In 2012, at the Phoenix Aviation Symposium, Scott Kirby was still President of US Airways and he explained his airline’s recent decision to add Gogo inflight wifi to planes – years behind many other carriers.
He explained that they never were going to do wifi, because they didn’t believe they’d earn more money selling it to passengers. They wouldn’t cover the system’s costs. It wasn’t until they actually saw passengers choosing to book tickets on other airlines, where it was really clear in the data that they were losing passengers, that he changed his mind.
Long before Kirby became President and then CEO of United Airlines he was known as a spreadsheet guy, not a product guy, and not a brand guy. He tried to sell water at US Airways. He eliminated bonus miles as an elite benefit there. And when he moved to United, it first seemed like more of the same – cutting back on business class wine, eliminating meals from first class on many domestic flights.
In 2019, United made DIRECTV free on existing-equipped 737s free (largely the old Continental DirecTV subfleet). I didn’t see this as moving in a premium direction at the time.
In 2020, United Airlines led the industry by eliminating change fees on most domestic tickets. Then in 2021 they announced ‘United NEXT’ which included seat back entertainment screens, which had been axed at American Airlines under his leadership. They started ordering planes.
A year and a half ago they launched one of the best business class wine programs in the sky.
Scott Kirby explained his current thinking on product investments at a financial analyst conference on Wednesday although I think he undersells the power of his wine investment.
Every single individual decision, you say, “If I make the decision to spend more on meals, spend more on wine, whatever. Hundreds of decisions like that. Every single one of those, if you look at it and say, “Well, really? We spend an extra $5 million on wine, and you think we’re going to get enough people switching airlines because of the wine?” And the answer is no. It’s always no. And it’s correct that the answer is no.
Any one decision saying no, letting the finance department say, “No, sorry, [CFO] Mike [Leskinen].” Letting the finance department say no, which they always want to do, is the right short-term tactical answer. You string several hundred of those decisions together, and all of a sudden the brand is different. This is about building a brand.
I don’t have a perfect formula for it. I think of this as we have this vision of a brand loyal airline. It’s a mountain off in the distance, and we’re driving towards it. As long as our results, absolute and relative results, they’re mile markers along the way to that mountain. As long as they’re good, I feel like we’re on the right path. If they start to get bad in one way or another, then you’ve got to question what you’re doing.
We just keep putting a little bit more in every year. We watch what’s happening with market, not just financials. We watch that as in market share, which then leads to financials, of course. We watch what’s happening with different class of traffic. We use all that data to try to do a little more art than science on what it means.
The real game-changer investment, though, he identifies as Starlink. And while others are adding it (American, Southwest, Alaska) none will have as many planes equipped with it as United will.
Starlink is a 90+ NPS for in-flight service, and the rest of our Wi-Fi, I assure you, is not a 90+ NPS. Somebody told me earlier today that just in the past weekend for Memorial Day, as load factors picked up, somebody just went and ran the analysis because it’s heavy load factors, that flights with seat back entertainment had a 15-point higher NPS than not.
Normally it’s five or six points, but it’s 15 points when flights are full because that amps up the stress and just all those little.
American Airlines believes that one point of Net Promoter Score improvement is worth $50 to $100 million.
Kirby was asked, though, how this “affect[s] the cost profile of the business” and he replied deadpanned “We spend more.” He can say that, of course, because they’re making money.
He believes that what we’re seeing is the “first time of true brand loyal airlines..the first time that airlines have differentiated themselves on everything else [besides schedule and price] that matters to customers.” I don’t think that’s right.
Alaska Airlines thrived in Seattle despite an onslaught by Delta because they are a brand-loyal airline. Virgin America had a strong brand-loyal following especially in the Bay Area. But Kirby’s own perspective has moved beyond offering a commodity product to investing in a product customers prefer, even if there are many things about United’s current product that don’t yet rise to that level.
I seem to recall UA executives years ago talking about how the network was the product. That’s not entirely wrong, but as benefits of loyalty/status practically disappeared, as a former 1K, I’m just going to fly the airline with the best experience on the route I’m flying. If AS is on that route, and to a lesser extent DL, they are going to get my business. (And I do also miss Virgin America.)
