This is actually the greatest news. Because Continental is the worst airline out there. They have proven them selves to be at the bottom of the list. Worst customer service, worst delays, worst onetime arrivals and they have stranded me 3 times in 2 months in a airport to fend for myself for over 16 hrs each time sitting in a airport over night . And simply told me its my problem... This airline needs a take over and Management Change ASAP.
I don't know what alternate reality you're from but I guess you must have missed these facts (and yes they are facts):
"Continental typically rates among the top US carriers in customer satisfaction, while United historically scores towards the bottom. In fact, depending on the data you look at, the only place United is typically first or second is in complaints received."
Among current United employees, the word "merger" is a misnomer. For UA, it is more like a "hostile takeover." Upper and Middle management is almost exclusively Continental and its their way or the highway. So whatever frequent flyers believe was so wonderful about CO, the two companies are becoming CO. So I don't understand what you have to complain about. Try being a retiree that Smisek is already slapping around their benefits. Its almost akin to elder abuse. Everyone I have talked to believes Smisek is, in his effort to make everything CO, is taking the company or companies in the wrong direction.
What's bothersome to me is CO can train us all they want on SHARES, all well and good, but then they better give UA front-line employees an additional crash course in their (CO) culture, and I don't mean trial by fire on day one. United (check out Flyertalk.com) is very generous with amenities and "CPR" - customer problem resolution. I believe CO is not so generous from what I have heard. I've also heard CO passengers are pretty "passive" at gates and counters, they may not be as "aggressive" as UA passengers, who constantly want seat changes, instant rebooking and ability to "jump" on the next thing smoking; alot of questions and issues that UA employees seem to be flexible and have the ability to change/ fix / answer very, very quickly will not be possible at Continental as their SHARES system is much more "involved" to negotiate. What we do on Fastair in 2-3 keystrokes, pull down menus, function keys - important stuff like exchanging tickets within seconds or a few minutes could take 20-30-40 or more minutes on Continental ?? I hope I'm wrong. Seat changes, issuing bagtags is totally different in SHARES. They don't even have ability to tab through a record or function - you have to use up/down right/left arrows. So what I mean about teaching us their "culture" is I'm hoping they will spell out how they handle their irate passengers, amenities etc., etc. so we're all not conflicted with puzzled looks, and hearing each other say on day one -....."Oh, we don't do it that way"....We will be at odds with ourselves, coworkers and the passengers will be even more confused - what was done with one airline one day is now not done the next day and no two employees (CO versus UA) will be able to answer questions uniformly or consistently.
I've read many of the comments. I think we can all agree that you failed to provide a perspective from a United Frequent Flyer. It is quite possible that many of the COntinental customers don't have a clue what United's service consist of, in comparison to Continental. Each airline served different markets, which was the reason they were a perfect "merger". Southwest Airlnes gives peanuts to their customers, yet their customers consistently gives them high marks on service. I can guarantee you none of the "regulars" at United Airlines will be seen flying Southwest. Get the point? I find your article extremely biased and hyped on hear say from one side. How about a "D" for you as a grade on this article ?
Thanks for your post, of course I respect your opiion. That said, I have made very clear, and done my best to stress in the column and follow-ups:
1. This is an opinion piece, not a news story. By definition an opinion/commentary piece carries some "bias"--as does any editorial or op-ed you read anywhere. And my opinion is indeed one of a Continental frequent flier (that's the second sentence of the piece).
2. I have flown United many, many times over the past two decades, both domestically and internationally. Certainly enough to make a fair personal judgment on my own experiences on each carrier. Neither company is perfect by any means. I have had some perfectly fine experiences on United, but on balance, in my case Continental has been better. Others may (and clearly do) disagree.
2. My comments also incorporate discussions with other frequent travelers (not just on Continental flights), and industry data that has been fairly consistent for many years. My personal flying experience is not what determined Continental's #3 place in JD Powers' overall satisfaction ranking, nor did it put United second to last. I understand (based on your comments about Southwest) that you don't agree with the industry rankings, but the rankings are what they are--the best available data on the largest available sample size, combined with some with objective performance measurements. It is, of course, your prerogative to give me a "D" if you don't like what you read. But to do so based on the fact that you disagree with that data is a bit disingenuous.
