Another September 11 anniversary is upon us, already. The days are noticeably shorter, and football season is in full swing. That year went by fast. It was looking doubtful that I could make my annual cross country, round-trip this year. Work stress, family stress, and stress at home, they were all coming together in a trinity that was saying "perhaps not this year." I told myself I would never miss an anniversary, and it was only a couple of weeks ago when I finally gave myself the OK to do this.
We all want to take pride in who we are, in the work that we do, in our family and friends, and in our country. If you wanted to find one good thing to come out of the events of 9/11/2001, it was the groundswell of pride that Americans suddenly seemed to have for their country. For a short time there, everyone came together, even the politicians in Washington, and everyone was in agreement that something had to be done so that what happened would never happen again. A lot has happened in the 22 years since. That pride has waned, and the country appears to be more divided than it has ever been since the Civil War. Still, every September 11, Americans do come together to honor those that were lost, and to "Never Forget" that there are forces out there that want to oppress, and take away the privilege of being a citizen of the United States. I want to believe Americans are still proud to be Americans. I know that I am.
What about pride in the work that we do? We all want to be proud of what we produce and the contributions we make. Any industry, any job, it is just natural that at the very base, we want to have some pride in what we put out there. Without that, it is hard to go to work. It was back in the 90's when I started to fly United Airlines exclusively, and with any frequency. Back then you could really see that the front-line employees took pride in being part of the "Friendly Skies." This was a period of expansion for the airline, going from a primarily domestic carrier to flying around the world in a very short time. Beautiful "Friendships,"emblazoned with the red and blue tulip, were offering world-class service to all corners of the globe.
It was also in the early 90's when Boeing began the design and development of the 777 wide body jet. United saw the promise in the 777, and United was the first airline to put in orders for the new plane. With that, Boeing sought the input of United employees for help with final design. They wanted to come up with something that had what the employees needed in order to deliver a world class product to the passengers. The first 777 that United put in service, N777UA, was christened with the name "Working Together," you could see it painted on the plane right below door number 1. Back then, United's senior management understood that if their front-line was not proud of what they were doing, then it would be hard to instill loyalty in the customers, especially the high-fare paying business travelers that were so coveted by all the major carriers. I believe this 777 is still in service some 30 years later; however, the "Working Together" moniker and the tulips have been painted over. Sadly, I sense that those paint jobs may have covered up a lot of the pride that was once there.
Never was pride in the job more tested than on 9/11/2001. From the 4 planes that went down, all combined, United and American lost 34 crew members. Each one of those crew members had interacted with hundreds of their co-workers in one fashion or another. There was not a base or a station, anywhere that United and American had a presence, that somebody knew one of those crew members. To be able to get through the grief, the sadness and the anger, that strength had to come from pride in each other, pride in their airline, and pride in the service they provided to the customers each and every day. If I had $20 million burning a hole in my pocket each year, for every 9/11 anniversary, I would ask Starbucks to send a gift card to every front-line employee at both United and American Airlines.
When the first anniversary of the attacks was coming up in 2002, I knew I wanted to do something. I was not sure of what I wanted, or could, do. I do know that I wanted to say that this privilege of being able to travel safely to any destination around the world should not be taken for granted. In my travels on United I had gotten to know a lot of those proud employees on the front line. There was a lot of conjecture in the news that day asking if U.S. citizens would avoid traveling out of fear there would be another attack. In addition, the events of 9/11/2001 triggered a world-wide recession which hit the travel industry hard. United Airlines was going through a tough time in 2002. I thought that the best thing I might be able to do is buy a ticket and go somewhere on United. It was a solitary way of wanting to show my support, and I questioned if I was really doing something that mattered. That question was answered when I got off the plane at O'Hare airport where passengers were greeted with patriotic music playing loudly throughout the terminal, and American flags were displayed everywhere. On the flight back home to Los Angeles, as part of his pre-departure announcements, the Captain thanked all the passengers on board for being there on that particular day. He also wanted to convey his pride in the crew members working with him that day, and he wanted to convey his pride in United Airlines He wanted to assure us that United Airlines was strong. It was a smooth, comfortable, uneventful ride to Los Angeles that evening, and I think that crew felt proud for being able to do that for the passengers.
There is a change this year -
Tomorrow, Monday, September 11, 2023, I will be making my 22nd anniversary trip on United Airlines. A cross country round-trip taking me from Los Angeles to the east coast, and back, on the same day. There is a change this year - rather than going to New York and back, this year the trip is taking me to Washington-Dulles airport and back.