I’m agreeing more and more with Starlink being a massive game changer. The first time I used it on a flight was just “cool”. I never used WiFi on a plane before much less Starlink. Now I was able to put off doing some work last night for a flight I have today, freeing up my valuable time. Glad airlines are moving towards free high speed and most importantly, reliable WiFi whether it be Starlink or otherwise.
I would fly UA more often, but from ATL the non-stop flights are only to their hubs. So other destinations require a connection. Southwest has done the same.
He just isn’t willing to fix United’s industry worst baggage handling and won’t retire the wretched 777-200s even though Pratt can’t supply engine parts
Starlink is perhaps the largest game changer in decades in the airline biz and the NPS data demonstrate that. Delta and jetBlue are making an enormous mistake. LEO will be many days (years) late and dollars short.
No, no, he’s wrong. Starlink is bad because Elon bad, Leo good because not owned by Elon. Nevermind Bezos has no product and BO is crashing rockets, and he looks like a bond villain. Bastian is a genius, because I love having to click through portals so Delta can pretend they built it themselves, and so they can get more data about me. It’s worth a few years wait I’m sure.
As long as the shoulder-surfers and seat-recliners don’t bother you.
“He just isn’t willing to fix United’s industry worst baggage handling and won’t retire the wretched 777-200s even though Pratt can’t supply engine parts”
…says the #1 cheerleader of the airline still flying wretched, old, unreliable, worn-out 767-300s…
If Kirby wants United to become a brand loyal airline, he can start today by being loyal to customers who paid cash for Lifetime United Club memberships. He can restore full lounge access privileges, which Delta and American were ethical enough to do years ago..
Oh, Tim. Once again, the facts inconveniently contradict your assertions. Let’s look at the latest air travel report, issues by the Office of Aviation Consumer Protection (aka the US Government). The most recent, published data that they provide (dated May 2026) is for 1st quarter 2026, or January through March of this year.
Based on these YTD numbers, United beat Delta in the following:
– On-time Arrivals / entire branded network (including express carriers)
(United: #3, with 77.91%… Delta: #4, with 76.74%)
– On-time Arrivals / major, mainline carriers only (what the airlines are more directly in control of)
(United: #1, with 79.96%… Delta: #3, with 78.27%)
– Lower Cancellation rate / entire branded network (including express carriers)
(United: #4, with 2.57% cancelled… Delta: #6, with 3.70% cancelled)
– Lower Cancellation rate / major, mainline carriers only (what the airline is more directly in control of)
(United: #4, with 1.82% cancelled… Delta: #6, with 3.23% cancelled)
– When considering all airlines (not including Skywest in United’s or Delta’s operations, but treating them as a separate airline), United is #4, Delta is #8
– Long Tarmac Delays (over 3 hours, on the ground, waiting on the plane)
From January thru March of 2026, there were 173 incidents of planes waiting on the ground in excess of 3 hours before deplaning was offered. From fewest flights reported to most flights (all branded flights):
1st: Breeze / Spirit (tied for 1st), 1 flight each
3rd: Allegiant / 2 flights
4th: Southwest / 5 flights
5th: JetBlue / 8 flights
6th: Alaska / 9 flights
7th: American / 16 flights
8th: United / 42 flights
9th: Delta / 89 flights
Even taking out the “express” flights, and only looking at mainline operations, Delta still lags the other three large US carriers:
1st: Southwest, 5 flights
2nd: American, 9 flights
3rd: United, 31 flights
4th: Delta, 59 flights
– Fewer Total Consumer Complaints, “Big 4” US airlines:
1st: Southwest, 592 complaints
2nd: United, 2309 complaints
3rd: Delta, 2320 complaints
4th: American, 4958 complaints
Here’s what Delta DID beat United in, during the 1st Quarter of 2026:
– Baggage Mishandling:
Delta is #4 (.46 bags mishandled per 100 bags) , United is #11 (.77 bags mishandled per 100 bags)
NOTE: United is not “industry worst” because both Envoy and American are. (Envoy: #12, and American, #13)
– Wheelchairs and Scooters:
Delta is #1 (.35 mishandled per 100 enplaned), United is #4 (1.18 mishandled per 100 enplaned)
– Involuntary Denied Boarding:
Delta is #1 (0 involuntarily denied boarding, 0 per 10,000 pax), United is #3 (43 involuntarily denied boarding, 0.01 per 10,000 pax)
Bottom line? Keep beating that “mishandled bags” drum if you must – because that’s about the only drum you have left (but you are once again proved wrong by the data when you say United has the “Industry Worst Baggage Handling” – that title belongs to American). Meanwhile, United is beating Delta in the stats that really matter – more flights on time, fewer flights cancelled, less likely to suffer a long delay waiting for a gate, and fewer consumer complaints.
