United Airlines News

Air Canada and United still dominate the majority of U.S.-Canada routes, so it's hard to see how anti-trust immunity helps consumers. But it certainly would make the airlines more formidable competitors.

It's nice to see United Airlines on the offensive again. Look for more flights on bigger jets in key business markets from United, which has fallen behind American and Delta in some important urban markets.

Let's give some credit to United CEO Oscar Munoz for his honesty about problems with airline IT systems. Yes, he was speaking with employees, and not the public, but many CEOs aren't this candid when they meet with workers. Former United CEO Jeff Smisek certainly wasn't.

Yet again, Southwest is choosing not to copy United, American and Delta. Its independent strategy has worked well for the last five decades, so why change what works?

With basic economy soon available on American, Delta, and United, it's worth comparing the pros and cons of each fare. American's may be good for elite travelers while Delta's is best for those with baggage.

If United were Facebook friends with reservation systems like Sabre and Amadeus, it would have just changed its relationship status from "Friends" to "It's complicated." New President Scott Kirby is worried how those companies will display its new basic economy product to travel agents and (indirectly) to ticket buyers.

Haywood was a big hire for United several months ago, but apparently it did not work out. That's OK, as President Scott Kirby should continue to do a fine job running the airline's commercial team.

As happened with United, this story will probably go viral, and consumer groups will whine about not having access to bin space. But remember, the market has spoken: Frontier and Spirit charge for bin space, and yet passengers fly them. Why should American and United not sell similar products?

In the previous Jeff Smisek reign, United fell far behind some of its competitors in profitability. But that's beginning to change — slowly.

These operational guarantee programs are not as generous as airlines would like people to believe, but they're better than nothing. It's a good thing United and Delta are focusing on on-time arrivals and mishandled baggage rates.