at the Chron here for a second. Perry lost to Romney, it makes sense that the actual candidate for office get the majority of the attention, not the people who lost to him. Hope that helps.
The case against Chip and Pin technology in credit cards. - It's a case I agree with, especially on the consumer protection front.
Why, even lowest tier, elite status still matters. - I wrote a post similar to this a few weeks ago, although I don't think the reasons to remain loyal are as many as this writer. (There are a few advantages however) I also think the cards will continue to gain ground on elite status because it's so profitable to the airlines.
When the Houston Press criticizes anyone on thier falling journalism standards. - Hilarity ensues.
Sadler to Cruz: Go back to Canada. - Leave it to the Newsish Texas Tribune to "break" a non-story from an unserious candidate. Or, why it always helps to know your friendly news outlets.
Ron Paul Supporters are angry. - In related news, hurricanes have strong winds. If this is the biggest scandal you can find.....
And finally.....
The Chron's former teen columnist decides to whine. - A LOT. In a real newspaper she'd be a staff reporter, at the wreck that is the Chron she's given a byline. This concludes this week's "our newspaper sucks" rant.
Monday, August 27, 2012
Monday, August 20, 2012
Santa Barbara: Brophy Brothers
A few weeks ago (I know, I know) when I did my initial write-up on Santa Barbara I promised to talk more about some of the food we ate while there. Due to its location on the coast there is, as you might imagine, some good seafood on menus.
If you take the State St. Trolley down to the end of the line (you'll be at a round-a-bout with a dolphin statue) you'll find several dining options. After speaking with locals The Wife and I had narrowed it down to two choices. The Santa Barbara Shellfish Co. or Brophy Brothers we decided to go with the latter due to it's placement in the middle of the harbor. The Shellfish Co. looked good but it's on the end of a long fishing pier with nothing really around it. Brophy Bros. seems to be a small local chain (OK, they have two locations), but it doesn't really have a chain feel when you're in the restaurant. Their menu is here.
When you arrive at Brophy Bros. you have to go up a flight of stairs to get to the hostess' stand. If there's a wait (and there's usually a wait as I understand it, at least on the weekends) then you're given a pager and invited to go downstairs to a small bar where you can wait. The Wife and I decided to wait down there, me with a vodka tonic, her with a Bloody Maria. After about 15 minutes, or so, we were paged, walked back up the stairs and were seated.
Since we live in Houston and oysters are off the menu for a few months, I started with 1 dozen on the half shell and my wife chose cold boiled shrimp. There are no pictures of these because they didn't look any different than what you would think they would look like. I chose, for my drink, a California beer called Firestone DBA (Double Barrel Ale) it turned out to be a hoppy, deep amber beer with some spice notes that lingered after drinking in a non unpleasant kind of way. Besides this they had the usual run of domestic beers, of which the crowd inside seemed quite content to drink in good quantities.
For our entrees I chose crab cakes with rice pilaf and a cup of clam chowder(not pictured) and The Wife chose the celiac's version of fish and chips, broiled Mahi Mahi with fries. She had a salad (not pictured) instead of the chowder for obvious reasons.
Both of us were very satisfied with our menu selections. The clam chowder I had for the soup/salad course was served in a coffee cup with oyster crackers and was very good. There's no chowder picture because when it got there I chowed down. If you have any question as to why I'm not a food blogger, part of it lies with my unwillingness to stop and take a picture of everything placed on the table.
The highlight of my meal was the crab cakes. They were well seasoned and definitely contained more crab than filling. I appreciated the kitchen placing the dipping sauce on the side instead of pouring the ribbon over the top of the cakes as is the rage now. The sauce was similar to a roumelade, but it was listed on the menu as a "roasted red bell pepper aioli". The rice pilaf was OK, nothing special but certainly not bad. My wife's Mahi Mahi was cooked well, lightly seasoned and the mango chutney that came with it was very good. If I had to pick nits on her plate the fries were poor. Mushy fries that tasted like they could have sat in the oil for just a bit longer. Definitely frozen, not made on site. If they were made on site then Brophy Bros. needs to work on that.