If that's not enough, read this: http://*******.com/7ebj5au. The article provides additional industry data and expert commentary about consumer opinion and metrics of both airlines. And you can find many more articles and studies of that kind. I have yet to see one that contradicts this consistent theme.
When you say "I think we can all agree," consider that most of the comments below are from UA employees. All valid and credible, but they come from one perspective. And that is no different than the article itself--comments from one person's point of view.
Not to be cliche, but at the end of the day it comes down to everyone being entitled to his/her opinion--that is the essence of editorial commentary and discourse. In this case, the known data happens to support my opinion, but that does not suggest that other opinions don't count. Hope that makes some sense.
Sorry, I provided a link in my reply and apparently the comment board won't reproduce working links. I'll try it this way... he article I referenced is at
Thanks to all of the company insiders who are posting, especially UA people who are clearly very passionate about this. Most of them have said that their experience behind the scenes has in fact been very different from what the surveys and rankings (which have been banged around a bit in these comments) might imply. While many customers see, report and rank one experience at the front end, by these accounts what goes on on the other side of the curtain may be completely different.
This suggests perhaps an ironic twist on the last point in my piece, about not making a company's internal challenges the customers' problem. Based on the UA comments posted here, it seems possible that in a way, the opposite is happening. Several of these employees feel that UA's systems, procedures and management are superior to those of Continental, and that may well be true, yet the customer experience -- again, based on available industry information-- suggests otherwise. If fliers and other industry indicators are ranking Continental ahead of United, yet UA employees feel that their airline does so many things better behind the scenes, there is a huge disconnect that is happening when tickets cross the counter. That, to me, presents a perfect opportunity to make the combined carrier better than the sum of its parts.
In fairness, I have also heard plenty of gripes and murmers from Continental employees, on the ground and in the air, that contradict. Not surprising, of course.
All of this is also, unfortunately, a perfect example of point #3, culture fit. Regardless of who is "right" or "wrong," these comments -- though obviously a very small sampling -- point to the possibility of a significant amount of animosity between the two partners. And if that cultural divide can't be bridged, it makes it a huge challenge to face the customer as a united (forgive the pun) front with a collective desire to work well together for the customer's benefit.
So while the UA employees might disagree with what is said in the original post, in fact their comments prove many of the points. And if the two companies can get past the cultural gap (point #3) and operational challenges (point #4), they'd be going a long way toward building a superior finished product in the long run.
Again, my thanks to the airline employees who are taking the time to post their first-hand views here (sincerely--even if they're taking a few swings at me). It makes the conversation much richer and more interesting.
I'm a longtime United flier (and former Continental flier) and am seeing United quickly being transformed into Continental. Since this merger began there has nothing but cuts from the former Continental management. Big devaluations to the frequent flier program of the merged carrier were just announced. Overall I've been treated very well by those who work at United over the last 600,000 miles I've flown with them. I've had more negative experiences with Continental frankly.
If what we've seen from the new Continental management in the last year is what we have to look forward to---well it won't be pretty. I'm making backup plans on where to go if things continue on this path.
Thanks for your comments. Of course nothing is ever black and white... certainly there are others like you who favor United (or the "old United," or whatever we should call it). We've heard from a few of them in this post. There are many opinions, from insiders, travelers and others, but is certainly no unanimous agreement on which carrier is having more of a negative (or positive) effect on the other.
At the end of the day, what matters is that when this all shakes out, the resulting mega-carrier is at least as good as whatever was the best of its original parts... if that makes any sense.
UA Employee here -- what is laughable is that United is not the one "dragging" anything down. Since this merger everything has been changed to CO's way of doing things. The only thing that remained intact is the name United. You think you have disgruntled UA employees now ?.....Most I have spoken to in various work groups are very unhappy with the changes....to name just a few....
Our non-rev standby priorities have changed, airline lingo is changing - My current title at United is a CSR (customer service rep); now I'll be called an ASA Airline Sales Associate. Sales Associate - isn't that what you call Department Store sales people??. I'm not "selling" anything; I'm there to assist customers with check-in, ticketing changes, boarding etc. The biggest hurdle will be changing from our current computer system (Fastair/Apollo) to Continental's SHARES. This is the equivalent of moving from the 21st Century into the Stone Age. What we do in Fastair in just a few keystrokes will be changed to typing sentences and sentences of formats and entries for every passenger. Whereby I can currently check in a party of six at the same time, we will have to check in each person individually. Seat changes, issuing bagtags, collecting fees are very, very cluttered entries in SHARES versus a pull-down menu and very few keystrokes that we currently have with Fastair......it is so antiquated it boggles the mind.....Stay tuned.
