United Airlines recently announced that it will take concrete steps to improve customer satisfaction and employee relationships to improve services provides to flyers. CEO Munoz announced that the merger between Continental and United Airlines failed to perform as was expected by many industry analysts and even employees of the airline.
The merger was completed in year 2010 and United Airlines has been facing a downward spiral in terms of customer service and employee satisfaction. Finally, the CEO has accepted the failure on part of the airline and has decided to fix the issue. United Airlines CEO asked for some more time and support from employees to fix the issues and improve services for flyers.
Oscar Munoz has taken the charge of the airline on September 8 and within three weeks, he has planned a major media campaign to start with the changes in public perception about the airline. United Airlines has published full page advertisements with personal message from CEO in 13 publications nationwide. United has setup a website UnitedAirtime.com to collect valuable feedback from customers. People can ask questions and leave their feedback about United Airlines services.
However, Munoz has not listed any details about what steps he plans to take to improve services for flyers using United Airlines. The company has been lagging in terms of customer satisfaction, on-time arrivals and baggage handling. Soon after the merger, the airline has suffered chronic delays, computer outages and dissatisfied workers, who have a reputation for taking out their frustrations on flyers.
United Airlines will offer better Wi-Fi on planes, improve in-flight entertainment systems, improve meals for economy and first class, among many other steps to be taken in near future.
Former CEO Jeff Smisek took over the reins of the merged entity in October 2009. After five years, Smisek was ousted by the United Continental Holdings board for certain issues related to the airline's dealing with the public agency that operates its hub airport in Newark, New Jersey.
United Airlines, one of the top three global airlines, has seen customer ratings decline over the past few years.
CEO Oscar Munoz also sent a letter to airline staff informing them that any decision on cost cutting will be taken after consultation with workers. He added, "I recognize that the journey hasn't always been smooth and it won't be fixed in a day. This is a marathon with a running start. I'm ready to take this team forward. It's time for a new day. Come with me." In his message, Munoz also talked about a 25-year-veteran flight attendant who told him that she was ''tired of telling people I'm sorry."
Under leadership of Munoz, we can expect changes at United Airlines. On popular aviation forums, flyers were still skeptical about changes Munoz is talking about. However, we need to give some more time to the management to see the change in leadership and the change in staff attitude towards flyers.
Munoz added, "We've heard that you want to be empowered to do good work with effective tools. We will give you the right tools to deliver the service and reliability I know we are capable of."
United Airlines has witnessed decline in rating for many factors in 2014, compared to 2013. The overall Airline Quality Rating (AQR) score fell to -1.62 in 2014 from -1.43 in 2013. On-time arrivals declined from 79.3 percent in 2013 to 76 percent in 2014. Customer complaints increased to 2.71 per 100,000 passengers from 2.14 in year 2013. Currently, United Airlines faces 3.47 complaints for mishandled baggage per 1,000 passengers.
It will be a tough task for United Airlines management but not impossible. Only time will tell if CEO Munoz will be successful in his new role.
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