I want to spend just a minute talking about the cole slaw because it was the absolute best cole slaw I've ever had at a restaurant period. The Brophy Bros. version is a cream style slaw, but it's obvious that they are making this in house because I could taste the fresh cabbage underneath the sauce. Brophy Bros. is one of the few restaurants that don't over sauce their slaw. It was outstanding, fresh tasting and my wife considered ordering a pint to go, but we didn't have a refrigerator in the room so she passed.
Above the food however, the best thing about Brophy's is the view:
As the sun is setting, during the golden hour, the view from Brophy's is probably one of the prettiest vistas up and down the California coast. The beach there is amazing, although not the white sandy beaches that you might think. Oddly, we did see a few oil rigs off in the distance out in the water. Certainly shallow-water wells on State lands.
I'm not in the business of 'rating' restaurants. For one, I'm nowhere near a food critic, I'm also aware that my expectations and likes are going to be different than yours. I will point out that the atmosphere at Brophy's is casual, and it's a very loud dining room, so it's probably not the place to take someone for a romantic evening out. However, the customers that are there seem to be locals or people who spend a lot of time in Santa Barbara so you do get a pretty robust view of local culture. The seafood is fresh, the service is pleasant if not formal/professional (most of the wait staff seemed to be local high school or UCSB students) and they did a good job keeping the drinks full and taking care of needs. I did notice a lot of them working together as a true team, running food to other tables, filling drinks at tables, bus-boys helping with water and tea refills etc. so that helps getting the customers (and tables) turned. All in all a pleasant evening out with a good meal.
Highly recommend.
If you take the State St. Trolley down to the end of the line (you'll be at a round-a-bout with a dolphin statue) you'll find several dining options. After speaking with locals The Wife and I had narrowed it down to two choices. The Santa Barbara Shellfish Co. or Brophy Brothers we decided to go with the latter due to it's placement in the middle of the harbor. The Shellfish Co. looked good but it's on the end of a long fishing pier with nothing really around it. Brophy Bros. seems to be a small local chain (OK, they have two locations), but it doesn't really have a chain feel when you're in the restaurant. Their menu is here.
When you arrive at Brophy Bros. you have to go up a flight of stairs to get to the hostess' stand. If there's a wait (and there's usually a wait as I understand it, at least on the weekends) then you're given a pager and invited to go downstairs to a small bar where you can wait. The Wife and I decided to wait down there, me with a vodka tonic, her with a Bloody Maria. After about 15 minutes, or so, we were paged, walked back up the stairs and were seated.
Since we live in Houston and oysters are off the menu for a few months, I started with 1 dozen on the half shell and my wife chose cold boiled shrimp. There are no pictures of these because they didn't look any different than what you would think they would look like. I chose, for my drink, a California beer called Firestone DBA (Double Barrel Ale) it turned out to be a hoppy, deep amber beer with some spice notes that lingered after drinking in a non unpleasant kind of way. Besides this they had the usual run of domestic beers, of which the crowd inside seemed quite content to drink in good quantities.
 |
| Brophy dining room |
 |
| FireStone DBA |
 |
| Crab cakes w/rice pilaf and cole slaw |
 |
| Grilled Mahi Mahi with chips and cole slaw |
The highlight of my meal was the crab cakes. They were well seasoned and definitely contained more crab than filling. I appreciated the kitchen placing the dipping sauce on the side instead of pouring the ribbon over the top of the cakes as is the rage now. The sauce was similar to a roumelade, but it was listed on the menu as a "roasted red bell pepper aioli". The rice pilaf was OK, nothing special but certainly not bad. My wife's Mahi Mahi was cooked well, lightly seasoned and the mango chutney that came with it was very good. If I had to pick nits on her plate the fries were poor. Mushy fries that tasted like they could have sat in the oil for just a bit longer. Definitely frozen, not made on site. If they were made on site then Brophy Bros. needs to work on that.
