United — Dropping Regionals in Favor of Mainlines, May Lose Two Hubs

[Avgirl]

Do you want a Starbucks coffee or for the lady at the kiosk at the Radisson to say, "You're paying Starbucks prices, but honestly, we just have the regular coffee you can get in your hotel room in that micro-carafe but our color scheme is that pleasing green".

In another decade, perhaps sooner, the regional business as we know it is going to be a lot smaller. Which is why I pull my hair out over the 21 year olds that think they're going to retire at SkyBolt Airways d/b/a Mainline Express.

I get the consistency. I work in the hotel industry for now and who cares who manages it, or owns it? A Marriott is a Marriott. Except to me.

But, Delta could recognize the good things their regional partners are doing to take care of their customers and build up their bottom line.

 

[derg]

I'm a Marriott "branded" guy. The sub chains are hit 'n miss. Nothing worse than a weekend breakfast buffet at a Fairfield Inn.

"Last helo is dusting off of Saigon in five minutes"

***WHOMP***

 

[Screaming_Emu]

I'm a Marriott "branded" guy. The sub chains are hit 'n miss. Nothing worse than a weekend breakfast buffet at a Fairfield Inn.

"Last helo is dusting off of Saigon in five minutes"

***WHOMP***

People who get excited over Fairfield and Hampton Inn breakfasts will have their minds blown if they ever start flying internationally.

Not an Otis Spunkmeyer product in sight!

 

[MikeD]

I'm a Marriott "branded" guy. The sub chains are hit 'n miss. Nothing worse than a weekend breakfast buffet at a Fairfield Inn.

"Last helo is dusting off of Saigon in five minutes"

***WHOMP***

I play Hilton and IHG, and it's the same with the brands. The franchises of the lower tiers can be hit and miss indeed, which makes me wonder what kind of QA checks the parent companies do with these sub chains, to ensure standards?

 

[tcco94]

Delta doesn't want passengers to know they aren't flying Delta. Unless there is an incident, then it has to be a regional, and when it's not, oopsie.

Yeah and that's when our lawmakers step in to make laws that they know nothing about.....

 

[derg]

People who get excited over Fairfield and Hampton Inn breakfasts will have their minds blown if they ever start flying internationally.

You are correct. Japan was expansive, but OK but my last full-on HOLY CRAP MAN YES I'LL HAVE THE CAVA! was my gig in Madrid.

Ate like a king. Refill. Ate like a king again. Refill. Nice fuzzy ride to the airport and a biz elite seat home. Did you know if you serve Jamon de Iberico at a precise temperature, you can really taste the chestnut? Chase it with some Manchego and a sip of Cava… bliss.

Not an Otis Spunkmeyer product in sight!

Vomit. Shut your mouth.

 

[Avgirl]

I'm a Marriott "branded" guy. The sub chains are hit 'n miss. Nothing worse than a weekend breakfast buffet at a Fairfield Inn.

"Last helo is dusting off of Saigon in five minutes"

***WHOMP***

I don't do limited service...unless it is the last thing I will get an employee rate at, or I can't get a room through one of my connections, and you will never catch me at a buffet. Ever. I have paid my dues. There is my sense of entitlement. No less than 1,000 count sheets because I can totally tell! (Not really)

People who get excited over Fairfield and Hampton Inn breakfasts will have their minds blown if they ever start flying internationally.

Not an Otis Spunkmeyer product in sight!

Don't forget that the hotel rooms in general are super awesome, too! Service is just something more people take pride in outside of the U.S.

I play Hilton and IHG, and it's the same with the brands. The franchises of the lower tiers can be hit and miss indeed, which makes me wonder what kind of QA checks the parent companies do with these sub chains, to ensure standards?

IHG and Hilton? Anyway...that was me at one point. One job I have held in my career was to travel around to all hotels within a brand and inspect them for a variety of things. Good times. You think you get sick of breakfasts...or room service, I guess if you want to splurge? I got to the point where the only things I could stomach consisted of packaged items. Chocolate Milk and Yogurt were my breakfast of champions! Great diet program...if I had actually needed to lose weight. I know the brand standards of just about every major brand and their sub-brands out there. So, yes, it is super fun to travel with me. I can walk into any hotel and tell whats wrong in an instant, if they are following standards or not. I can walk into a hotel room and tell what isn't clean. So, to answer your question, some brands employ their own QA's, and others hire contractors, the major one being Deloitte to come and shop their hotels. As far as consistency, it depends on the brands. No comment as to the specifics and horror stories until I no longer work in the industry.