Sounds to me like Delta should be investing some of that sweet, sweet profit margin you gloat about into improving their operation, because according to the US Government, they are certainly not the leaders you think they are.
@ Tim — The vast majority of flyers don’t check bags, so the vast majority don’t care about baggage handling statistics. What everyone cares about it is arriving on time, and Delta no longer does that dependably.
UA’s product in total is not better; dismissing baggage handling because UA doesn’t do well at it – not just since Jan but for all of 2025 – to brag about 1% difference in on-time and cancellation rates is precisely the hypocrisy of which I speak.
DL handedly leads the big 3 in all statistics. Thank you to the pilot for validating exactly what I have been saying
Based on the food on yesterday in United Premium Plus from MUC to IAD, I can say with authority that United is NOT investing in the brand.
LTD says, “DL handedly leads the big 3 in all statistics.”
Poor LTD doesn’t understand basic statistics or maybe his DL colored glasses are too thick. Too funny.
“to brag about 1% difference in on-time and cancellation rates is precisely the hypocrisy of which I speak.”
Tim, it’s so fun to use your own words against you (and so easy, too!). You post nonsense like the quoted sentence above. You want to dismiss a 1.17% (all branded flights) / 1.69% (mainline flights only) difference in on-time arrivals, and a 1.13% (all branded flights) / 1.41% (mainline flights only) difference in cancellations.. Yet, you constantly bring up, and focus on, a LESS THAN 1/2% difference in mishandled baggage rates between Delta and United.
Since you seem to like to ignore math, as a reminder, here are the reported mishandled baggage numbers, YTD:
Delta mishandles 0.46% of their bags
United mishandles 0.77% of their bags
(That’s a difference of LESS than 1%, or specifically a 0.31% difference)
“not just since Jan but for all of 2025”
More bad assertions by you. Why ignore the 2025 statistics? Simple – nobody is booking flights for dates in 2025 anymore. What happened then isn’t relevant to what is happening now, anymore than the 2024/2023/2022 ones do. The most recent statistics are the ones that matter, and are the best indicator of what type of service to expect. YTD 2026 are the best for that.
“DL handedly leads the big 3 in all statistics.”
You keep using those words. I don’t think they mean what you think they mean. And nice job pulling out Southwest to try to make things look better, but even that doesn’t make it happen.
What statistics do you speak of? RIGHT NOW – in 2026 – DELTA ISN’T LEADING in the most important statistics, even when you filter it down to the “big 3”! YTD, 2026, they are not #1 between AA/DL/UA in 1) On time arrivals, 2) Cancellations, 3) Long-tarmac delays, and 4) Consumer Complaints to the DOT. What they DO lead the “Big 3” in is 1) Involuntary denied bookings, 2) Mishandled Bags, and 3) Wheelchairs/Scooters. That’s it! That’s not “all statistics” and definitely not the most important ones to most passengers.
Provide some actual statistics to prove me wrong. Otherwise, it’s just more hot air.
First, I consider a HUGE victory that you and so many other people are looking at DOT’s Air Travel Consumer report because it is the most comprehensive and unbiased look at airline operations in the US.
Quite simply, you are precisely the type of people that can manipulate any statistic in order to refuse to accept the difference they show.
On-time and cancellation rates are on a scale of 100%. There is slightly more than a 1% difference between DL and UA’s rates on those two items since the first of the year. More significantly, out of 9 reported marketing US airlines, the difference in DL and UA’s on-time is 1 postiion out and for cancellation rates, for the same 3 months, it is a difference of 2 position points out of 9 marketing airlines.
