A single picture may just be anecdotal, but United Airlines must not let its cabin interiors deteriorate even with “United Next” retrofits planned.
Aircraft Interiors Must Be Maintained Ahead Of Retrofits At United Airlines
View From The Wing shares the following tweet:
@united can u pls reimburse me? no drink waiver bc i don't have anywhere to place my drink down obvi…i'm a Mileage Plus card holder so how bout some miles? thx pic.twitter.com/bCI3pEnITU
— ¯_(ツ)_/¯ (@shirlalalaley) September 4, 2023
That’s simply unacceptable – I think we can all agree. Sure, maybe taping this up is better than delaying the flight, but this is really an embarrassment.
And while I have not encountered a broken table myself, I have heard from readers that aircraft interior maintenance has been lacking lately. One told me about a burnt-out overhead reading light on a recent flight. Another told me about a cracked window shade. I’ve heard several complaints about wi-fi not working.
I have some of my own, too. These photos are from my last 757 flight:
Again, these are anecdotes, but it is not so unreasonable to wonder if United has decided it will defer some “non-essential” maintenance on narrow-body aircraft because these aircraft will soon be retrofitted anyway.
Whether policy or not, United must ensure that it gets the basics rights onboard, including:
- clean aircraft
- functional seats, including tray tables and power ports
- functional wi-fi
These are absolutely fundamental.
But here’s the thing. When I flew back from South Africa last year, what immediately struck me was the poor condition of the aircraft. This was a Boeing 787-9 Dreamliner–hardly an old aircraft–and had the latest business class product onboard, but the cabin was in a dreadful state.
For example, my side console was cracked and taped up:
The siding was torn:
In the lavatory, the flight attendant call button was broken:
And my napkin had a large hole in it (certainly not intended as a buttonhole…).
Overall, I’ve noticed that the Polaris seats are not aging well, which is perhaps an even greater concern.
CONCLUSION
There’s no smoking gun policy that United is deferring interior maintenance on its older aircraft or anything like that. However, I am concerned that United is not placing adequate focus on the importance of presenting a clean and functional cabin interior on its older jets (and some newer ones too). If United wants to catch Delta Air Lines and command a revenue premium, it is essential that the onboard experience meets such a baseline standard of functionality.
Separately…is this a preview of new Polaris food
https://s3.amazonaws.com/ualmedia/Content/listingImages/20230808/7474c48b-81e1-4f4c-bc70-6e27478fbed8_largesize.jpg
https://exclusives.mileageplus.com/Listing/Details/8558446/Experience-behindthescenes-access-to-the-world-of-inflight-cuisine
See the plated food in the image
Interesting.
First link is dead – do you have a copy of that image you could email me?
It’s extending to catering as well. My flight from Zurich last week had a lipstick covered glass served to me with water, the salt dressing on my tray had been opened and used, the roll had a large hair on it. None of these the end of the world but in J one would expect better with details.
*salad
Thankfully it was a large hair on the roll. I worry more if it’s a small hair on food.
Who needs maintained interiors on older aircraft when you have 100 brand new 787’s on order?
I think there’s a lot of luck involved regarding what equipment you end up with. I fly out of ORD most of the time and find that most of my UA mainline flights are on relatively recent (though not new) aircraft. Usually it’s a United Express carrier that will stick me on an old junker (Air Wisconsin: looking directly at you), but even then it’s hit an miss.
That said, due to circumstances, my last 2 trips involved JetBlue and Delta – both of which featured nearly brand new and very nice aircraft. If that’s the new standard, then I guess I can see the complaint. But I have yet to fly mainline UA and see the sorts of issues photographed here.
Now, I have seen stuff like that on AA…..
“The World’s Greatest Airline” huh. Yeoh Scott Kirby … ya’ still think so ??
The tape highlights the poor cleaning. Or smearing of the filth.
I recently flew United 787-8 and its interior was not just in a bad shape but also filthy. There were visible layers of residuals at air vents and dusty areas behind the Polaris seat and around the IFE monitor. It was not a pleasant experience.
