United Airlines President Scott Kirby has pledged a greater emphasis on the quality of the passenger experience after many years of shunning such a viewpoint. But what makes for a quality experience?
Speaking at the Morgan Stanley 7th Annual Laguna Conference, Kirby said that “more and more” United must be “competing on quality instead of just schedule and price.” That’s a startling confession from a man who has historically said that the key is market share alone and that proactive investments in quality do not make financial sense.
But what does quality look like? Before I address that question, let me make a number of musings:
- Customers love the stroopwafels and biscoff cookies onboard
- United’s no carry-on bag policy with Basic Economy fares is the most restrictive amongst U.S. legacy carriers
- United’s Polaris Lounge network has set the tone for international business class lounges in the USA
- Showers have been removed from United Clubs while American and Delta maintain them
- New “ConnectionSaver” technology is already working well
- Wi-Fi onboard is expensive and often does not work, making the concept of free Wi-Fi for all laugable
- Enlarging the Polaris business class cabin on the 767-300 is a shrewd business move
- Flight attendant staffing and bonus cuts have hurt morale and angered passengers
- The new MileagePlus program will be a welcome change for most travelers, but a big blow to those frequent travelers who seek premium redemptions
Do you see a pattern above? I won’t go so far as to say that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction, but United has sent very mixed signals on quality.
Which leads me to question what Kirby means when he says quality. Delta is held up as the poster-child of a U.S. carrier investing in quality. But can seat-back screens and bellinis really be the key to Delta’s success? Or is it due to more fundamental issues less weather-prone hubs and declaring bankruptcy at the perfect time? What makes Delta a quality carrier when they have the worst loyalty program? Are flight attendants really always smiling?
Quality is a subjective term. For me, it is genuine and hospitable service, edible food, great bedding, functioning wi-fi, and a loyalty program that offers great value for premium cabin redemptions. You may have a different conception of what quality is. The most important question, though, is how Kirby views quality.
CONCLUSION
Unlike the Kirby detractors who dismiss him as simply a beancounter, I recognize that he’s a very smart man who has objectively performed very well at United based upon growth and profit figures. His aggressive expansion has been a gamble that has paid off. Thus, I have great respect for him.
I do take Kirby’s new emphasis on quality seriously. I just wonder what exactly he means by that word. Time will tell…
“Unlike the Kirby detractors who dismiss him as simply a beancounter, I recognize that he’s a very smart man who has objectively performed very well at United based upon growth and profit figures. His aggressive expansion has been a gamble that has paid off. Thus, I have great respect for him.”
I think that’s a bit of a false dichotomy. While I loathe what he’s done to airlines in the past that doesn’t mean I disagree that he’s really sharp and that United has improved along several dimensions over the past three years.
When Kirby left American for United I said that the move would make both airlines better off. I was only half right. American didn’t improve. What I learned was that Robert Isom seems to want to be Scott Kirby but isn’t as good at it.
Your point is well-taken, but I don’t see the false dichotomy since I used the term “simply”. He is indeed both and probably proud of the fact that he is known in the industry as a beancounter.
IF you could put him anywhere, where do you think the Kirby “beancountery” philosophy would work best?
I think United is a great home for him, though I think he and Luc Bondar are being very foolish with the changes to MileagePlus (elimination of awards charts in particular).
@ Matthew — United is just so .
I agree with your sentiments, he took a route network with a ton of potential and has made it work to its fullest. I’m excited to see what they’re able to do when the Max’s and additional WB’s come online.
As a customer I’ve seen a dramatic improvement in employee morale over the past 2-3 years, I think part of that is contract related, profit sharing checks, etc, and Oscar. Scott figure out how to maximize the network for profitability and Oscar has been the leader that the long time employees desperately needed.
My biggest gripes are the abysmal WiFi and bin space issue though that only impacts me when I’m late to gate and have to board any later than 2. Some of their planes have those Boeing Space Bins and I think if they pushed that investment across their fleet you’d almost eliminate the need to ever have to gate check a bag. Then I wouldn’t be annoyed that I have to get to the gate right as they start boarding.
I think he means making the experience better enough to be able to charge more for it. I’m not entirely sure what he thinks that will take, though. Personally, I would say better soft product, especially on international.
Boring and soulless.
“What makes Delta a quality carrier when they have the worst loyalty program?” – can we still take this as gospel? Granted, they led the race to devaluation and earned the SkyPesos moniker early on. I’ve avoided them based on this, but now that they’re all equally ungenerous (I’m assuming AA is close to moving to chart-less dynamic awards), is frequent flyer program value even a distinguishing factor? I mean, I’d still want to focus on one airline to gain status, but DL’s become known for quality performance, bad program. With the latter no longer a meaningful difference, I recently switched to the carrier who has already nailed “quality” in performance, reliability and customer service. UA @ EWR… nothing quality about it, AA in NYC… they’ve basically given up. I finally threw in the towel and am now on a DL status match.
As someone who runs an award consulting business, I still believe that Delta is weaker than American or United in terms of loyalty program. But we’ll what United does in November…
@Darin : i don’t see how a Frontier-flying loser like you has any credibility in judging quality of other airlines.
These are my sentiments, too. DL’s route network is nowhere near as extensive as UA’s and SkyTeam is markedly worse than both OW and *A, but we’re rapidly approaching the “all (other) things being equal” point of comparison such that on-board experience will be the determining factor on routes that overlap. AA’s hard product is the best of the US3 but their soft product is lightyears from being even remotely “meh”, let alone good. UA’s hard product is a mixed bag but getting better while their soft product is so-so, though I consistently find their FAs to be miserable in every interaction. DL is the happy medium (or better) across all those, so they win by default. And once Delta Suites are on most/all of their aircraft, I’d say they’d have the best hard product, too. Again, though, I’ve never had a poor interaction with a DL employee. So that seals the deal for me.
I don’t understand the EWR bashing I often see here and elsewhere. United’s Terminal C there is quite nice. TSA Pre lines have been relatively quick, and rail into Penn Station is easy (I’ll certainly take it over the construction fiasco getting in and out of LGA right now!). There are certainly tarmac delays from congestion, but that’s true at all the NYC airports. I’ll admit I’ve never been to JFK – is it some sort of magical wonderland that puts EWR to shame? What am I missing?
New focus on quality… Is today April 1st?