Baggage handling rates are reported on a scale of 0.00 to 1.00. Number of bags enplaned per 100 Not a single airline misandles 100% of the bags it handles which is the only way the mishandling rate could be greater than 1%. . the best reported airline mishandles 1 bag for every 1000 it handles while DL, at #4 in the ranking, mishandles 4.5 bags per 1000 bags it handles. United, in contrast, is in fact #9 out of 9 US airlines in baggage mishandling – a difference of FIVE ranking positions. and UA mishandles 8 out of 1000 bags it handles.
The difference between DL and UA”s manage mishandling rates is not less than a percent. UA mishandles a RATIO of 77% more bags than DL – and that has been consistently the size of difference.
DL handles 27% more bags than UA and actually mishandles fewer bags while AA handles 37% more bags and is the ONLY CARRIER that mishandles more bags – but A LOWER RATIO.
and let’s not forget that DL is indeed best in wheelchair and invol DB handling.
No airline is perfect but if you rank ALL of those metrics, DL indeed comes out the best OF THE BIG 3 which is the statement that I have consistently made.
it doesn’t matter how badly you fail to understand statistics or tortured your interpretation of them is, UA’s core operation is not significantly any better – and this was undoubtedly in the quarter that DL performed the worst.
As the full on hypocrite that you are, you try desperately find the speck in someone else’s eye while ignoring the log in your own.
@Tim Dunn — That’s the thing about ‘raw data’… bias begins as soon as anyone ‘interprets’ it… in short, Delta good; everyone else, bad, amirite?
1990
There are organizations that weight all of the DOT data along with other sources and neither AA are UA comes anywhere close in terms of the balance of all of the data to DL’s performance.
In Q1 26 Delta’s cancellation rate was 44% higher than UA and DL’s on-time was worse in all three months. And as you admitted UA is far more adept at using slots to protect more customers in larger aircraft. I was surprised by Delta’s horrendous long tarmac performance. United’s superior IT and app pays a myriad of dividends for customers not to mention 90+ Starlink NPS. It’s just a matter of time.
Okay, Tim – you’re going to manipulate the statistics, to try to substantiate your view, by using comparative ratios and straight rankings, instead of raw data differentials, when Delta is higher in the rankings, but not when they’re lower. Fine. Let’s play.
Note how comparative differences produce higher, more impressive sounding numbers from the same info:
1) On-time arrivals, mainline carriers only
United, 79.96%. Delta, 78.27%.
Raw (accurate) difference of 1.68%
Comparative difference: Delta had 2.16% more flights arrive late than United!
2) Cancellation rate, mainline carriers only
United, 1.82%. Delta, 3.23%.
Raw (accurate) difference of 1.41%
Comparative difference: Delta had 77.47% more cancellations than United!
You also use the ranking method to push your narrative – more spin. How so? If you have three airlines – one with 90% on-time, one with 50% on-time, and one with 10% on-time, the last is definitely “3rd”. No argument. But if the first falls to 80%, the second improves to 79%, and the third improves to 78%… the first can still accurately point at the last and still say, “they’re third!” That’s the problem with only using the rank – no perspective. And when using only ranking, SOMEONE is always going to be last (even if they are doing exceptionally) and someone is always going to be first (even if they are awful).
This is what you did when saying “United is 9th in mishandled bags!” – but as least you actually admitted you were wrong (a very rare event, indeed!) because you’ve consistently said United is last in mishandled bags, when they are not.
But – doesn’t matter. Regardless of what you want to use (raw data, comparative ratios, relative ranking) you continue to be wrong. United doesn’t have the worst baggage mishandling rate as you’ve claimed, and Delta isn’t leading the industry (You’re exact quote was, “DL handedly leads the big 3 in all statistics.”). Because Delta clearly lags in the following:
1) On-time arrivals
2) Flight cancellations
3) Long Tarmac Delays
4) Passenger Complaints
“There are organizations that weight all of the DOT data along with other sources and neither AA are UA comes anywhere close in terms of the balance of all of the data to DL’s performance.”
Ah, yes – if we don’t like the raw, unbiased data put out by one source… search around until we find another source with some data that we DO like, and only use that!
And don’t name / quote / site that source, so my assertions cannot be challenged!
Science!
“flights with seat back entertainment had a 15-point higher NPS than not.”
Totally believe in this. Bravo Delta and UA.
