United Airlines has fired back at the American Airlines lawsuit which seeks to block Chicago from redistributing gates away from American and to United. United’s message came in the form of a letter to employees from airline President Brett Hart, first reported by Live and Let’s Fly.
American Airlines filed a lawsuit to block the City from moving forward with this gate reallocation process and prevent United from being awarded the gates we earned. We unequivocally reject American’s efforts to block the City’s process. In fact, we plan to take steps to protect our interests and utilize these new gates to benefit our customers.
Then he proceeds to unleash his inner Sean Connery from The Untouchables describing “the Chicago Way.”
It’s clear that American has been neglecting Chicago for years and this meritless attempt to stop the City’s process from moving forward is merely a last-ditch effort to compensate for American’s well-documented lack of investment in their customers, O’Hare airport and the Chicago community.
The memo makes two basic points:
- United has been investing in Chicago, while American has neglected Chicago and grown elsewhere
- United offers disproportionately more flights relative to its gates, while American is underutilizing theirs.
Those points are correct as far as they go. But I’d suggest a few other things are relevant.
- The memo ignores the legal basis of American’s lawsuit which is actually quite strong, that Chicago O’Hare gates shouldn’t be redistributed yet based on the terminal lease that’s been signed. And Hart is a lawyer by training, a former corporate general counsel, and used to oversee United’s legal operation.
- United operates 52% of flights at O’Hare and enabling them to grow at the expense of competitors is probably a bad thing for the local market. Competition is good for consumers, and helps keeps fares down.
- American has added significant growth in its schedule since last year’s numbers that United is citing. United is wrong to imply that American is underutilizing the gates that it has based on what is currently in the schedule. In fact, if the gate reallocation goes through, American will have to curtail its flying plans next summer.
United clearly wants to block American Airlines, take its gates, and lock out competition. They want to lock out competition from American in particular given the special competitiveness CEO Scott Kirby has against his old employer (which let him go, anointing Robert Isom as Doug Parker’s successor instead).
3..2..1.. Blast off! Why not? Let it rip, United. Fight! Fight! Fight! Competition is good for consumers.
Residing about 4 miles away, I am not anxious for Kirby to have his dream of a fortress at ORD like Delta has at ATL. Having said that, I have flown 2 itineraries split between UA and AA in the last 2 months. I cannot speak to “investment” and such, but was plain as day to me both times which airline is running a tighter and more customer-focused operation at ORD. It isn’t AA.
ORD should take a cue from society today, ignore the courts, forcibly deport AA from those gates whether they have a right to or not and do whatever the hell they want. And when the court tells them to fix their mistake they can flip their middle finger at the courts and tell them that United won’t return the gates.
That’s how we do it America these days, isn’t it?
United: We stole those new gates fair and square!
*Munches on popcorn*
Whoever “wins” please invest in a better airport experience please!
“The real winner of this memo is Delta.” Tim Dunn
This isn’t a popularity contest, it’s a lawsuit, to be decided in a court of law. On that basis, American wins hands down, and Brett Hart’s letter will be seen as just propaganda.
In UA’s defense, they don’t have any fortress hubs like the ones in ATL, DTW, DFW, CLT, etc, especially when taking metro areas and competing city airports into account.
The new gates in ORD would still leave them facing AA as a big competitor, along with WN at MDW
roberto,
I am the winner since I have figured out how to live rent free in so many people’s heads, including yours, rent and contract free.
AA, OTOH, does have a contract and as TexasTJ says, contracts are legal documents that get to be reviewed by courts of law.
If UA is so sure they will win, then they don’t need to engage in a propaganda contest.
If AA loses, then they seriously miscalculated their long-term network strategy and it could be costly in the Midwest, where, btw, Delta is the largest airline thanks to its dual hub DTW/MSP strategy which connects many Midwest cities to both of those hubs and often also ATL plus other hubs.
and UA DOES have fortress hubs, Mark. They get more local market revenue from their hubs than AA or DL’s hubs and UA’s hubs ranked largest to smallest next to DL’s hubs generate more revenue. In fact, UA’s problem is that they have not developed their network outside of their hubs.
and UA’s problem is that they will spend more far money building terminals to handle their domestic growth than DL will. A couple days ago, that might have been true compared to AA as well but the expanded DFW Terminal F will cost a pretty penny.
@Tim Dunn — Winner winner chicken dinner, sir. I’ll spare a few extra neurons for you in case @roberto can’t hold his own place down for ya. Bah! Good analysis, by the way.
@TexasTJ — Weird things can still happen. Once the lawsuits start flying, I’ve often found that things become less, not more, predictable. There could be interesting settlements, too. Time will tell.
@L737 — Where’s @Matt these days? I was hoping to see, ‘for a premium, non-turf-war experience, please consider Delta’ (at O’Hare Terminal 5).
