United CEO Oscar Munoz’s annual note to employees on Thanksgiving is much shorter than last year’s letter.
Dear United family,
As our U.S. colleagues celebrate Thanksgiving, I want to extend my personal thanks to all of you for your hard work every day throughout the year, but especially during the holidays. This is a time for people to come together, for loved ones to connect and memories to be made. What could more perfectly capture our own shared purpose as a United family: connecting people and helping unite the world?
This will be the busiest Thanksgiving holiday for flying on record. That’s millions of customers who’ve put their trust in us to get them to where they need to be. It’s also millions of opportunities to win their loyalty for life and show what a truly united United Airlines can accomplish.
On a personal note, thank you for all the hard work and team effort that made United a success this year.
From my family to yours, many blessings this Thanksgiving.
Gratefully,
Oscar
I just want to focus one sentence. Speaking of customers, Munoz said Thanksgiving travel provides “millions of opportunities to win their loyalty for life.” I wonder if that is actually the case. Maybe I’m just fickle, but I think holiday travel provides millions of opportunities to lose customers for life. It a rare case where one good experience makes a customer loyal. But one bad experience may forever make one disloyal. Loyalty is built over time. Realistically, United should hope it can pull off the busiest travel week of the year without alienating anyone. Most will always choose based on price, but it is consistently good experiences that will ultimately build loyalty.
Then again, I got hooked on United by a McDonald’s Happy Meal…
> Read More: A Love Affair with United Airlines
image: United
it took more than a dozen bad (I mean extremely bad, not a blown seat assignment or missed connection) experiences on United to poison me as a United customer forever. But United managed to accomplish it.
Nobody cares
To rjb I hope they really saw the need to make a culture change and stick to it.
That female first officer unit is hideous!
I changed planes in Gatwick on United once. The agent asked if I wanted to take an earlier flight that left in 15 minutes. I said yes. She got on her walkie talkie and told the gate we were coming. Then she escorted us through security and to the gate. That awesome experience turned me into a fan.
Every single day I read about United getting involved in Community causes or supporting every cause/group known yo man. As someone who spent 40 years building United into a major Airline it makes me sick knowing it is all for show! If United gave a damn about anyone they would take steps to restore the Pensions they underfunded and dumped in Bankruptcy to the PBGC. That does not include the money lost in the failed ESOP. Every day Oscar talks about the United “family”. If thats how he treats his family I feel sorry for them. And to all those current employees/family, you know how they treated those who built that Company. Do you really believe they will treat you any better when your time comes? Instead of $20 million for a new LAX Terminal or the millions given to all the other causes, why not pay the PBGC what they were supposed to pay and restore the Pension payments to what they should be.
What do you say Oscar???
I think this is an overly pessimistic view. Agree it takes more than one experience to earn a customer’s loyalty for life, but it also takes more than one to burn it (exceptions on both sides). Think Oscar’s just trying to motivate people who may have to work on Turkey Day, and I do think that a good experience during holiday travel can bring people back.
Every day United employees jump through hoops to make a very complex system work at a high level of excellence for their customers. Many factors-weather, mechanical and technical systems breakdowns are out of their control, and part of everyone’s life with their cars, houses, and computers…..why would one company be exempt, when all of the rest of our lives deal with self same factors?
United is a great company, providing safe transportation. That is their commitment and they do it as good or better than anybody. Always have.