Those “organizations” that consolidate statistics include the Wall Street Journal and Wichita State University which STATISTICALLY weigh how much each element of air travel should be ranked to create a composite airline quality ranking.
Some of you torture statistics to avoid admitting how bad UA’s baggage handling is and that baggage handling is NOT a side issue. Almost half of all legacy carrier passengers check one bag ON AVERAGE or rather the big 3 carry about half the number of bags as they do passengers.
Poor baggage handling is not some insignificant statistic that doesn’t matter.
Bottom of the industry baggage mishandling CANNOT offset a 1-2% difference in on-time or cancellation rates. It just cannot no matter how hard some of you try to pretend that a couple months of lower DL on-time and cancellation rates will make a difference in overall quality rankings.
AA and UA have had well below industry average baggage handling for years. Their performance is NOT improving.
DL’s on-time and cancellation rates slipped for a couple months. They are already improved for those that track more recent performance than March 2026.
UA is doing lots of bells and whistles stuff but is NOT fixing some of the basic parts of the airline where it has long underperformed and continues to do so
Yet you still haven’t shared any links or the statistics themselves.
As they say, “pic or it didn’t happen”
I don’t post links.
If you can’t find the Wall Street Journal or Wichita State’s air travel quality report, you aren’t looking.
but let’s be clear that the root issue is that you don’t want anyone telling you that UA is middle of the pack at best – both operationally and financially.
I have been saying that for years and there is ample evidence to back up my conclusions.
You just don’t like hearing or reading it
Ultimately, Tim, you are incredibly tiresome. Seriously. WTF difference does it make in the Real World if DL is — for example — 1.68% better than UA or 1.68% worse than UA? Are you going to switch loyalty because of a 1.68% difference? (OK, bad example: you wouldn’t switch for anything short of DL going out of business.). But would anyone? How many people look at DOT statistics and say, “Wow, DL is ahead of UA in [blank] by [x] percent (where x=<2)…I'm going to switch!"
Realistically, NO ONE. When they will switch, it's largely for one of three reasons: Airline A has become more expensive than Airline B by enough that it makes a difference; Airline A discontinues flying to [destination], period, or discontinues their nonstops while Airline B *does* fly nonstop; or if Airline A does something serious enough to anger their loyal customer to the point where they say, "F*** it! I'm outta here…" and they vow never to fly Airline A again! (Rarely, if ever, a permanent ban, but at least for a while….)
“but let’s be clear that the root issue is that you don’t want anyone telling you that UA is middle of the pack at best – both operationally and financially.”
Nope – wrong, yet again. Your streak of posting incorrect, unsubstantiated claims remains unbroken! Congratulation! As it turns out, you, or anyone, can tell me that any time. I’ll even agree. Watch – I’ll say it myself: “United, currently, is pretty much a ‘middle of the pack’ at best airline, operationally.”
There? See how easy it was? Perhaps, you can try it sometime about Delta. But I won’t hold my breath. And United WAS a “middle of the pack” airline financially many, many years ago (made pre-Covid) – but the data since Covid contradicts you yet again, my friend.
Your assertion does require a ranked comparison, because you are claiming that United falls somewhere arguably “in the middle” financially when compared to the other airlines. So, let’s see how much money United made over the past 4 full years, and for the first quarter of 2026, in comparison to how much money all the other US airlines made, and see if that’s “in the middle”:
2022: 2nd ($737 Million)
2023: 2nd ($3.4 Billion)
2024: 2nd ($3.15 Billion)
2025: 2nd ($3.5 Billion)
2026, 1Q: 1st ($699 Million)
But what if it’s not fair to look at just profits, because United is way bigger than JetBlue, Frontier, etc? They SHOULD make more money than smaller carriers. Okay, fair enough. So, what about pre-tax margins?
2022: 5th (2.5%) … FYI, Delta was 3rd at 3.8%
2023: 2nd (8.0%)
2024: 2nd (5.52%)
2025: 2nd (7.8%)
2026, 1Q: 1st (3.4%) … FYI, Delta was -1.4%
Either you are wrong again, or you haven’t bothered to look at any data in the last five years. Frankly, I’m struggling with how a company that consistently placed lower than 2nd only once since Covid is “middle of the pack at best” among airlines – ah, but what do I know? I’m only looking at numbers. You have strongly worded statements!
