Star Alliance Policies

[Light Years]

I could swear I remember hearing that Star Alliance had very strict standards for membership, including high or at least standard levels of service and the offering of a three class cabin on international flights. What do they think of our charging for food, lack of inflight entertainment on most flights, and use of the same service items in first class? Or charging for booze on transatlantic? Or the terrible, standard issue Cintas uniforms? Or the condition of the cabin interiors? Or lack of quality control or even hiring policies of our plethora of Express affiliates? Will Star be able to force the service levels back up?
Currently our product is alot more AirTran than All Nippon. Nothing "premier" about it.

"US Airways had been pursuing a strategy of being a global airline that clearly wasnt working. We had to rebuild the business model... to be the premiere network carrier for the East Coast."
Neal Cohen, Executive VP Finance and CFO, Air Transport World, Sept 2003

Um, ok. How can we be the premiere network carrier for the east coast when we are retreating from markets like, hello, Florida? How can we be premiere when we are pulling the quality of the product down to nothing?

 

[TheWatcher]

Very good points!

 

[nycbusdriver]

This is strictly conjecture on my part, but maybe the transatlantic service with its absence of three classes of service will not be marketed as part of the Star Alliance. It's really just a glorified, international code-share, and maybe the city pairs involved will be taken over by the carriers from the other side of the pond, or by UAL. The two-class USAirways transatlantic may soon involve only non-Star city pairs. The implication of this is that USAirways will not be serving European cities where a Star standards carrier operates.

We may see the Star code shared strictly with USAirways domestic flights which probably meet their standard. We may see the A330s flying to other non-Star cities with their current two-class service.

Again, it's just food for thought.

 

[USFlyer]

As I recall, the three class requirement was a oneworld requirement and came to light when US and AA were partners. Regardless, the transatlantic flights will be included in the Star Alliance, including codeshares. I'm basing this on the recent DOT filings regarding the LH and JK codeshare applications.

 

[Fly]

What do they think of our charging for food, lack of inflight entertainment on most flights, and use of the same service items in first class? Or charging for booze on transatlantic? Or the terrible, standard issue Cintas uniforms? Or the condition of the cabin interiors? Or lack of quality control or even hiring policies of our plethora of Express affiliates? Will Star be able to force the service levels back up?

Yikes

 

[USAirBoyA330]

I would love to have been on the "audit flights" that STAR conducted recently. I bet their face was a mix between shock/appaul and disgust. I bet they went back to Europe shaking their heads and wondering where to even begin.

 

[USFlyer]

I've flown LH within Germany. It's nothing to write home about.

 

[ITRADE]

I could swear I remember hearing that Star Alliance had very strict standards for membership, including high or at least standard levels of service and the offering of a three class cabin on international flights. What do they think of our charging for food, lack of inflight entertainment on most flights, and use of the same service items in first class? Or charging for booze on transatlantic? Or the terrible, standard issue Cintas uniforms? Or the condition of the cabin interiors? Or lack of quality control or even hiring policies of our plethora of Express affiliates? Will Star be able to force the service levels back up?
Currently our product is alot more AirTran than All Nippon. Nothing "premier" about it.

"US Airways had been pursuing a strategy of being a global airline that clearly wasnt working. We had to rebuild the business model... to be the premiere network carrier for the East Coast."
Neal Cohen, Executive VP Finance and CFO, Air Transport World, Sept 2003

Um, ok. How can we be the premiere network carrier for the east coast when we are retreating from markets like, hello, Florida? How can we be premiere when we are pulling the quality of the product down to nothing?

Gee, I don't know.

United charges for food in coach.
United charges for booze in transatlantic coach.
United does not have IFE on many flights.
United has some lousy commuter affiliates (i.e., Atlantic Coast).

So, what the **** is your point?

 

[Cosmo]

Three-class service apparently isn't a STAR requirement for Transatlantic flights at this time because both BMI (on IAD/ORD-MAN) and Austrian (on IAD/JFK-VIE) operate two-class A330-200s. This would seem to indicate that US Airways' two-class B767-200s are acceptable to the alliance, assuming of course that STAR's basic standards are met (as I'm sure they would be).

 

[Light Years]

ITRADE,
Is there a need to ****ing swear?

 

[ITRADE]

ITRADE,
Is there a need to ****ing swear?

I don't know. I'm not the one who swore. You did. You said, "I could swear..."

 

[xoxo]

ITRADE,

I just read your post to LightYears..and you said"so, what the *****is your point?"
That to me...is rude ITRADE, and that was simpley uncalled for. Everything LightYears said was true...so what was your point of swearing and writing that rude remark? :angry:

 

[ITRADE]

Care to tell me what was represented by the four ****? SInce you seem to know what I said.

And, BTW, even if true, care to rebut the fact that the other U.S. based * alliance carrier - United - seems to suffer from the same, awful, terrible things that allegedly besets US Airways???

Or, should United leave * as well?

 

[Light Years]

Check out flyertalk.com and see what our folks think of our "first class" product, domestic and international, and what they think of Uniteds. Say what you will about United but they dont give you plastic cups etc. There is clearly a difference from passenger perspective.

 

[ITRADE]

Check out flyertalk.com and see what our folks think of our "first class" product, domestic and international, and what they think of Uniteds. Say what you will about United but they dont give you plastic cups etc. There is clearly a difference.

But, that's not the thrust of your argument. You've argued a combination of items that you believe debase's US's name (i.e., paid for meals in coach, paid for boozie in international coach, lack of IFE, 2 class seating on international, questionable affiliates). At least four of these can be easily said of United and your three class argument has already been debunked by the fact that both Austrian and BMI fly two-class aircraft across the pond.

So, again, what's your point?