 

[MikeD]

IHG and Hilton? Anyway...that was me at one point. One job I have held in my career was to travel around to all hotels within a brand and inspect them for a variety of things. Good times. You think you get sick of breakfasts...or room service, I guess if you want to splurge? I got to the point where the only things I could stomach consisted of packaged items. Chocolate Milk and Yogurt were my breakfast of champions! Great diet program...if I had actually needed to lose weight. I know the brand standards of just about every major brand and their sub-brands out there. So, yes, it is super fun to travel with me. I can walk into any hotel and tell whats wrong in an instant, if they are following standards or not. I can walk into a hotel room and tell what isn't clean. So, to answer your question, some brands employ their own QA's, and others hire contractors, the major one being Deloitte to come and shop their hotels. As far as consistency, it depends on the brands. No comment as to the specifics and horror stories until I no longer work in the industry.

Am a Marriott member too, just don't get around to using them as much.

 

[Avgirl]

Am a Marriott member too, just don't get around to using them as much.

I prefer Marriott. Easiest to use my employee rate at. Yes, IHG is just about everywhere...because of Holiday Inn Express. I got to travel to a lot of towns in the middle of nowhere when I worked for them. Very nice people, but the cinnamon rolls and pancake machines...not my faves.

 

[Baronman]

It might be just because I live there, but I think IAD could handle a lot more traffic than it does right now. Pay some attention to the terminals and work with ATC a little bit and I think it could be a much better hub for connecting traffic than it currently is. Plus they're finally going to finish the train out from DC in a couple years. It won't be as convenient as DCA, but it's certainly an improvement.

The one big problem I see is how ATC works during storms. I've never been out of an airport that when a storm is approaching, closes a departure fix and literally will not allow planes to go that direction. I understand that with BWI, DCA, and IAD all in one area it gets extra complicated. But the only significant delays there were during storms for that very reason.

I think the airline cares little about traffic flow and weather. They care about revenue and growth opportunities. Dulles just isn't cutting it with DCA's resurgence and huge international gateways JFK/EWR/ATL an hour flight away.

 

[Mark815]

People who get excited over Fairfield and Hampton Inn breakfasts will have their minds blown if they ever start flying internationally.

Not an Otis Spunkmeyer product in sight!

Forget international, they would have their mind blowns if they just didn't work for a regional and spent some time in the 135/91 world!

I was SPOILED. I came from a fractional and anything less than a good Hilton, IHG or Marriott property got a call to scheduling to let them know I'd be taking my company credit card next door to the Hilton. I still cringe when I hear "Oh I love that overnight, that Best Western gives us free breakfast!".

 

[Screaming_Emu]

Forget international, they would have their mind blowns if they just didn't work for a regional and spent some time in the 135/91 world!

I was SPOILED. I came from a fractional and anything less than a good Hilton, IHG or Marriott property got a call to scheduling to let them know I'd be taking my company credit card next door to the Hilton. I still cringe when I hear "Oh I love that overnight, that Best Western gives us free breakfast!".

That's one of the best things at Air Beachball. The company credit card allows you to fix mistakes, at a regional you just have to stand there and hope they get their poo in a pile within the next hour.

 

[v1valarob]

Forget international, they would have their mind blowns if they just didn't work for a regional and spent some time in the 135/91 world!

I was SPOILED. I came from a fractional and anything less than a good Hilton, IHG or Marriott property got a call to scheduling to let them know I'd be taking my company credit card next door to the Hilton. I still cringe when I hear "Oh I love that overnight, that Best Western gives us free breakfast!".

Was about to say... Its pretty nice in the 91 world when you text the scheduler with a screen capture of the hotel you prefer.

So very close to diamond status at Hilton!

