Post: #1

http://seattletimes.com/html/travel/2022...tsxml.html

United Airlines aims for $2B in cost savings

United Airlines said Tuesday that it will cut costs, overhaul its website, and shift flying from Asia to Europe as it aims to keep shareholders happy.

United didn’t announce any furloughs as part of the cost-cutting measures outlined on Tuesday in a presentation to investors. A spokeswoman declined to comment on whether its plans include furloughs.

United says it is aiming to burn less fuel, make workers more productive, and improve its maintenance processes. It has been working with its mechanics’ union to revamp which maintenance jobs are done by the 2,000 workers at its San Francisco maintenance center, said Greg Hart, who runs the airline’s technical operations.

United said it will overhaul its United.com website in phases starting next year.

The airline has been struggling to run smoothly and produce consistent profits since merging with Continental in 2010.

“In many ways it’s felt like we’ve been managing a merger and not an airline,” Chairman and CEO Jeff Smisek said. He added that “behind the scenes we’ve been laying the foundation for significant earnings improvement, and consistent earnings.”

S&P Capital IQ analyst Jim Corridore wrote in a note that he’s “very positive” on United’s goals, but the airline hasn’t consistently executed its plans. “We would like to see some traction on these plans,” he wrote.

One of United’s goals is to boost the revenue it gets from add-ons such as meals, baggage, and admission to its lounges by $700 million, to $3.5 billion in 2017. It didn’t lay out specific new fees or plans in this area, but executives said options include bundling together fees. United already has several like that, such as $349 for a “subscription” for a year’s worth of checked baggage.

United is also adjusting where it flies. In March it will stop flying between Seattle and Tokyo under intense pressure from Delta Air Lines Inc. United will instead add a second daily flight to Tokyo from its biggest hub, Houston.

United partner All Nippon Airways still flies Seattle-Tokyo.

Delta is United’s archrival on Asia flying. It has two daily flights from Seattle to Tokyo, including a recently-added flight to Haneda airport, which is popular with business travelers because it is closer to Tokyo’s downtown.

United is also dropping some flights within Asia, including Tokyo-to-Bangkok, and using a smaller plane for Tokyo-to-Seoul. It will still connect passengers on those routes through partner ANA.

Those planes that had been used in Asia will be shifted to new flights from Houston to Munich, and new seasonal flying from Washington to Madrid and Chicago to Edinburgh, Scotland.

United expects to boost overall 2014 flying capacity by 1 percent to 2 percent.

Investors have been watching for United to catch up with Delta in providing reliable profits.

Delta posted a 2012 profit, while United lost money. Analysts expect Delta to post a fourth-quarter profit, while United is expected to break even.

United said it will begin returning cash to shareholders in 2015. The company didn’t say how, but returning cash typically involves paying a dividend or buying back shares. Delta reinstated a dividend in September.

Shares of Chicago-based United Continental Holdings Inc. rose $1.33, or 3.7 percent, to $37.71 in afternoon trading. The stock is up 28 percent over the past three months.

Post: #2

Post: #3

I have never flown with them, only heard horror stories, so they won't be missed! Actually good riddance as crappy airlines can only survive so long before going down.

Post: #4

(12-18-2013 08:43 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  I have never flown with them, only heard horror stories, so they won't be missed! Actually good riddance as crappy airlines can only survive so long before going down.

More airlines flying the same routes means more competition and lower prices. This isn't good news for anyone who flies North America to Asia, even if you never fly United.

Post: #5

(12-18-2013 08:43 PM)Vacancier Permanent Wrote:  I have never flown with them, only heard horror stories, so they won't be missed! Actually good riddance as crappy airlines can only survive so long before going down.

you've obviously never experienced the wonder and opulence that is delta airlines.

Post: #6

I'll fly Emirates. They're cheaper any way. I've heard good things about Korea air too. Once you get there it's air Asia all the way.

Post: #7

(12-19-2013 12:49 PM)birdrussell Wrote:  I'll fly Emirates. They're cheaper any way. I've heard good things about Korea air too. Once you get there it's air Asia all the way.

