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2009's Worst Domestic Airline Is...

December 30, 2009 at 9:30 AM | by | Comment (1)

This was some rough year for Chicago-based international legacy carrier United Airlines. Defeat came in the form of public relations nightmares like the United Breaks Guitars music video and winning the SeatGuru awards for "worst flight attendants," but let's also not forget the case of the drunk pilot and the FAA fining them millions of dollars over security lapses.

There are some bright spots through the dark United clouds however, since 2009 also saw them move on up to occupy office space in Chicago's Sears/Willis Tower and they outfitted 13 planes with in-flight WiFi from Gogo. But all of this is a surface spitshine, easily cancelled out by the fact that United led the charge for Baggage Fees, and spent the year increasing them incrementally and then imposing special "holiday" flight fees. Plus, you've even turned away our United frequent-flying friend when you nearly doubled the amount of miles needed for reward flights to Asia.

United needs to set some nice New Year resolutions and stick to them.

Related Stories:
· All 2009 Travel Award stories [Jaunted]
· Jaunty winners for 2008 [Jaunted]

[Photo: matt.hintsa]

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UA Is the Most Improved

UA made a lot of progress this year. For the 12 months ending in October 2008, it was 18th in ontime performance. For the same period ending in October 2009, they were 7th. That's a pretty damn good improvement. Ted was finally killed off, and all of those A320s now have brand new interiors. The hookup with CO is a boon for UA elites and opens up new connecting opportunities. And while you are focusing on domestic, the new seats on the 763/744 aircraft are perhaps the best of all the US legacies. Add the first aircraft order from UA in over ten years - I think they made good progress.
Dan Webb on December 31, 2009 at 9:42 AM #Permalink

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