Long Time CO flyer, former UA flyer. UA Employee, let me give you my story. I was a UA flyer from Carlsbad to LAX to all over from there. Back in the day, cBad was a double wide where you could hear all the radio traffic. One clear sunny so cal day, I was listening to the plane at LAX tell the Cbad folks how it was waiting for fuel and will be delayed getting back to pick us up. by the time it got down and got us up to LAX I missed my connection to New Orleans. I was forced to stand in an hour long line so one of your fellow employees (in 1996) told me that the delay was due to weather and I'd just have to wait until they could get me there rather then put me on another airline. I went through 2 levels of management until I was put on another airline with that same lame exuse that it was a weather related delay. fast forward 3 months. I needed to do 3 3 legged trip. SAN-PHL-Huntsville AL and then return to SAN. Lighning took out the tower in PHL, 2 hour delay. Arrived at the airlines hub knowing I missed the last flight to Huntsville. But, to my surprise, there was a uniformed gate agent with my name on a piece of paper to meet me coming out of the plane and she apologized that there were no more flights that night. In her hand she had tickets for the first flight the next morning for me, hotel and meal voucher already filled out. What airline you ask? Continental. This is an example of why customers love CO over UA. I was on a UA flight last friday from SAN to Denver. I was horrified by how the gate agents came into the plane and were making fun of people trying to find luggage space and how one of the flight attendants was talking down to people that were just looking for guidance. there was one flight attendant who was older, she seemed to be the only professional of the bunch. Personally, I hate what is happening, like all good things I guess Continental must come to an end, but it would be nice is the UA folks could take a step back and remember that it's there job to serve the customer, not to make fun of the customer or to look down upon the customer.
I can tell you from a customer perspective things are changing as well. No longer as a CO Platnum am I upgraded every time I fly in the U.S., and normally 2 to 3 days before the flight. There are a flood of UA Elites now trying to get the CO routes over the UA routes because of service, and CO is treating them equally to us. However if I take a UA flight I get to the airport and look at the monitor and I'm #12 on the list for 1 available seat. Jeff Smysack or however you spell his name at the beginning of every flight says something like I'm sure you'll like the changes we're making. Well, I don't!
I'm a longtime United flier (and former Continental flier) and am seeing United quickly being transformed into Continental. Since this merger began there has nothing but cuts from the former Continental management. Big devaluations to the frequent flier program of the merged carrier were just announced. Overall I've been treated very well by those who work at United over the last 600,000 miles I've flown with them. I've had more negative experiences with Continental frankly.
If what we've seen from the new Continental management in the last year is what we have to look forward to---well it won't be pretty. I'm making backup plans on where to go if things continue on this path.
This article is fairly uninformed. While the merger has been billed as a "merger of equals" and was effected via a stock swap, what is going to define the combined company is the culture that is created and who the top management. Most of the management roles at the new company are being filled by CO employees, starting with CEO Jeff Smisek. More than 2/3 of the top 30 management positions are being filled by CO employees and we are alreading seeing the CO philosophy prevail at the combined company. One example is removing Starbucks coffee that was served on United and replacing with an undrinkable brew from Houston which has earned the nickname "Freshpoo". Another was the attempt to impose the CO boarding procedures onto the combined airline.
On the whole, former CO employees are making the decisions. But they need to get the workforce united, and I am not seeing much progress there. They also need to get onto a common operating platform - and it's the CO computer systems which are being adopted.
Thanks for your comments, but if you read the article carefully, you'll see that it really says nothing about the structure of the merger, the management team, who is making what calls, much less the quality of the coffee. I did not and would not suggest that I have any knowledge of what is going on inside the companies--on the contrary I am commenting only on the experiences, perspectives and opinions of customers.
The article very simply and clearly says that industry reports consistently rate Continental well above United, and that it is my hope that the new operating company will reflect the "best practices" for which customers have shown a clear preference.
It appears you have an inside view and I fully respect that (and appreciate the contribution to the discussion). But the subjects you describe as "uninformed" really have nothing to do with the content or intent of the piece.