I want to spend just a minute talking about the cole slaw because it was the absolute best cole slaw I've ever had at a restaurant period. The Brophy Bros. version is a cream style slaw, but it's obvious that they are making this in house because I could taste the fresh cabbage underneath the sauce. Brophy Bros. is one of the few restaurants that don't over sauce their slaw. It was outstanding, fresh tasting and my wife considered ordering a pint to go, but we didn't have a refrigerator in the room so she passed.
Above the food however, the best thing about Brophy's is the view:
 |
| View from front lower bar |
 |
| View from front |
 |
| View from upstairs dining area |
 |
| Side view from upstairs dining area |
 |
| View of beach on walk to Brophy's. |
I'm not in the business of 'rating' restaurants. For one, I'm nowhere near a food critic, I'm also aware that my expectations and likes are going to be different than yours. I will point out that the atmosphere at Brophy's is casual, and it's a very loud dining room, so it's probably not the place to take someone for a romantic evening out. However, the customers that are there seem to be locals or people who spend a lot of time in Santa Barbara so you do get a pretty robust view of local culture. The seafood is fresh, the service is pleasant if not formal/professional (most of the wait staff seemed to be local high school or UCSB students) and they did a good job keeping the drinks full and taking care of needs. I did notice a lot of them working together as a true team, running food to other tables, filling drinks at tables, bus-boys helping with water and tea refills etc. so that helps getting the customers (and tables) turned. All in all a pleasant evening out with a good meal.
Highly recommend.
SFO - SBA Good photos at 6,000 feet.
Last month, during our quick weekend away in Santa Barbara, one of the legs of our trip was SFO - SBA via United express. The entire flight took around 45 minutes and we never got higher than 6,000 feet. Because of this the wife was able to snap some nice pictures of the California countryside:
We also snapped some pictures of Air Alaska planes with their Disney livery:
I'm not sure why, but that last picture is loading on my blog upside down. I guess Blogger doesn't like Disney characters?
Anyway, I've got more Santa Barbara pictures that I'm going to be uploading to my Flickr page soon. If you haven't seen that, the link is here. A majority of my travel pictures can be found there as well.
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| Unfortunately, there was a haze |
 |
| Note the municipal airport. |
 |
| Very hazy |
We also snapped some pictures of Air Alaska planes with their Disney livery:
50 years
 |
| Characters |
Anyway, I've got more Santa Barbara pictures that I'm going to be uploading to my Flickr page soon. If you haven't seen that, the link is here. A majority of my travel pictures can be found there as well.
Thursday, August 16, 2012
Are Reward Credit Cards Ruining Travel Blogging?
I present to you the following evidence:
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E
That's a total offour five* blog posts devoted to one question: How much are Hilton Hhonors points really worth. And, in the end, it doesn't really matter because, as One Mile at a Time admitted, miles are basically a personal choice.
Before I go any further let me make one thing perfectly clear: I LIKE both of these blogs. I really do. One Mile at a Time runs some great trip reports, as does View from the Wing. Both guys know and understand the industry and can post some great aspirational trips.
All that being said, it's getting to the point where one in four blog posts is a shill for another credit card "deal" (for which the blogger receives a kick-back -a fact they admit on their blogs) that's just too good for the reader to pass up. In some blog posts you get the feeling that, if you don't click on their link, you're going to be left out holding a light points bag while newly minted credit geniuses hop on board expensive planes and fly away to places you can never hope to go, safely tucked in on the good side of the flimsy little curtain that's pulled close shortly after 10,000 feet.
Look, I've got nothing against bloggers making money. In many cases I believe that a blogger should be paid more than the 'professionals' working for the media. In the travel industry I think this is certainly true, but as the big bloggers circle away from (you know) travel and more toward how to cash in with the latest credit card deal that only requires a $25K annual spend for 10K points with an extra 5K bonus if you're willing to donate your 1st born's spleen should it be needed.
It needs to be said that there is a good reason the banks are pushing rewards cards. They're extremely profitable. In many cases they carry a higher APR which can erode the benefits fairly quickly. The easy answer to this is to "never carry a balance". This is what all of the travel experts will tell you to do. I do this on most of my personal credit cards (two of which ARE points cards FWIW) but, from time to time (like when my A/C went out a couple of months back) I needed the cash so I couldn't pay all of my balance off.