“…there is ample evidence to back up my conclusions.”
Try posting some for once.
“Wichita State’s air travel quality report”
Last one of those came out in 2023 based on 2022 operational data, spectrum boy.
https://airlinequalityrating.wichita.edu/
Even the “airline quality rating” report card only has up through 2019 data
https://airlinequalityrating.com/
DeLtA wAs A bEtTeR aIrLiNe iN tHe InDePeNdEnT rAnKiNgS!
Oof.
I’d start with an ice pack, then maybe some aloe gel.
to no surprise the UA fan nut jobs are melting down every time I remind the universe that UA has the UA’s worst baggage handling.
Even Jason realizes that 1.5% differencer in on-time and cancellation doesn’t change customer behavior but UA fans are driven by an incessant need to be the top of the hill at something.
UA is a true 2nd rank airline in every measure.
It is DL that has the longest track record for operational and financial leadership in the US airline industry and 3 months of 1% difference in ontime and cancellation rates won’t change a thing.
thank you, UA fan nut jobs, for highlighting your sensitivities at criticizing UA’s baggage handling.
Tim –
Congrats! Credit where credit is due! You’ve come so far!
It only took about a half-dozen or more posts back-and-forth, but you’ve managed to go from “Delta leads in operational statistics” to admitting they no longer lead in on-time performance and cancellation rates this year.
Also – you’ve gone from “United is middle of the pack” to “United ranks 2nd” (well… “ranks 2nd” … “2nd rank”… we’ll give that one to you). You need the win.
Nice job, pal!
Now, we need to work on why a 1.5% difference in on-time and cancellation shouldn’t matter (“doesn’t change customer behavior”) but a 0.31% difference in baggage mishandling rate should. You had a problem with the math earlier, so I’ll go slowly.
The DOT reported that for the 1st Quarter of 2026, Delta mishandled “.46 bags for every 100 bags enplaned”. So they mishandled “0.46 PER 100” or that’s “0.46 Per Cent”, or abbreviated as “0.46%” of their bags they enplaned. See how that works? United mishandled “0.77 bags per 100 enplaned”, or “.77 PER 100 bags” which means they mishandled 0.77%!
Take your time if this is confusing.
Now, we can try to get you to see the inconsistency in saying a 1.5% operational difference in “On Time and Cancellations” is too small to matter, but a 0.31% difference in baggage handling should always be brought up.
But you’ve had a big day. We’ll save that one for another, because you’re sure to want to discuss it again.
By the way – they are still waiting over on OMAAT for your list of flights you said United operated between LAX and EWR in 737-900ERs. Just go ahead and Copy-Paste them. If you know about them, I’m sure you have them right there at your fingertips.
again, you don’t understand basic math.
The difference in baggage mishandling is not as insignificant as you want to make it.
and my math is just fine. I simply moved the decimal to create integers and express in thousands of bags.
and the bigger point is that there are multiple ranking points between DL and UA’s baggage positions and at most two for on-time and cancellatio rates.
You desperately want to think it doesn’t matter that UA loses so many bags – and seems unable or unwilling to fix it – and then ends up in the middle to bottom tier of every consolidated customer service ranking.
and that will continue to be the case.
UA is investing in shiny customer facing toys but cannot or will not fix its bottom of the barrel baggage handling which will keep them from ever being ranked as a true premium carrier like DL
@Michael M — Sick burns!
Ugh, Tim. Fine. Class is back in session. Let’s look in more detail at why you are wrong about mishandled bags. And I’ll provide substantiated facts that anyone can verify. Here’s what you’ve said:
“there are multiple ranking points between DL and UA’s baggage positions and at most two for on-time and cancellation rates.”
And in an earlier post, you said:
“Baggage handling rates are reported on a scale of 0.00 to 1.00. Number of bags enplaned per 100 Not a single airline mishandles 100% of the bags it handles which is the only way the mishandling rate could be greater than 1%”
Both of those statements are wrong. The numbers I gave you do not use a “ratio” – they ARE simply “how many bags, per 100 carried, did the airline mishandle” which converts directly into a percentage. Here’s a link because I like backing up MY claims. This is the government data, and the latest report:
https://www.transportation.gov/sites/dot.gov/files/2026-05/May%202026%20ATCR.pdf
Go to page 44. They do not report a “Ratio”. They report raw numbers, and they even do the math for us. See the column that says “NUMBER OF BAGS MISHANDLED PER 100 ENPLANED”? That means that’s the percentage (a word literally derived from the root, “per one hundred”) of bags mishandled.