United wants to be the new Castro? Seize AA property and distribute it to others?
Can United take Southwest gates next?
Obviously, at least according to one poster here, Delta is the world’s only PERFECT airline. LOL
@1990 — Aha nice one! @Matt-tier quality stuff
You point out the fact that Hart is a lawyer, that makes it impossible for him to tell the truth.
Although AA is generally inferior to UA on so many levels, I agree that AA should be given the brief 24-month chance to fully utilize its gates at ORD.
For Chicago, having more than one hubbing airline there is an enormous privilege that is only shared with the Los Angeles and New York metros.
AA neglects ORD. Chicago is better off letting UA turn ORD into a fortress hub, than lacking direct air service. The AA international schedule out of ORD is a joke. AA runs zero flights to Asia. ZERO. If Chicago relied on AA, its international connectivity would be equivalent to Cincinnati. Chicago should give UA more than 5 AA gates at this point. Chicago should reward any and all airline partners that will deliver the international air service needed to keep the city relevant.
@DK how is Hart a liar? His statement is supported by data.
@Tim Dunn. Fortress hub status is linked to market share, not revenue. Fortress hubs limit consumer choice by others having no offering DL and AA have higher share hubs. UA obtains better revenue because of their hub demand and ability to obtain higher fare versus competition in same market. 2 totally different metric results. UA has no hub with share like DL megahubs
@Mark. What about IAH, EWR, IAD, DEN, SFO? UAL pretty much dominates those airports.
Gull Air,
a fortress hub wins based on the ability to command high fares. Market share means nothing if it doesn’t get high fares.
UA IS getting the high fares from its hubs even if they have less than 50% market share because many love to act like UA doesn’t dominate the metros they are in so they can’t possibly dominate the airports.
as coffee please notes, UA does dominate many of its hub airports and does get a higher percentage of the revenue in the metro as a result. trying to argue that UA doesn’t dominate the Bay area because WN operates a much smaller and far less nationwide, let alone global hub at OAK or SJC is beyond foolish.
UA simply wants to extend that dominance to ORD. UA has all the reason to bluster if they want but AA has the right to take the case to court.
And it is also notable how badly UA is trying to spin the EWR disaster in progress as all the FAA’s fault when they don’t tell us what percentage of EWR flights they cancelled BEFORE construction even began – and they talk about the EWR operational disaster as justification for getting into JFK via a B6 acquisition.
UA didn’t cut EWR flights near enough to compensate for one runway being out of service.
“roberto, I am the winner since I have figured out how to live rent free in so many people’s heads, including yours, rent and contract free.”
“Heh heh. Nailed it. Oh, Roberto, you beautiful, clueless fool. You walked right into my masterfully laid trap where I declared ME THE WINNER! And I’m absolutely right! Forget your promotions, your happy families, your actual contributions to society. I am the one who has truly cracked the code of existence. My grand achievement? My magnum opus? I’ve ‘figured out how to live rent free in so many people’s heads’! It’s my Sistine Chapel, my moon landing, my Pulitzer Prize for Pestering! My entire self-worth, the very bedrock of my being, is built on being the digital equivalent of a single, determined mosquito buzzing just out of reach in your ear at 3 AM – utterly pointless, achieving nothing of substance, but magnificently irritating and absolutely impossible to ignore. That’s talent, baby!
You see, it’s not about ‘constructive dialogue,’ or ‘verifiable facts’ (snoozeville!), or even ‘basic human decency’ (who needs it when you have ME?!). No, my adoring public, my entire life’s purpose, the sacred mission bestowed upon me by the great Delta in the sky, is to achieve PEAK ANNOYANCE. If I can make someone, anyone, physically recoil from their screen, if their sigh of exasperation upon seeing ‘Tim Dunn’ pop up could power a small wind turbine, then that, my friends, is a ticker-tape parade with a full brass band marching through the lonely, echoing, but impeccably Delta-branded halls of my magnificent mind.
‘Living rent free’ – it sounds so delightfully parasitic, doesn’t it? So much more sophisticated than the more accurate, albeit less catchy, ‘that dude everyone desperately wishes would discover the joys of offline hobbies, or perhaps the inside of a therapist’s office.’ It’s a LEGACY, people! Not a legacy of innovation, or kindness, or even one consistently accurate statement about airline financials. Oh no. I’m chiseling a monument to minor malevolence, erecting a shrine to sighs, building a veritable empire of eyerolls! I am the Ozymandias of Online Obnoxiousness!
And the best part? The sheer, exquisite, almost sensual joy it brings me costs absolutely nothing! It’s pure profit, baby, just like a Delta first-class fare! Just the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing I’m that tiny, persistent, infuriatingly smug pebble lodged deep within their favorite digital shoe, making every online step, every attempt at intelligent discussion, a little more uncomfortable, a little more about me. You’re all just supporting actors in my grand, never-ending opera of irritation. So go ahead, groan, complain, call for bans – you’re just proving my genius! Bow down, suckers! My work here is performance art, and you’re all my captive audience!
despite all the genuflecting, roberto inserted me into a conversation that I had not joined.