Sure, it's now paid down, but I got nailed for a month or two with a finance charge. Fortunately, I was able to roll the charge on a low-interest card, but had I just paid for a big flight or something on a points card, the interest would have been painful to absorb.
The point is it's starting to get saturated to the point of breaking. When blogs are breaking down into what the value of individual points are because this makes their referral links seem that much more lucrative then there's a problem.
One of the reasons people have abandoned the MSM when it comes to travel advice is that there's a correct feeling that a lot of the articles are bought and paid for. Travel bloggers offered an escape from that. If a hotel had nasty carpet they would say it had nasty carpet and not that it was "homey". There was a lean honesty that arose from some savvy travellers with a marginal writing ability popping up from time to time and saying "wait a minute, this trip sucked".
It's getting to the point that some of the bigger travel blogs are walking down the same road the MSM did except this time, it's about points credit cards carrying high annual fees and APR's instead of hotels with nasty carpet.
One last thought: I said earlier in the post that I really do admire both of these bloggers for the quality of their travel related posts. I'm not suggesting that the baby needs to be thrown out with the bath water. As a reader, you always have the ability to ignore the CC sales pitches and focus on the travel-related content. I suggest you do so. Hopefully it doesn't get to the point that travel content is only about 25% of content instead of CC posts being 25%.
That's the real fear.
*Updated 08/17/2012 @ 7:32 AM to include new blog post from View from the Wing.
Exhibit A
Exhibit B
Exhibit C
Exhibit D
Exhibit E
That's a total of
Before I go any further let me make one thing perfectly clear: I LIKE both of these blogs. I really do. One Mile at a Time runs some great trip reports, as does View from the Wing. Both guys know and understand the industry and can post some great aspirational trips.
All that being said, it's getting to the point where one in four blog posts is a shill for another credit card "deal" (for which the blogger receives a kick-back -a fact they admit on their blogs) that's just too good for the reader to pass up. In some blog posts you get the feeling that, if you don't click on their link, you're going to be left out holding a light points bag while newly minted credit geniuses hop on board expensive planes and fly away to places you can never hope to go, safely tucked in on the good side of the flimsy little curtain that's pulled close shortly after 10,000 feet.
Look, I've got nothing against bloggers making money. In many cases I believe that a blogger should be paid more than the 'professionals' working for the media. In the travel industry I think this is certainly true, but as the big bloggers circle away from (you know) travel and more toward how to cash in with the latest credit card deal that only requires a $25K annual spend for 10K points with an extra 5K bonus if you're willing to donate your 1st born's spleen should it be needed.
It needs to be said that there is a good reason the banks are pushing rewards cards. They're extremely profitable. In many cases they carry a higher APR which can erode the benefits fairly quickly. The easy answer to this is to "never carry a balance". This is what all of the travel experts will tell you to do. I do this on most of my personal credit cards (two of which ARE points cards FWIW) but, from time to time (like when my A/C went out a couple of months back) I needed the cash so I couldn't pay all of my balance off.
Sure, it's now paid down, but I got nailed for a month or two with a finance charge. Fortunately, I was able to roll the charge on a low-interest card, but had I just paid for a big flight or something on a points card, the interest would have been painful to absorb.
The point is it's starting to get saturated to the point of breaking. When blogs are breaking down into what the value of individual points are because this makes their referral links seem that much more lucrative then there's a problem.
One of the reasons people have abandoned the MSM when it comes to travel advice is that there's a correct feeling that a lot of the articles are bought and paid for. Travel bloggers offered an escape from that. If a hotel had nasty carpet they would say it had nasty carpet and not that it was "homey". There was a lean honesty that arose from some savvy travellers with a marginal writing ability popping up from time to time and saying "wait a minute, this trip sucked".
It's getting to the point that some of the bigger travel blogs are walking down the same road the MSM did except this time, it's about points credit cards carrying high annual fees and APR's instead of hotels with nasty carpet.