It was back in 2004 when I last traveled to Dulles on 09/11. When I first started making these trips, I would hit the hubs - in 2002, it was Los Angeles to Denver, then to Chicago, and then back to Los Angeles. In 2003, the night before I flew up to San Francisco where I stayed overnight. Then the next day, on September 11, 2003, that trip took me from San Francisco to Chicago, then to Dulles, back to Denver, and then home to Los Angeles. All 4 segments of the trip that day were on 777's - that was a memorable trip. It was a good thing everything was operating smoothly. In 2004, the trip started in Albuquerque where I was visiting family. From there it was to Denver, then on to Dulles, and then back to Los Angeles. That was also a memorable trip. I do not know if these hubs still do it, but on 9/11 you could hear patriotic music playing loudly throughout the terminals and concourses. It made traveling that day a little extra special.
In 2005, United was having success with their "Premium Service (PS)" flights between LAX and New York's JFK airport. I wanted to try it out and once I did, I kind of got hooked. First Class passengers on those flights had a dedicated check-in desk, and could enjoy the International First Class lounges while they waited to board. In-flight service was truly premium . There were Hollywood celebrities on those trips. It was all very easy to to get used to, and that is why I kept kept flying LAX to JFK and back every September 11. Sadly, after the merger with Continental, the premium suddenly disappeared from those trans-continental flights.
A few years after the merger was completed, United decided to pull out of JFK. Senior management was certain that their dilapidated Newark hub was good enough for the customers traveling to New York. LAX to New York is a competitive route, and United's competitors, American, Delta and JetBlue all offered premium cabins, with premium service, in order to attract and keep their high-fare paying customers. But rather than deciding to bring back the premium and compete, United pulled up stakes and ran. After the premium service had gone, the celebrities and other high-fare paying customers that were regulars on United's "PS" flights, they left and went over to the competition. United took the premium out of those flights, but they forgot to lower the airfares to make up for it. A couple of years ago United's President and CEO, Scott Kirby, announced that the airline was going back to JFK. He felt it was important that United have a presence at all three New York airports. He was hoping to get back those high fare paying flyers traveling between both coasts that were lost to the competition. The much lauded return to JFK lasted less than a year. Mr. Kirby kept the premium airfares to match the competition, but forgot to bring back the premium service on those flights. The competition did not.
After United pulled out of JFK, I started going from LAX to Newark on 9/11. They had wide body flights with the new Polaris cabins on this route that were nice. There was still some promise of "Premium Service," but it was never the same. Last year's trip was a disappointment frankly. This year, there are no flights with the Polaris cabins that would get me to Newark and back on the same day. This was a sign that it was OK to make a change. I tried building a trip that would hit multiple hubs, but connections were too tight, and it would have been expensive. I am also not as young as I used to be. I will stay with my choice of going to Dulles and back. I am proud of that choice, it will be a nice trip.
Today there are United employees with 30, 40, 50 and even 60+ years of service that are still on the front line. Senior management has made a lot of changes that have taken away a lot of what once made United great, but for these long-serving employees, you can tell that they have always wanted to be a part of the "Friendly Skies." They come back for the customers, and they come back for themselves. There are also a lot of new faces at United Airlines. They need a little help in understanding the whole "Friendly Skies" vibe. To those young people I say that you can learn a lot from your flying partners with all of the seniority. You will learn how important the customers are, but at the same time you will learn that you are as equally important. It is a delicate balance. Give yourself some time, if you were meant for this job, the pride, in the face of all kinds of challenges, will come.
Thank you all for keeping the skies friendly. I do hope that I can cross paths with some of you tomorrow.
EPILOGUE
This goes out to Mr. Scott Kirby, Chairman and CEO at United Airlines -
Mr. Kirby, I cannot close this year's post without reiterating my plea to you to properly honor those United employees who were killed in the attacks on 9/11/2001. I am not talking about just one day a year, where employees are left to come up with their own makeshift memorials at stations around the world. You need to step up and get real about it. You also need to do something to improve the declining morale as your front-line has endured a record number of operation challenges. One way to do so is that for every one of those employees, as a new 777 or 787 rolls off the assembly line, have one of their names painted on it by door number 1, and along side their name should be the United Airlines tulip. These are good people who lost their lives trying to protect United Airlines passengers, and on their uniforms was the United tulip. Their names may be on the memorial in New York, but they deserve to be a part of the "Friendly Skies." They deserve that kind of legacy. It would mean so much to your employees and to the customers.
- Thank You - James Anderson, Mileage Plus HVC21479.