It says that mainline Delta mishandled .46 bags for every 100 they enplaned (which IS 0.46%). It says that mainline United mishandled .77 bags for every 100 they enplaned (which IS 0.77%).
Still don’t believe the math? Try these numbers.
The report says that mainline Delta enplaned 19,178,560 bags, and mishandled. 89,017 of them. 89,017 divided by 19,178,560 is…wait for it… 0.0046! Which is 0.46%!
And it says that mainline United enplaned 14,235,382 bags, and mishandled 109,268 of them. 19.268 divided by 14,235,382 is… yep, punch those numbers into a calculator and get… 0.0077! Which is 0.77%
So, as I said – the current percentage difference you harp about, between mainline Delta’s mishandled baggage rate and United’s mishandled baggage rate, is 0.31% for January through March of 2026.
And you are proven wrong, yet again.
you will persist in your denials but nothing changes the fact that UA’s baggage mishandling rate compared to DL and the industry over a long term basis is far worse than the difference in ontime and cancellation rates over the past several months between DL and UA.
that is simply a fact no matter how much keyboard banging you do and UA’s much lower baggage handling rate is a major reason why UA consistently underperforms DL and other carriers in overall customer service and operational rankings which I DON’T DO.
quit arguing against me when it is a host of other organizations that have determined that UA runs a second rate operation to DL and to other carriers.
and mainline statistics may be what you NEED TO DO but the DOT doesn’t buy it.
Each of AA, AS, DL and UA put their code on flights they contract to regional carriers and the major carrier owns responsibility for those flights – on-time, cancellation and baggage handling etc- all of it
Fine, Tim – use all branded flights. The data shows, that for January-March of 2026, all United branded flights mishandled 0.80% of the bags they enplaned, and all Delta branded flights mishandled 0.45% of the bags they enplaned.
It’s still NOT a “ratio” rating – like you claimed, and NOT “impossible” for an airline to have a reported number higher than 1 – like you claimed. (You said: “Baggage handling rates are reported on a scale of 0.00 to 1.00. Number of bags enplaned per 100 Not a single airline mishandles 100% of the bags it handles which is the only way the mishandling rate could be greater than 1%.”). Nope – DOT is reporting the total handled, total mishandled, and the percentage mishandled. NOT A “0.00 – 1.00” RATING!
It’s still NOT multiple ranking points between Delta and United – like you claimed (you said: “there are multiple ranking points between DL and UA’s baggage positions”). It’s actually a 0.35% difference. About a 1/3 or a percent. For all branded flights. Per the DOT. And the DOT provides BOTH numbers (mainline only, and fully branded), so the DO “buy it”.
So keep trying to make a big deal about a 0.35% differential in baggage handling statistics, but minimizing a 5x greater the gap between on-time rates and cancellations.
Do you want to triple-down on your assertions – or finally admit you were wrong?
My dearest friend Tim:
Having not seen any response yet from you, I’m guessing you may not be up to writing one, admitting you were wrong. Besides, by now, we two are probably the only ones left who are reading these comments on this particular article.
It’s just you and me, pal. So, I’m going to make things easy for you. I’ll do the work for you! Look at the latest DOT report in the link I cited from the government a few posts back. Read the data on mishandled baggage on pages 44-46. After doing that, a reasonable person would take it all in, consider what they had claimed before, realize the claims in those prior postings were not correct, and then reply with something like this:
– – – – –
“Hey – you’re right. Those numbers on mishandled bags are not some type of ‘handling ratio’ like I thought. I’ve seen other reports that do it that way, but this government report doesn’t. Those were raw numbers like you said, and the third column IS a percentage, expressed as a decimal. So I was wrong about that. You’re right that the mishandled baggage percentages are within about 1/3 of one percent between Delta and United (within 0.31% – 0.35%, depending on whether you consider “mainline only” or the whole branded airline, which includes “express” flying partners).
