Maybe there's some hope that United Airlines will find a future. Wi-Fi Net News reports that United is getting close to offering Wi-Fi on all of their domestic flights with rollout the end of next year. That's a great/essential start but if they can't design a good experience the only people who will benefit from the wi-fi equipped planes are the desert mothballers who warehouse and sell off used jetliners from failled airlines.

As I have blogged before there is a lot that United can do to get it's mojo back:

What's needed is a narrowing of focus. United needs to concentrate on a specific category of travelers and strive for excellence within that segment of the market. I would suggest baby boomer business and leisure travelers. I would combine these two groups because passengers who travel on business will use their frequent flyer miles for leisure travel. Like hotels, United can use their weekday business traveler capacity to offer leisure travelers good deals on weekend travel.

The adjustments:
Humanize the Planes - More legroom, wider seats, bigger bathrooms. The whole plane becomes Business class. Maintain First Class for those who want the status and/or pampering. Realize and accommodate the reality of the real dimensions of the average to large American 45 year-old. Three seats become two.
Provide Communications Technology - Provide broadband Internet access, cellular service and 110v AC power to all seats.
Appropriate Entertainment - Program entertainment systems to appeal to boomers. Don't provide kids programming or video games so as to discourage younger travelers that can be distracting and disruptive to the target market.
Sensible Food and Beverages - Provide decent beverage service and optional meal service. Charge extra for meals if you need to but make it worth the extra cost. $10 for the current airline meal. Oh please!
Invest in Ground Facilities - As you restructure invest in ticket counters/systems and baggage screening/checking/claim areas and systems to make them as streamlined and efficient as possible. Both business and leisure travelers value time and hassle savings. Minutes saved at the airport mean more time on the ground. It's a valuable (profitable) exchange.
Reality Check Frequent Flyer Program - Revise the system to be more realistic. Don't provide miles for sneezing. Give out fewer miles thereby making it easier to use the miles that are earned. Start a two tiered system for miles granting programs like credit cards and hotels. Let them award upgrade points that travelers can use to upgrade to the posh First Class. It should cost a lot of points to do so.
Continue to use Internet - As this segment is already wired in the office and at home, rely more and more on web based ticketing, reservations and customer service.
Staff Accordingly - If your market is baby boomers, staff planes and public contact positions with baby boomers. Strive to build trust and rapport with customers. Common values among people of the same generation will make United a comfortable place to be.

Sure it costs money they don't have but they need a real vision for how they can be something better than they are now. I guess we'll have to wait until flying United is like this.

[United to offer Wi-Fi]

Related:
What United Airlines Should Do Now.
What Should Southwest Airlines Do Now
Answers for Airlines
Time Travel

tags: United Airlines | UAL | wi-fi | wifi | airlines
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