Another New Coke

Posted By Blackfive

Does anybody remember what happened to the guy who changed Coca Cola's formula to New Coke? I thought he was dead or or mysteriously disappeared and would never work again, but then there's this horrible idea called "Ted"...maybe he's still out there, lurking.

Ted schedules O'Hare takeoff
BY TAMMY CHASE Business Reporter Advertisement

Chicago will get a new airline in May of sorts, when United Airlines begins offering flights on its fledgling discount carrier, Ted.
<...>
United, whose parent company, UAL Corp., has been in bankruptcy reorganization since December 2002, is trying to attract cost-conscious customers who have flocked to low-fare airlines like Southwest Airlines and ATA.

Hell-ohhhh. Southwest is going to bury Ted. Why? Unions. United's unions will ruin the company.

I have been treated poorly on United before. Never on Southwest. Have any of you been treated poorly by Southwest Airlines? If so, please comment. Or if you have a great story about either, please comment.

Southwest's employees, on the other hand, have enormous buy-in into every interaction you have with the company. No one has been able to beat them at their own game, and they've defied the odds by being profitable through the worst period in airline industry history.

I just can't figure out how United can go from running high-end routes to discount routes with the same costs and same unions as the high-end and turn a big profit. By paying for the repainting aircraft and re-uniforming staff and by selling a $1,000 seat for $299, HOW CAN YOU EXPECT TO GET OUT OF BANKRUPTCY???? It's the same freakin' route! Does single digit capacity increases matter that much?

I would say that, unless United is changing the way they operate and/or getting rid of their unions, this Ted thing won't last more than a few years.

Blackfive Disclaimer: I have been known to rant about the greatness of Southwest Airlines....

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Comments

Another New Coke

Does anybody remember what happened to the guy who changed Coca Cola's formula to New Coke? I thought he was dead or or mysteriously disappeared and would never work again, but then there's this horrible idea called "Ted"...maybe he's still out there, lurking.

Ted schedules O'Hare takeoff
BY TAMMY CHASE Business Reporter Advertisement

Chicago will get a new airline in May of sorts, when United Airlines begins offering flights on its fledgling discount carrier, Ted.
<...>
United, whose parent company, UAL Corp., has been in bankruptcy reorganization since December 2002, is trying to attract cost-conscious customers who have flocked to low-fare airlines like Southwest Airlines and ATA.

Hell-ohhhh. Southwest is going to bury Ted. Why? Unions. United's unions will ruin the company.

I have been treated poorly on United before. Never on Southwest. Have any of you been treated poorly by Southwest Airlines? If so, please comment. Or if you have a great story about either, please comment.

Southwest's employees, on the other hand, have enormous buy-in into every interaction you have with the company. No one has been able to beat them at their own game, and they've defied the odds by being profitable through the worst period in airline industry history.

I just can't figure out how United can go from running high-end routes to discount routes with the same costs and same unions as the high-end and turn a big profit. By paying for the repainting aircraft and re-uniforming staff and by selling a $1,000 seat for $299, HOW CAN YOU EXPECT TO GET OUT OF BANKRUPTCY???? It's the same freakin' route! Does single digit capacity increases matter that much?

I would say that, unless United is changing the way they operate and/or getting rid of their unions, this Ted thing won't last more than a few years.

Blackfive Disclaimer: I have been known to rant about the greatness of Southwest Airlines....

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