I took a few photos and sent them to Global Services agent to express my concerns.
I received a typical boiler plate response.
What ever you do, do not lift up the seat cushions in Polaris . Flew to PPT with my son last March, and he dropped a game piece that slid under the seat. Pulled up the cushions to find it…and one disgusting plight of discarded almonds, salt/pepper shakers, amenity kit products, syrup residue, crumbs, etc etc. How often are these spaces cleaned? Only redeeming value from our experience was a neatly folded £20 note issued by the Bank of Scotland. Must have slid out of a pocket… I gave it my boy for his international cash collection.
United is the worst. AA’s cabins and crews have improved since Kirby left and UA is now a mess under his leadership. . .OH their computers crashed this morning and FAA has ground stopped all UA flights. AA and DL have my business for sure.
Thank God it was a short ground stop since I flew them today. We had a very minimal delay.
This is an old plane problem .
Is it? Matt clearly showed the issues on a 787. The age of the plane is irrelevant, it’s maintaining and keeping the plane in good shape that matters. I could be on a 30 year old 757 and it wouldn’t bother me one bit, so long as the cabin is maintained and updated from time to time.
Delta absorbed a bunch of TWA’s old jets and they look thoroughly refreshed. It’s not age. It’s neglect.
I recently had a slightly crooked tray table on Delta and the FA apologized and credited me Skymiles for the inconvenience. It’s the little things that set them apart and put them ahead of domestic competitors.
@ Matthew — Maybe Kirby should be fired after all.
You’ve gotta wonder what some of the cretins do on an aircraft to destroy it so badly so quickly.
Sometimes aircraft (ALL airlines) maintenance is needed but let’s not fail to mention that so much of the maintenance and repairs are caused by passengers who abuse the equipment and are the cause of the damage and dirt a great deal of the time. Dealing with the flying public and their lack of respect and lack of decent behavior impacts all of us in a negative way. We have all seen people putting their dirty feet and filthy shoes on seat backs, bulkhead walls, seat upholstery and tearing up tray tables. The flying public is highly disrespectful and the airlines are challenged by people who only shop for the cheapest fares and are dreadful to travel with.
“clean aircrafts”
The plural of aircraft is aircraft. It’s one of the rare exceptions to the general rule that countable objects should be pluralized by adding an S. The same rule holds true for watercraft and spacecraft.
As for the rest of the article, these issues are found on aircraft from every US domestic carrier and most (if not all) foreign carriers. Passengers can be quiet destructive. Some seem to hold the view that, because they paid for the ticket, they are entitled to trash and destroy everything they touch. Several years ago when print media were still commonly consumed on airline flights, I had been seated toward the rear of the plane and while trudging up the aisle to exit, I noted that the entire cabin resembled a disaster area. Trash was strewn everywhere and a diaper was stuffed into the space between an armrest and the cabin sidewall. First class was likewise trashed, with discarded magazines and newspapers everywhere. While waiting for a wheelchair passenger to be accommodated, I made a remark to a flight attendant about the mess in the cabin. He mused (with specific reference to first class, where we were standing), “How would they like it if I came to their office and just left my trash everywhere like they do on the airplane?”
It’s likely that the busy summer travel season has taken its toll on airliner cabins, and airlines are struggling to keep-up with relatively minor cabin issues as schedules demand maximum utilization of aircraft and maintenance resources. No airline is going to replace its entire fleet with new airplanes, or even new interiors, every year. But let’s hope that they take advantage of seasonal schedule reductions to spruce-up their cabins and terminal facilities, at the very least.
By no means making excuses for UA, or other airlines for that matter, but I do think a lot of it has to do with the materials that are being used for cabins these days. With the push for cheaper, lightweight, composite materials, I feel that the interiors themselves don’t hold up as well as they had in the past. Granted its just an observation, but carriers can either invest in higher quality materials that are more durable and last longer but then they have to keep the interiors longer to recoup the investment. They can also go with cheaper options because cabin refits seem to be happening at a greater pace than in the past so adding seats with doors or changing out screens becomes a lot easier and cheaper.