Last week I had my weekly adventure flying United Airlines and true to form, UA continues to find new ways to under perform. The flight was a regional jet from MEM to IAH (and to all those UA apologists I am fully aware this is a 3rd party airline. But it is still under the UA logo and brand). On this trip the flight experiences three (3) separate delays resulting in a complete lose of my day. The first delay was a broken lav door that took longer to repair than the actual flight from MEM to IAH. Then upon reboarding the flight, the flight had to take additional fuel. I am still unclear why this could not have been done at the same time as the door repair. At this point the flight was 2 hours late. Upon taxiing from the gate we sat on the tarmac or another 40 minutes to get a flight re-certification. The flight finally arrived in IAH 3 and a half hours late.
I am a regular Monday – Thursday traveler and fully understand weather and mechanical delays, but for UA the level of inconsistency and attention to basic customer service continues to lack. The impact of these cheaper regional carries on the total brand is overwhelming negative. I have an upcoming trip to Brussels in July and am considering booking with AA or Delta instead of UA.