 

[v1valarob]

I feel like this whole thing might be a ploy for United to get some upgrades outta Dulles. DC is far too strong of a location to just stop service, especially when the metro is only a few years from completion.

 

[Screaming_Emu]

I feel like this whole thing might be a ploy for United to get some upgrades outta Dulles. DC is far too strong of a location to just stop service, especially when the metro is only a few years from completion.

Hopefully...that said they pulled out of JFK.

 

[Murdoughnut]

The regionalis shouldn't exist because we should have high speed rail connecting cities within a 2-3 hour drive of metropolitan hubs.

ATL is the perfect example. Nobody should ever connect in Atlanta and get onto a flight to Augusta, Chattanooga, Columbus, etc. What we should have is a rail center connected to major hub airports that offer high speed transit to these outlying cities. The price of such a rail ticket should be included in the airfare so that airlines generate revenue from this multimodal transport model. Smaller cities should build rail infrastructure at their own airports to handle these arriving passengers.

It's a plan I'm working on

 

[Screaming_Emu]

The regionalis shouldn't exist because we should have high speed rail connecting cities within a 2-3 hour drive of metropolitan hubs.

ATL is the perfect example. Nobody should ever connect in Atlanta and get onto a flight to Augusta, Chattanooga, Columbus, etc. What we should have is a rail center connected to major hub airports that offer high speed transit to these outlying cities. The price of such a rail ticket should be included in the airfare so that airlines generate revenue from this multimodal transport model. Smaller cities should build rail infrastructure at their own airports to handle these arriving passengers.

It's a plan I'm working on

Great idea in theory, but we don't do mass transit very well here in the US.

Wife and I were looking to go from DC to NYC for the day. It was $400 on Amtrak vs $180 to fly. Was a really easy choice...

...at least it was until our flight home cancelled and we ended up having to rent a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of mass transit. I rode a bus into downtown Sydney the other day and was very pleased at the lack of urine smell and people that looked like they wanted to hurt me. We just don't do those things back home.

 

[Stone Cold]

I don't do limited service...unless it is the last thing I will get an employee rate at, or I can't get a room through one of my connections, and you will never catch me at a buffet. Ever. I have paid my dues. There is my sense of entitlement. No less than 1,000 count sheets because I can totally tell! (Not really)


Don't forget that the hotel rooms in general are super awesome, too! Service is just something more people take pride in outside of the U.S.



IHG and Hilton? Anyway...that was me at one point. One job I have held in my career was to travel around to all hotels within a brand and inspect them for a variety of things. Good times. You think you get sick of breakfasts...or room service, I guess if you want to splurge? I got to the point where the only things I could stomach consisted of packaged items. Chocolate Milk and Yogurt were my breakfast of champions! Great diet program...if I had actually needed to lose weight. I know the brand standards of just about every major brand and their sub-brands out there. So, yes, it is super fun to travel with me. I can walk into any hotel and tell whats wrong in an instant, if they are following standards or not. I can walk into a hotel room and tell what isn't clean. So, to answer your question, some brands employ their own QA's, and others hire contractors, the major one being Deloitte to come and shop their hotels. As far as consistency, it depends on the brands. No comment as to the specifics and horror stories until I no longer work in the industry.

You mean there actually is a "hotel tester" job out there? I've always just said that to get out of the aviation topic. Go figure.

 

[Avgirl]

You mean there actually is a "hotel tester" job out there? I've always just said that to get out of the aviation topic. Go figure.

Yep. You might have a second career. It isn't just staying at hotels, though. It was a lot of work, and involved a lot of coaching.

 

[Murdoughnut]

Great idea in theory, but we don't do mass transit very well here in the US.

Wife and I were looking to go from DC to NYC for the day. It was $400 on Amtrak vs $180 to fly. Was a really easy choice...

...at least it was until our flight home cancelled and we ended up having to rent a car.

Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of mass transit. I rode a bus into downtown Sydney the other day and was very pleased at the lack of urine smell and people that looked like they wanted to hurt me. We just don't do those things back home.

Yeah, I think that's the problem - it's a connection between two major cities, when what we need are connections between major cities and smaller spoke cities.