It’s really pretty simple, people.
Say your part, let others do the same, and we will all get along just fine.
none of which changes that UA whines incessantly about how unfair it is treated at EWR and yet spends days and nights on end trashing the competition -and wonders why nobody cares if EWR is a burning trash heap of an airport
“none of which changes that UA whines incessantly about how unfair it is treated at EWR and yet spends days and nights on end trashing the competition -and wonders why nobody cares if EWR is a burning trash heap of an airport”
->
SWEET MOTHER OF DELTA! They’ve got me! My beautifully constructed argument, woven from the finest threads of half-truths and pure, unadulterated Dunning-Kruger confidence, is unraveling! They’re pointing out my… ahem… ‘alternative facts’ again! They’re probably even bringing up those tired, baseless accusations about ‘MULTIPLE Fake usernames’ or my alleged, and frankly libellous, ‘firing from Delta’! PANIC! ABORT! ABORT! Quick, deploy the Strategic Outrage Deflection Maneuver™! What’s the most inflammatory, off-topic grenade I can lob to make everyone forget I was just intellectually pantsed? I know! UNITED AND EWR! Perfect!
‘None of which changes that…’ Oh, that’s gold, Jerry, GOLD! See how I just wave away whatever inconvenient truth they just presented? Like a majestic eagle dismissing a gnat! Or, more accurately, like a toddler sticking his fingers in his ears and yelling “LALALALA I CAN’T HEAR YOU!” It’s a classic for a reason, folks. Masterful.
‘…UA whines incessantly…’ ‘Whines!’ Mwahahaha! Such a beautifully condescending term. It paints United not as a global corporation with complex operational challenges, but as a petulant child who didn’t get the last cookie. If United dares to point out issues at their own hub, it’s ‘whining.’ If my beloved, infallible Delta even hints at a problem, it’s a ‘courageous stand against systemic industry failures.’ See the nuance? It’s all about perspective… my perspective.
‘…about how unfair it is treated at EWR…’ EWR! Oh, the sweet, sweet schadenfreude! A major United hub! If it’s, as I so poetically phrase it, a ‘burning trash heap of an airport’ (another literary gem from yours truly, thank you, thank you), isn’t that just… exquisite? Every delayed United flight, every frustrated passenger stewing in that ‘trash heap’ is a tiny victory for decency, for common sense, for DELTA! It warms the cockles of my profit-loving heart! Perhaps if enough people suffer at EWR, they’ll finally see the light and pay the divinely ordained premium for a Delta ticket, thus contributing to the only metric that truly matters: DELTA’S BOTTOM LINE. This isn’t just commentary; it’s a public service!
‘…and yet spends days and nights on end trashing the competition…’ Oh, the audacity! The sheer hypocrisy! Me? Trash the competition? I merely present unvarnished, heavily Delta-biased TRUTH! When I call another airline’s hub a ‘burning trash heap,’ it’s ‘bold, unflinching analysis.’ When United supposedly does it (which I’m sure they do, ‘days and nights on end,’ because they’re not Delta), it’s ‘trashing.’ It’s like art, you wouldn’t understand. This is my ‘whataboutism’ special move – deflect criticism by accusing others of the very thing I’m doing, but louder!
‘…and wonders why nobody cares if EWR is a burning trash heap of an airport.’ Oh, but I care, United! I care so very much! I send EWR my deepest, most heartfelt wishes… that it continues to be a ‘burning trash heap’ until the end of time! Because every tear shed by a United passenger at EWR is a potential dollar in Delta’s pocket! Who needs efficient airport infrastructure when you can have DELTA PROFITABILITY? Who needs a pleasant travel experience when you can bask in the warm glow of Delta’s superior earnings reports? You people just don’t get it. The goal isn’t for you to be happy; it’s for Delta’s shareholders to be happy! And me, by extension, because their happiness is my oxygen!
So there you have it. Another crisis averted. Another discussion successfully derailed into an anti-United tirade. They thought they had me, but they underestimated my commitment to the cause, my mastery of the deflection, my unwavering devotion to all things Delta. What was the original point they were making? Who remembers? Who cares? I’ve already declared myself the winner by successfully changing the topic to how much EWR apparently sucks! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I need to go polish my ‘Delta Fanboy of the Century’ trophy. It’s getting a bit smudged from all this winning.
yes, United does whine incessantly about how it is treated at EWR even as it trashes every competitor and then wants to buddy up to those that think that will bail it out of its self-constructed mess.
Maybe AA should start a nationwide ad campaign touting what UA has to say itself about EWR – avoid it!