Great article on post merger integration and why the merging and acquiring parties need to ensure seamless integration and protect the cultural attributes of the organization in order to make sure the employee and customer are satisfied.Just read an excellent white paper on strategies for successful merger integration http://******/pGoP25
Once again, I stress that the piece represents my opinion as a very frequent traveler, the opinions and comments of other travelers, and industry consumer data provided by well-known, respected sources. The available data consistently supports the assertion that customers are less satisfied with United than they are with Continental. There is also industry data rating the airlines on objective/operational measurements, and Continental typically comes out ahead in most of thoe as well. All it takes is a google search and you can did up plenty more than I have room for here.
I regret that this data and these opinions offend you, but not sure how much clearer I can make it. This is *not* a news story (again, that's why it starts with the word "commentary" in bold capital letters) and it's not written with some odd, evil motivation to "create a fight" between employees.
As I mentioned, there are some good UA employees. There are also some bad CO employees. Neither company is perfect. My hope (and the reason I write about customer service) is that the best possible culture and practices prevail.
Do you ever fly UA or are you simply relying on heresay from former CO employees who probably never fly UA either? For your information, all decisions that have come out since the merger have been by CO executives, led by Jeff Smisek. So if you want to blame someone, blame all the bean counters who have received their marching orders from the boys in Houston. United employees have had little say in how this company is currently being run. Many decisions that are being made now are things that UA did years ago and decided there was a safer or more practical way to conduct business. Now it's all about cost, no matter how insane the policy is. For the record, several frequent fliers who fly BOTH carriers don't always agree with you. There have been just as many negative comments about CO that I've heard personally. My point is that service can be different on any given day on any given airline. I hold nothing against my colleagues at CO, but I've grown a little tired of being bashed by people like you. I come to work and give it my all everyday...and I've been doing this for over 20 years. CO went through some dark days and declared bankruptcy twice. They were the joke of the industry. Everyone seems to forget that. UA has been raped and pillaged by greedy executives for years. Pensions were terminated, benefits discontinued, salaries cut by as much as 20-40%. Yet, operationally, we have posted some of the best numbers in the industry. If you're going to start talking about data, I suggest you provide some hard facts.
Thanks for your comments and I genuinely respect your position (I am assuming you are an original UA employee). Every company and every merger has good people stuck in often difficult situations, and clearly you have been through that.
By no means am I saying (or did I say) that all United employees are bad. I have indeed flown UA many times and met some good ones, but in my experience (and that of most frequent travelers I speak to), Continental simply has better service overall.
Of course these are only opinions, and that is why my article starts with the word *commentary.* However, I did provide the hard facts you mention, if you look at the links to the JD Power report and the consumer complaint report. And these are just two of many similar sources of industry data, which almost universally puts Continental well ahead of United in most areas. This isn't an indictment of you personally, or of those of your colleagues who also do a great job. It is simply a measure of general consumer sentiment about a company as a whole.
As for your points about Continental calling all the shots, I certainly defer to your insider's experience and expertise. And if that is the case, shame on Continental if they let service deteriorate--regardless of the reason--as a result of the merger.
Thanks, from a United employee. It seems like he is trying, with a little help, to create a fight among United and Continental employees which does not exist. The article itself has a poor basis in evidence or fact, as you pointed out. Bad journalism.
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"Continental typically rates among the top US carriers in customer satisfaction, while United historically scores towards the bottom. In fact, depending on the data you look at, the only place United is typically first or second is in complaints received."
United (check out Flyertalk.com) is very generous with amenities and "CPR" - customer problem resolution. I believe CO is not so generous from what I have heard. I've also heard CO passengers are pretty "passive" at gates and counters, they may not be as "aggressive" as UA passengers, who constantly want seat changes, instant rebooking and ability to "jump" on the next thing smoking; alot of questions and issues that UA employees seem to be flexible and have the ability to change/ fix / answer very, very quickly will not be possible at Continental as their SHARES system is much more "involved" to negotiate. What we do on Fastair in 2-3 keystrokes, pull down menus, function keys - important stuff like exchanging tickets within seconds or a few minutes could take 20-30-40 or more minutes on Continental ?? I hope I'm wrong. Seat changes, issuing bagtags is totally different in SHARES. They don't even have ability to tab through a record or function - you have to use up/down right/left arrows.
