US Airways-United merger

Airfares are going up no matter what.

Look at the financial results of these two companies. Does it make sense that they can continue to LOSE money forever? Airfares need to at least cover the cost of flying if the airlines are going to survive.

I just hope United doesn't inheirit US Airways lousy customer service.

Amen to the last comment

I agree USAirways can be surly. However, I must say we've been dealing with their Group Bookings Department, and they have been extremely helpful and friendly. They've actually bent over backwards on several occasions to help us.

Perhaps this will give me a forum to vent my worst ever US Airways experience. Flying from Anchorage to Philadelphia via Las Vegas. When the Anchorage flight was delayed, I inquired about re-scheduling my connection from Vegas (a place I loath and where I didn't want to spend one second longer than necessary). No, I was assured, I would get there on time to make my connection. Guess what? Missed the connection and now I'm stuck in a place that resembles my personal vision of hell. I go to the US Air customer service desk to reschedule. The earliest they can get me a guaranteed seat to Philadelphia is TWO DAYS later, although they could put me on stand-by for several other flights. I finally take a guaranteed seat the next morning to BWI, knowing that I could take Amtrack to Philadelphia directly from the BWI airport. US Airways offered me a room voucher that wouldn't even cover the price of a Motel 6, and a breakfast voucher at Chili's that wasn't enough for the cheapest item on the breakfast menu plus a cup of coffee. I tried to get some sleep in the Vegas airport, which is impossible with all the bright lights and noise in that facility. I finally arrived, exhausted and dirty, at my destination about 30 hours later than planned. And of course, they lost my luggage. I wrote a letter of complaint and tried to get reimbursed for my Amtrack ticket. The response was a corporate form letter, thanking me for choosing US Airways and informing me of their dedication to customer service. The request for reimbursal was not even addressed. I vowed never to fly with US Airways again.

Venting about "the worst airline" ever is a lost cause. (Trust me I have stories that oculd make Tom's look "kind and gentle") If you fly a lot you get a LOT of "stories".

I learned long ago never say never. As soon as you do, your boss will send you to XYX, American where the "never again" is the ONLY airline :)

But the truth is that if you are losing buckets of money every year you have to do something. So you can cut "service" or "safetly" hmm..... Hopefully they picked "safety"?

I'm with Carol--I fly a lot, both domestically and internationally, and I think all the legacy airlines have minimal customer service as a general matter. They're a lot like flying Greyhound busses, only with less legroom. It's when things go wrong--cancelled flights, late flights, overbooking--that a legacy carrier can either rise to the occasion and surprise you or tell you to screw off and consign you to airport hell. Partly it's a function of the luck of the draw--get a sympathetic gate agent or decent customer service rep on the phone and you might make out okay. But if you get an ignorant or lazy or overworked or just plain mean agent, well, welcome to sleeping on the floor at the airport.

One thing that I've done is, when I get a particularly helpful customer service rep on the phone, I try to hang on to them. I ask for their identification so that I can send an email thanking them to their supervisor, and then I make sure that I send that email. I also ask for their direct extension so that I can call back if need by without having to re-explain the situation to a new agent. Then I add that information to my PDA--I now have a list of several potentially good customer service reps for the airlines I fly the most.

Living here, I've flown USAir countless times and never had a major problem. Of course, most flights are non-stop, so there's little that can go wrong. I've had much more drama on Continental, Northwest and Delta (lost luggage, being stranded, etc). I guess it's a matter of perspective.

As for the merger, less choice is never a good thing.