I will say this about United Airlines

[DFW]

They just gave a whole new definition to what it means to be "bumped" from a flight.

"You are charged with assault and battery with intent to kill. How do you plead?"
"Not guilty, your honor. I only bumped him."

[dhill926]

1. yep...they do suck...

almost as bad as American. I fly a lot, and used to be a United guy. Then I ended up on a list where I couldn't check in online. Had to wait an hour in line to talk to someone at LAX. I explain the issue and he says "well, maybe you'll just have to talk to the FBI." So I says, "or, I could just find another fucking airline." Been happily flying Delta ever since...

[DFW]

2. I take Air France-KLM when I can

Being in Germany, that means changing planes a lot in Paris or Amsterdam when I fly to the States (except when I can get on the Delta flight that runs nonstop between Düsseldorf and Atlanta). But the service on both is good, and Delta is their US partner. Since I am Platinum For Life with Air France, I get decent treatment from Delta when I'm in the USA too.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

3. United's merger with Continental has been a mess.

Continental was a pretty decent airline; United has kind of sucked for years. The combination now sucks hard enough to bend light. There was excessive cost-cutting, tech problems, clashes of corporate culture, and six years later it's still not fixed...

[True Dough]

4. Just do what this man says!

Link to tweet

[LeftInTX]

5. We flew on American this summer and honest to God they did not have a plane...

We're waiting and find out our flight was delayed because they did not have a plane. I think the flight was so overbooked that had to find a different plane.

[DFW]

6. American once kept me waiting at DFW for 10 hours for a 3 hour flight

They made up one lie after another. The crew is late getting in from Austin, then they were late because thy landed at another terminal, blah blah blah. Finally they admitted the plane was not airworthy, and put us on another one. Outside of an apology, no compensation. They are no angels, as anyone who flies in and out of DFW airport a lot finds out eventually. However, they have not yet responded to customer disputes by beating the passenger to a bloody pulp. The way things are going, I suppose that could change (this IS Texas, after all).

I wonder if the German press got wind of this? United is Lufthansa's partner, and flies to Germany from many airports in the States. They will see a wave of cancellations if this gets noticed. Europeans don't like flying with airlines that resolve customer disputes in this manner.