United Airlines News

With the sunrise of United's Polaris service its first class is on the way out -- but that may be okay.

United's making more friends within its loyalty ranks by giving away upgraded status.

The level of profitability revealed in the latest BTS report is leaves the Big 3 U.S. airlines room to improve their in-flight products and passenger services, without breaking the bank. But they have achieved this profitability in large part by becoming better businesses. If they are to stay profitable when the next inevitable industry downturn comes, they will need to keep improving their retail models.

Perhaps elite status, after all, is not completely dead.

Digital payments are big business. It's not just a question of how travelers spend. It's about the market power that comes from knowing how they spend, and other companies' access to that information.

United's apology tour just extended to its former frequent flyers.

Munoz is just a few months back from a health setback that would sideline most mortals. Still, the expectations on him to deliver immediately are strong. So far he's saying all the right things and he's managed to rally internal support in a way his predecessor never did.

From outward appearances, the prospects looked bleak several weeks ago for the hedge fund-led proxy fight to succeed at United but the dissidents had the ear of other big shareholders and the United board. It now appears as though the dissidents, including airline and online travel veterans, accomplished a whole lot.

Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, and Delta Air Lines continue to lead the pack when it comes to on-time arrivals. But Virgin America, which will likely be acquired by Alaska Airlines, stood above its competitors overall.

The dissident shareholders at United are facing an uphill battle in their proxy fight as CEO Oscar Munoz has garnered a great deal of support from United's unions/employees. The hedge funds claim, though, that they support Munoz and only want to equip him to do a better job by putting in place a more experienced board.