Emirates is awesome, I've flown quite a bit with them. Air Asia has the hottest chicks of any airline I've ever flown with. I've never seen an ugly girl on about 6 flights with Air Asia.

Post: #8

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar are expanding their destinations in the USA this coming year, so that should balance things out if you are on the east coast going to east Asia.

I have no problem with United, have taken their long flights from Kuwait and Dubai a couple of times.

I suspect some of the gulf carriers (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar) are subsidized so offer superior service for the price.

Kuwait Airways is poor with old aircraft, Gulf Air ok but nothing special.

Post: #9

The Air Asia ticket girl was all over me at the Udon Thani airport the other day. Mad cute.

Love that airport, those isaan chicks are starved for young, handsome, white men. All they see is Thais and old dirty white dudes with their isaan wives.

Post: #10

(12-19-2013 06:43 PM)Sp5 Wrote:  Emirates, Etihad and Qatar are expanding their destinations in the USA this coming year, so that should balance things out if you are on the east coast going to east Asia.

I have no problem with United, have taken their long flights from Kuwait and Dubai a couple of times.

I suspect some of the gulf carriers (Emirates, Etihad and Qatar) are subsidized so offer superior service for the price.

Kuwait Airways is poor with old aircraft, Gulf Air ok but nothing special.

This

Could be one of the hidden reasons why United is dropping flights.

From major cities, Emirates rival prices to quite a few Asian countries (especially the ones that are predominantly Muslim). Add to the fact that Emirates is a 5 star airline it makes sense that United is loosing money on these flights.

Post: #11

All this compeittion is good anyways. I wonder how long it will be until we see a major foreign airline have domestic flights within the US?

Post: #12

(12-20-2013 09:55 AM)CThunder86 Wrote:  All this compeittion is good anyways. I wonder how long it will be until we see a major foreign airline have domestic flights within the US?

Never. It's prevented by anti-cabotage laws:
http://www.doi.gov/oia/igia/2011/upload/...ageDOT.pdf

Note that many other countries do this also -- it's not unique to the US. In the EU, a carrier from one EU country can I believe offer domestic flights within another EU country, but foreign carriers can't do the same.

Post: #13

(12-20-2013 09:55 AM)CThunder86 Wrote:  All this compeittion is good anyways. I wonder how long it will be until we see a major foreign airline have domestic flights within the US?

Feminists will throw a fucking fit. Foreign airlines know to hire young, sweet and petite women as flight attendants.

http://m.travel.cnn.com/thai-airlines-se...ent-076031

Quote:In 2011, he was in the news for confirming that the airline hires only young flight attendants on short contracts while replacing older cabin crew to rejuvenate brand image and appeal to passengers.

"The idea of keeping our attendants young is because we believe young girls, being new at their profession, would be more passionate in serving our customers because their focus is more on their career," he says of the controversy.

http://m.theaustralian.com.au/opinion/st...6098578216[/quote]

Quote:THE chief executive of Thailand's low-cost airline Nok Air, Patee Sarasin, showed that political correctness is quite different in Thailand, compared with Australia -- as evidenced by his unashamedly sexist attitude. He told a Sydney conference yesterday that his airline employed models in their mid-20s as flight attendants, neither "the pretty girls who were not so nice because of high egos", nor "the ugly girls with beautiful characters".

"What we do is we combine the two: beautiful girls and nice girls you know?" he said.

He was then asked if his cabin crew selection criteria has seen him play a role in electing Thailand's first female Prime Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra. "No, no, I didn't elect her but she's quite good looking, right?" he replied. "Compared to your Prime Minister, she's much better looking."

Fucking love Nok Air lol.

Post: #14

I've been watching prices for flights to BKK for the past few months and the only US airline that competes with the Asian ones on that route is Delta.

For example, one-way from LAX to BKK on Jan. 26th:

Philippines Airlines: $500
Delta and a handful of other Asian airlines $600-700
Air China: $800
American Airlines: $900
United: $1,100

It's really not even close. Removing that outlier is not going to effect pricing on the bottom end as they were never in the competition to begin with.

Post: #15

and this is why Delta will kick there midwester asses.