I did notice that United, as a whole brand, is last in the rankings like I said – but I can see in the data that it is their flying partners that are bringing them down some, because United alone did better so far this year than Envoy and American alone. So an argument could be made that United isn’t “last”, in some sense. On page 44, they are. On page 46, they are not.
I also noticed that Delta was #4 in the rankings – which doesn’t “lead” the industry like I claimed. And it’s not just a small airline without baggage interline agreements, flying to smaller, underserved airports, that are currently beating Delta, like #1 airline Allegiant. Both Southwest (#2) and JetBlue (#3) had better mishandled baggage stats so far this year than Delta did.
Finally, I noticed that the United brand went from 0.85% mishandled bags in Jan-Mar 2025 to 0.80% in Jan-Mar 2026, as a whole brand. And mainline United themselves (mainline only) went from 0.83% to 0.77%. So it was inaccurate of me to say United isn’t improving. They did improve over the past year, as the numbers clearly show.
But I still believe they have a long way to go, to catch the rest of the industry.”
– – – – –
There! That was easy! You can just Copy-Paste that into your reply, and we’re good! I assume you don’t have the time, as you must be SO busy, posting all of those LAX-EWR flights operated by United recently in 737-900ERs over on OMAAT,
– Paul
P.S. Feel free to insult United, or any airline, at any time, or praise Delta whenever you want. I don’t get triggered by anyone saying one airline is great, or another sucks. But when you claim that any type of “data” backs up your assertions, you need to either provide the data itself, or links to where we can find it too. Otherwise, I’ll keep calling you out on it.
no matter how hard you try, UA’s baggage handling is far worse than the rest of the industry and the difference between DL and UA’s on-time and cancellation rates is far smaller than the difference between DL and UA’s baggage handling.
It really does not matter whether you understand the math or not.
UA just plain sucks at baggage handling and they are doing nothing to fix it.
but then neither is AA.
@Tim Dunn, @Pilot Paul — Wait, United used 739 for LAX-EWR? Lame. And yet… Delta downgraded JFK-SEA from 752 lie-flat to a321neo, so not too different. It is Coke v. Pepsi, fellas.
@ Tim: Still trying for the last word, Tim? I’d give it to you, if your last word was accurate.
“no matter how hard you try, UA’s baggage handling is far worse than the rest”
So reading skills now seem to be a challenge for you. Did you not read what I posted? I’m not trying anything but being accurate. I said that, yes, and I’ll say it again – United, as a whole branded airline, is last in the latest statistics from the DOT, showing mishandled baggage rates YTD (Jan-Mar 2026).
“and the difference between DL and UA’s on-time and cancellation rates is far smaller than the difference between DL and UA’s baggage handling.”
And – we get to see your bad basic math skills on display. What you said in this part, YET AGAIN, isn’t accurate at all. See pages 9, 30, and 44 of the report if you don’t believe me.
On-time rate, mainline carriers only: UA 79.96%, DL 78.27%… difference: 1.69%
On-time rate, entire branded network: UA 77.91%, DL 76.74%… difference: 1.17%
Cancellation rate, mainline carriers only: UA 1.82%, DL 3.23%… difference: 1.51%
Cancellation rate, entire branded network: UA 2.57%, DL 3.70%… difference: 1.33%
Baggage mishandled rate, mainline carriers only: UA 0.77%, DL: 0.46%… difference: 0.31%
Baggage mishandled rate, entire branded network: UA 0.80%, DL: 0.45%… difference: 0.35%
Math must be really hard for you – but 0.31 and 0.35 are actually SMALLER than 1.17, 1.33, 1.51, and 1.69, not bigger.
@ 1990: Surely you’ve seen how Tim claimed in comments on OMAAT that UA is, or recently has, operated 737-900ER’s between LAX and EWR. And when even Ben called him out saying, “Wait, what? Which flights?” Tim hasn’t produced any specific ones. All he’s said is stuff like, “You can find it on flightaware”.
Typical Tim. Claims the facts say something, but cannot produce a single fact that supports his argument when pushed. Just goes with “Experts agree!” but produces zero experts.
@Pilot Paul — Well-aware of Tim’s tactics. Usually, it is “my opinion is fact, yours is anecdote” etc.