One last thought: I said earlier in the post that I really do admire both of these bloggers for the quality of their travel related posts. I'm not suggesting that the baby needs to be thrown out with the bath water. As a reader, you always have the ability to ignore the CC sales pitches and focus on the travel-related content. I suggest you do so. Hopefully it doesn't get to the point that travel content is only about 25% of content instead of CC posts being 25%.
That's the real fear.
*Updated 08/17/2012 @ 7:32 AM to include new blog post from View from the Wing.
Short Haul Flights (08/16/12)
The "B fare class" edition....
City Proposal aims to bring more rooftops downtown. Shaina Zucker, HBJ - You would think, if the market was there, developers would be all over trying to build residences in the high-property value downtown area. Houston's new urbanist crowd has never let a little thing like logic stand in the way of building Houtopia.
November ballots will be rife with Houston bond issues. Shaina Zucker, HBJ. - That's $2.7 Billion dollars worth of bonds. Yes, that's Billion with a B. And contrary to Mayor Parker's 'no tax increase' statement the truth is that the bond issue authorizes one. Your mileage may vary as to whether that's reason enough to vote against the bond, but it is interesting that the Mayor feels the need to conceal the truth in such a manner.
American Airlines loses bid to toss pilot's contract. Sheryl Jean, DMN.com - It sounds like a loss, but a closer reading of the judges decision reveals it to really be somewhat of a win. If I'm with the pilot's union I'm seriously trying to get back to the bargaining table before AA submits a new filing (and wins).
Spindletop Dog Refuge for Pit Bulls: What went so horribly wrong? Craig Malisow, Houston Press - Horrible story. Just a horrible, horrible story. As someone who does some pit-bull rescue work I just don't know what to say about this right now. I do encourage everyone to read the story however, if nothing else to see that it's not the breed. The dogs can be salvaged, it's the people I'm not so sure about.
Axelrod: "Chains" comment not racial. McKenzie Weigner, Politico - Oh boy. Just Oh boy. This is the end-game of the ridiculousness that's surrounded the racism debate over the last six or so years.
Armed stripper accused of attempting to rob man. ABCLocal:KTRK - OK this recession has gone on long enough.
Houston Immigrants apply for deferred action program. James Pinkerton, Chron.com - They'd be silly not to.
Private firm planning bullet train between Houton and Dallas. AP via KHOU.com - They're saying that they won't be spending public money so good luck to them.
And finally:
U.S. Makes History, and a Houston Texan and Dynamo were key. Jose de Jesus Ortiz. Chron.com - Historic win by the US, friendly or no. It's just a friendly but maybe the U-23's missing the Olympics was the wake-up call that the US team needed?
City Proposal aims to bring more rooftops downtown. Shaina Zucker, HBJ - You would think, if the market was there, developers would be all over trying to build residences in the high-property value downtown area. Houston's new urbanist crowd has never let a little thing like logic stand in the way of building Houtopia.
November ballots will be rife with Houston bond issues. Shaina Zucker, HBJ. - That's $2.7 Billion dollars worth of bonds. Yes, that's Billion with a B. And contrary to Mayor Parker's 'no tax increase' statement the truth is that the bond issue authorizes one. Your mileage may vary as to whether that's reason enough to vote against the bond, but it is interesting that the Mayor feels the need to conceal the truth in such a manner.
American Airlines loses bid to toss pilot's contract. Sheryl Jean, DMN.com - It sounds like a loss, but a closer reading of the judges decision reveals it to really be somewhat of a win. If I'm with the pilot's union I'm seriously trying to get back to the bargaining table before AA submits a new filing (and wins).
Spindletop Dog Refuge for Pit Bulls: What went so horribly wrong? Craig Malisow, Houston Press - Horrible story. Just a horrible, horrible story. As someone who does some pit-bull rescue work I just don't know what to say about this right now. I do encourage everyone to read the story however, if nothing else to see that it's not the breed. The dogs can be salvaged, it's the people I'm not so sure about.
Axelrod: "Chains" comment not racial. McKenzie Weigner, Politico - Oh boy. Just Oh boy. This is the end-game of the ridiculousness that's surrounded the racism debate over the last six or so years.