So what I mean about teaching us their "culture" is I'm hoping they will spell out how they handle their irate passengers, amenities etc., etc. so we're all not conflicted with puzzled looks, and hearing each other say on day one -....."Oh, we don't do it that way"....We will be at odds with ourselves, coworkers and the passengers will be even more confused - what was done with one airline one day is now not done the next day and no two employees (CO versus UA) will be able to answer questions uniformly or consistently.
Southwest Airlnes gives peanuts to their customers, yet their customers consistently gives them high marks on service. I can guarantee you none of the "regulars" at United Airlines will be seen flying Southwest. Get the point?
I find your article extremely biased and hyped on hear say from one side. How about a "D" for you as a grade on this article ?
1. This is an opinion piece, not a news story. By definition an opinion/commentary piece carries some "bias"--as does any editorial or op-ed you read anywhere. And my opinion is indeed one of a Continental frequent flier (that's the second sentence of the piece).
2. I have flown United many, many times over the past two decades, both domestically and internationally. Certainly enough to make a fair personal judgment on my own experiences on each carrier. Neither company is perfect by any means. I have had some perfectly fine experiences on United, but on balance, in my case Continental has been better. Others may (and clearly do) disagree.
2. My comments also incorporate discussions with other frequent travelers (not just on Continental flights), and industry data that has been fairly consistent for many years. My personal flying experience is not what determined Continental's #3 place in JD Powers' overall satisfaction ranking, nor did it put United second to last. I understand (based on your comments about Southwest) that you don't agree with the industry rankings, but the rankings are what they are--the best available data on the largest available sample size, combined with some with objective performance measurements. It is, of course, your prerogative to give me a "D" if you don't like what you read. But to do so based on the fact that you disagree with that data is a bit disingenuous.
If that's not enough, read this: http://*******.com/7ebj5au. The article provides additional industry data and expert commentary about consumer opinion and metrics of both airlines. And you can find many more articles and studies of that kind. I have yet to see one that contradicts this consistent theme.
When you say "I think we can all agree," consider that most of the comments below are from UA employees. All valid and credible, but they come from one perspective. And that is no different than the article itself--comments from one person's point of view.
Not to be cliche, but at the end of the day it comes down to everyone being entitled to his/her opinion--that is the essence of editorial commentary and discourse. In this case, the known data happens to support my opinion, but that does not suggest that other opinions don't count. Hope that makes some sense.
I do appreciate your posting.
******* dot com/7ebj5au
This suggests perhaps an ironic twist on the last point in my piece, about not making a company's internal challenges the customers' problem. Based on the UA comments posted here, it seems possible that in a way, the opposite is happening. Several of these employees feel that UA's systems, procedures and management are superior to those of Continental, and that may well be true, yet the customer experience -- again, based on available industry information-- suggests otherwise. If fliers and other industry indicators are ranking Continental ahead of United, yet UA employees feel that their airline does so many things better behind the scenes, there is a huge disconnect that is happening when tickets cross the counter. That, to me, presents a perfect opportunity to make the combined carrier better than the sum of its parts.
In fairness, I have also heard plenty of gripes and murmers from Continental employees, on the ground and in the air, that contradict. Not surprising, of course.
All of this is also, unfortunately, a perfect example of point #3, culture fit. Regardless of who is "right" or "wrong," these comments -- though obviously a very small sampling -- point to the possibility of a significant amount of animosity between the two partners. And if that cultural divide can't be bridged, it makes it a huge challenge to face the customer as a united (forgive the pun) front with a collective desire to work well together for the customer's benefit.
So while the UA employees might disagree with what is said in the original post, in fact their comments prove many of the points. And if the two companies can get past the cultural gap (point #3) and operational challenges (point #4), they'd be going a long way toward building a superior finished product in the long run.
Again, my thanks to the airline employees who are taking the time to post their first-hand views here (sincerely--even if they're taking a few swings at me). It makes the conversation much richer and more interesting.
If what we've seen from the new Continental management in the last year is what we have to look forward to---well it won't be pretty. I'm making backup plans on where to go if things continue on this path.
At the end of the day, what matters is that when this all shakes out, the resulting mega-carrier is at least as good as whatever was the best of its original parts... if that makes any sense.
Thanks again for chiming in.
