United Airlines

Stories 221 - 240 | << Prev   Next >>

For $249 Annual Fee, United Will Waive Bag Charges

Fee covers two bags per flight, and up to 8 passengers booked at same time

(Newser) - Fly United frequently, or planning to use the airline for the next couple family vacations? For a $249 annual fee, United will waive fees for your first two checked bags—and it covers up to eight people traveling on the same booking. With a $20 charge for the first bag...

Starbucks Goes Instant


 Starbucks 
 Goes Instant 
Sep 29, 2009 6:59 AM CDT

Starbucks Goes Instant

Company has high hopes for new $1 powdered coffee

(Newser) - Following a three-city test run, Starbucks is rolling out its new Via coffee across the country today, offering java-fiends an instant brew that costs less than a buck—and is purported to taste just as good as the real thing. The recession-hit coffee chain is selling the powder in Target...

Pissed Airline Passenger Back on YouTube

Glossier United Breaks Guitars: Song 2 is follow-up to viral hit

(Newser) - Dave Carroll, who so memorably commemorated his terrible experience with United Airlines in the YouTube sensation United Breaks Guitars is at it again, Consumerist reports. The singer/songwriter/guitar-rights activist has released a more ambitious video cleverly titled United Breaks Guitars: Song 2, with a slightly more conciliatory tone. And don’t...

Going...Going...Gone: Airlines Tweet Low Prices

JetBlue, United get in on speedy, hip marketing move

(Newser) - JetBlue and United Airlines are giving loyal readers of their Twitter feeds chances to grab low fares, USA Today reports. But customers have to act quickly: JetBlue makes the fares available for about 8 hours or while seats last, while United often gives customers just an hour or two to...

Doomed United Is Textbook of Biz Don'ts

(Newser) - United Airlines’ dismal service and financial stature may soon send it to Chapter 11, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a “teachable moment,” Shaun Rein writes in Forbes. Herewith, three lessons:
  • Loyal customers return: "Consumers are more price sensitive in this economy, and they are
...

Singer's Complaint vs. United Proves Power of YouTube

(Newser) - When United Airlines baggage handlers broke Dave Carroll’s $1,200 guitar, he didn’t get mad—he got famous. Carroll and his band slapped together a $130 YouTube video titled United Breaks Guitars, which became so popular Oprah mentioned it. United eventually relented, donating $3,000 in Carroll’s...

Huge United Order Sparks Jet Builder Face-Off

Bargain-hunting airline invites Boeing, Airbus to duke it out

(Newser) - Hoping to score a good deal by exploiting the recession, United Airlines has called on Boeing and Airbus to bid on an order for up to 150 new jets, the Wall Street Journal reports. The plan could bring in $10 billion for one of the manufacturers, both of whom face...

United Forces 'Seatmates of Size' to Buy Extra Ticket

(Newser) - United Airlines is coming down hard on its chubbier passengers with a new rule requiring those who can’t fit into one seat to buy another ticket, MSNBC reports. “Seatmates of size” are defined as the unlucky passengers who can’t buckle their seatbelts—even with an extension—or...

Aging Airlines Can't Catch Up to Younger Rivals
Aging Airlines Can't Catch Up to Younger Rivals
ANALYSIS
Apr 7, 2009 8:52 AM CDT

Aging Airlines Can't Catch Up to Younger Rivals

Recent changes haven't helped 'legacy' carriers

(Newser) - Despite many rounds of cost-cutting, so-called legacy airlines—United, Delta, US Airways—still face costs 35% higher than low-fare carriers like JetBlue and Southwest, the Wall Street Journal reports. The younger outfits have maintained a “cost gap” analysts thought their older peers could close over time. For one thing,...

Struggling Airlines Pitch Clean(er) Planes

As customers become more valued, so does customer service

(Newser) - United Airlines used to give its planes’ interiors a thorough cleaning only every 6 months to save cash. But with carriers now fighting for every passenger, cleanliness has become a crucial weapon, the Chicago Tribune reports. Some United planes now get “heavy” cleans every two weeks. “People don’...