Armed stripper accused of attempting to rob man. ABCLocal:KTRK - OK this recession has gone on long enough.
Houston Immigrants apply for deferred action program. James Pinkerton, Chron.com - They'd be silly not to.
Private firm planning bullet train between Houton and Dallas. AP via KHOU.com - They're saying that they won't be spending public money so good luck to them.
And finally:
U.S. Makes History, and a Houston Texan and Dynamo were key. Jose de Jesus Ortiz. Chron.com - Historic win by the US, friendly or no. It's just a friendly but maybe the U-23's missing the Olympics was the wake-up call that the US team needed?
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Can United be fixed?
That's the question asked by Christopher Elliott of Frommer's in an article running on KNDO.com:
Can United Airlines Fix Itself? Christopher Elliott, KNDO.com
The article itself is inconclusive. You get the feeling that Elliott liked the United executives that he spoke with but didn't exactly buy their lines.
Here's one example of why I think United has a long, tough road ahead of it:
As a United customer, I'm reminded of the Al Pacino line in Ocean's 13: "Don't tell me about the labor pains, just show me the baby." The problems, for the most part, in this case are not the customer. Sure there are a few people who wouldn't be happy if you set them down in exclusive class and had attractive 20-something massage therapists rubbing them down all flight with massage oil flown in from exotic locales that was handled by nothing but soft-handed virgins but, they're the exception. Most people just want their plane to depart/arrive on time. Business travellers need to make meetings and vacationers don't want to have to sweat the flight, they want to enjoy their time off. Yes you're going to have people who are mad because you didn't treat them like the Maharajah of Suburbia and that's OK. Those are the people the rest of us laugh at while they gripe that UA doesn't serve Krug in lead crystal. They're also the people that swirl wine in a plastic wine cup so it's quite possible they could not be 100% right in the head. Let's ignore them, focus on the rest of us.
Here's where United's failing: Instead of telling us how hard things are, admit they're hard by hiring better and more customer service and fix the things that are wrong when the hard stuff pops up. I'm probably going to be more understanding about a flight delay if the gate agent honestly and frequently updates me on the status and reason. If the delay gets excessive I'm likely to be OK if customer service would consider waiving the re-booking fee as a convenience. If I call (or e-mail) into customer service I'd like to get an answer before it's time to upgrade my cell-phone plan. Also this: Smiles are nice. I may have the dumbest question in the world but don't roll your eyes at me. Not everyone is the fount of flying knowledge that you are Gatey.
This brings us to fees.
No one, except the airlines, are ever going to be happy with fees. Eventually they will be tolerated, and someday they will become commonplace, but no one is ever going to like them. The fee storm is going to have to be ridden out by the airlines because the genie is out of the bottle and there's no stuffing it back inside. It might be wise for United to consider putting the brakes on any fee increases for a while however, because right now their customers tolerance levels are at all time lows, and an increase of a fee for worse service is hard to justify from a company who's CEO smiles on every flight and talks to customers about "changes we think you're gonna like." Reactions that I've heard to Smiling Jeff's safety video introduction have ranged from audible boos to "I'd like to punch him in the face. I wonder if he'd like that change." As a side note, Smisek is not a popular guy right now, it might be a good idea to hire a spokesperson.
Finally, there's this from the article:
It also wouldn't hurt United to offer up a genuine dose of "we're really sorry" to the general public. Then they're going to have to work to bring people back, each and every day, each and every flight. I don't see that kind of effort happening until some sort of labor peace is obtained.
So, to answer the question at the beginning of this post: Can United be fixed?
I say yes, of course it can be fixed. The real question in my mind is whether or not it can be fixed in time to matter, or can it be fixed by the current executive team?
Based on what I'm seeing and reading that answer is closer to no than yes.
Can United Airlines Fix Itself? Christopher Elliott, KNDO.com
I recently spent a day touring the company's new headquarters in Chicago, visiting with managers and executives who oversee customer service initiatives. Most of the meetings began with an apology and a promise: "We can do better."
But can it? Can United, still wobbly after a difficult merger with Continental Airlines, right itself?