Our non-rev standby priorities have changed, airline lingo is changing - My current title at United is a CSR (customer service rep); now I'll be called an ASA Airline Sales Associate. Sales Associate - isn't that what you call Department Store sales people??. I'm not "selling" anything; I'm there to assist customers with check-in, ticketing changes, boarding etc. The biggest hurdle will be changing from our current computer system (Fastair/Apollo) to Continental's SHARES. This is the equivalent of moving from the 21st Century into the Stone Age. What we do in Fastair in just a few keystrokes will be changed to typing sentences and sentences of formats and entries for every passenger. Whereby I can currently check in a party of six at the same time, we will have to check in each person individually. Seat changes, issuing bagtags, collecting fees are very, very cluttered entries in SHARES versus a pull-down menu and very few keystrokes that we currently have with Fastair......it is so antiquated it boggles the mind.....Stay tuned.
I can tell you from a customer perspective things are changing as well. No longer as a CO Platnum am I upgraded every time I fly in the U.S., and normally 2 to 3 days before the flight. There are a flood of UA Elites now trying to get the CO routes over the UA routes because of service, and CO is treating them equally to us. However if I take a UA flight I get to the airport and look at the monitor and I'm #12 on the list for 1 available seat. Jeff Smysack or however you spell his name at the beginning of every flight says something like I'm sure you'll like the changes we're making. Well, I don't!
If what we've seen from the new Continental management in the last year is what we have to look forward to---well it won't be pretty. I'm making backup plans on where to go if things continue on this path.
On the whole, former CO employees are making the decisions. But they need to get the workforce united, and I am not seeing much progress there. They also need to get onto a common operating platform - and it's the CO computer systems which are being adopted.
The article very simply and clearly says that industry reports consistently rate Continental well above United, and that it is my hope that the new operating company will reflect the "best practices" for which customers have shown a clear preference.
It appears you have an inside view and I fully respect that (and appreciate the contribution to the discussion). But the subjects you describe as "uninformed" really have nothing to do with the content or intent of the piece.
I regret that this data and these opinions offend you, but not sure how much clearer I can make it. This is *not* a news story (again, that's why it starts with the word "commentary" in bold capital letters) and it's not written with some odd, evil motivation to "create a fight" between employees.
As I mentioned, there are some good UA employees. There are also some bad CO employees. Neither company is perfect. My hope (and the reason I write about customer service) is that the best possible culture and practices prevail.
Do you ever fly UA or are you simply relying on heresay from former CO employees who probably never fly UA either? For your information, all decisions that have come out since the merger have been by CO executives, led by Jeff Smisek. So if you want to blame someone, blame all the bean counters who have received their marching orders from the boys in Houston. United employees have had little say in how this company is currently being run. Many decisions that are being made now are things that UA did years ago and decided there was a safer or more practical way to conduct business. Now it's all about cost, no matter how insane the policy is. For the record, several frequent fliers who fly BOTH carriers don't always agree with you. There have been just as many negative comments about CO that I've heard personally. My point is that service can be different on any given day on any given airline. I hold nothing against my colleagues at CO, but I've grown a little tired of being bashed by people like you. I come to work and give it my all everyday...and I've been doing this for over 20 years. CO went through some dark days and declared bankruptcy twice. They were the joke of the industry. Everyone seems to forget that. UA has been raped and pillaged by greedy executives for years. Pensions were terminated, benefits discontinued, salaries cut by as much as 20-40%. Yet, operationally, we have posted some of the best numbers in the industry. If you're going to start talking about data, I suggest you provide some hard facts.
By no means am I saying (or did I say) that all United employees are bad. I have indeed flown UA many times and met some good ones, but in my experience (and that of most frequent travelers I speak to), Continental simply has better service overall.
Of course these are only opinions, and that is why my article starts with the word *commentary.* However, I did provide the hard facts you mention, if you look at the links to the JD Power report and the consumer complaint report. And these are just two of many similar sources of industry data, which almost universally puts Continental well ahead of United in most areas. This isn't an indictment of you personally, or of those of your colleagues who also do a great job. It is simply a measure of general consumer sentiment about a company as a whole.
As for your points about Continental calling all the shots, I certainly defer to your insider's experience and expertise. And if that is the case, shame on Continental if they let service deteriorate--regardless of the reason--as a result of the merger.
Thanks again for contributing.