After Turbulent Year, Airlines See Smoother 2009

Falling fuel prices and capacity better in line with demand will help profits

(Newser) - The nation’s airlines—which scrambled to retask fleets and ground fuel-guzzling aircraft last year as energy prices rose and passenger miles dropped—are likely to have a smoother flight in 2009, reports the Wall Street Journal. Reduced capacity has allowed them to better match supply and demand, and falling...

Labor Faces a Tough Year at Table as Economy Stalls

Worsening economic conditions are forcing unions to reopen contracts, weigh givebacks

(Newser) - Organized labor is facing one of its toughest negotiating years in decades as the swooning economy prompts employers to seek givebacks and contract reopenings, reports the Wall Street Journal. With several major contracts expiring—AT&T, United Airlines, and Goodyear, among others—2009 could be punishing for labor.

Suit Claims In-Flight Booze Led to Domestic Violence

Courts must decide if United jet constituted a bar

(Newser) - A couple has sued United Airlines for deliberately serving the husband too much wine on a 2006 international flight, triggering a physical fight with his wife upon landing. The case rides on whether US courts find United beholden to the same liabilities as bars, and if they can preside over...

Mystery Illness Diverts Plane
Mystery
Illness
Diverts Plane
Oct 9, 2008 4:21 AM CDT

Mystery Illness Diverts Plane

14 passengers suddenly sick shortly after takeoff

(Newser) - A United Airlines flight was diverted last night to Chicago's O'Hare airport after 14 passengers suddenly became ill with flu-like symptoms. Four were taken to a local hospital in fair condition. United hadn't served any food on the plane, heading from Boston to Los Angeles, officials said. Several of the...

SEC Looking Into United Airlines Stock Glitch

Stock slid hard on bad, old info picked up by automated Google news service

(Newser) - The Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into the recent, but temporary, nosedive in United Airlines stock spurred by the republication of a 6-year-old article about the company’s bankruptcy, the Wall Street Journal reports. The agency has begun a preliminary investigation to see whether any shady behavior was involved,...

United Shares Dive 99.92% on False Bankruptcy Report

6-year-old story posted on newspaper site picked up across financial world

(Newser) - Trading in United Airlines shares was halted today on the New York Stock Exchange after a false bankruptcy report made them nearly worthless, the New York Times reports. At one point, the airlines’ shares fell 99.92%, to a single cent, after a reporter incorrectly republished a 6-year-old story about...

Cross Honors Heroes of Flight 93

Two-ton memorial forged from World Trade Center steel

(Newser) - A 14-foot-high cross forged from World Trade Center steel was dedicated yesterday in a moving ceremony near the spot where United Airlines Flight 93 crashed in a Pennsylvania field. The 2-ton memorial was erected next to the Shanksville firehouse on a base shaped like the Pentagon. Flight 93 went down...

United Should Be Liquidated
 United Should Be Liquidated
opinion
Aug 13, 2008 5:49 PM CDT

United Should Be Liquidated

Why the airline doesn't deserve a second chance

(Newser) - What with the oil price spike, times are rough all around for airlines, writes Roben Farzad for BusinessWeek. But United presents a uniquely bungled case, and it is irresponsible to pity it along with other struggling players in the industry. "Even if the airline devised a way to run...

Airline Shares Bounce Back as Oil Prices Fall

Analyst predicts carriers could be back in the black next year

(Newser) - Airline shares rose yesterday following an analyst's prediction that the big carriers could be back in the black by next year, reports the Wall Street Journal. The stocks have been recovering since mid-July as oil prices started to slip downward and the industry's cost-cutting and revenue-boosting measures began to take...

US Airlines May Need Foreign Aid

May find security if caps on foreign investment are eased

(Newser) - Troubled US airlines could be looking to Congress to ease foreign ownership laws, as financial woes push them into the arms of new investment partners, the Wall Street Journal reports. Overseas companies, barred from holding more than 25% of the voting stock of US carriers, are eager to relax the...

Stories 221 - 240 | << Prev   Next >>