The article itself is inconclusive. You get the feeling that Elliott liked the United executives that he spoke with but didn't exactly buy their lines.
Here's one example of why I think United has a long, tough road ahead of it:
I came away with a sense that United's managers in downtown Chicago are as exasperated as the customers who complain about the airline's substandard performance, but for different reasons. If we passengers could only appreciate the complexity of running an airline, they say, maybe we wouldn't be so quick to judge. If we could understand how difficult it is to merge two large airlines, we'd give them a break.If that's the prevailing attitude at United corporate offices, then no, it's highly unlikely that United IS going to fix itself, at least without massive changes in the executive suites.
As a United customer, I'm reminded of the Al Pacino line in Ocean's 13: "Don't tell me about the labor pains, just show me the baby." The problems, for the most part, in this case are not the customer. Sure there are a few people who wouldn't be happy if you set them down in exclusive class and had attractive 20-something massage therapists rubbing them down all flight with massage oil flown in from exotic locales that was handled by nothing but soft-handed virgins but, they're the exception. Most people just want their plane to depart/arrive on time. Business travellers need to make meetings and vacationers don't want to have to sweat the flight, they want to enjoy their time off. Yes you're going to have people who are mad because you didn't treat them like the Maharajah of Suburbia and that's OK. Those are the people the rest of us laugh at while they gripe that UA doesn't serve Krug in lead crystal. They're also the people that swirl wine in a plastic wine cup so it's quite possible they could not be 100% right in the head. Let's ignore them, focus on the rest of us.
Here's where United's failing: Instead of telling us how hard things are, admit they're hard by hiring better and more customer service and fix the things that are wrong when the hard stuff pops up. I'm probably going to be more understanding about a flight delay if the gate agent honestly and frequently updates me on the status and reason. If the delay gets excessive I'm likely to be OK if customer service would consider waiving the re-booking fee as a convenience. If I call (or e-mail) into customer service I'd like to get an answer before it's time to upgrade my cell-phone plan. Also this: Smiles are nice. I may have the dumbest question in the world but don't roll your eyes at me. Not everyone is the fount of flying knowledge that you are Gatey.
This brings us to fees.
No one, except the airlines, are ever going to be happy with fees. Eventually they will be tolerated, and someday they will become commonplace, but no one is ever going to like them. The fee storm is going to have to be ridden out by the airlines because the genie is out of the bottle and there's no stuffing it back inside. It might be wise for United to consider putting the brakes on any fee increases for a while however, because right now their customers tolerance levels are at all time lows, and an increase of a fee for worse service is hard to justify from a company who's CEO smiles on every flight and talks to customers about "changes we think you're gonna like." Reactions that I've heard to Smiling Jeff's safety video introduction have ranged from audible boos to "I'd like to punch him in the face. I wonder if he'd like that change." As a side note, Smisek is not a popular guy right now, it might be a good idea to hire a spokesperson.
Finally, there's this from the article:
And will the improvements be enough, or will they just affect a chosen few super-elites in the front of the plane?This, to me, is a big worry, because everything that Smiling Jeff has mentioned has been about improving the business and first class hard products. This tells me that they're OK with what's going on in economy or, more likely, that they really don't care. I've never been one to begrudge First and Business Class fliers special privileges. I believe that if you pay for those seats, or are upgraded to them, that you should expect a higher level of comfort and service, both in the airport and on the plane. What I don't think is that the economy product should be ignored. It seems, right now, that United is doing precisely that. Considering the largest number of customers are going to be wedged into the sardine can in the back, you could at least make sure the cattle is treated humanely.
It also wouldn't hurt United to offer up a genuine dose of "we're really sorry" to the general public. Then they're going to have to work to bring people back, each and every day, each and every flight. I don't see that kind of effort happening until some sort of labor peace is obtained.
So, to answer the question at the beginning of this post: Can United be fixed?
I say yes, of course it can be fixed. The real question in my mind is whether or not it can be fixed in time to matter, or can it be fixed by the current executive team?
Based on what I'm seeing and reading that answer is closer to no than yes.
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