United rides the wave in 2015

United Airlines is shaking things up, with a key focus on being a more “visible” brand for agents.

“Visibility is definitely key,” newly appointed director of Australia and New Zealand Julie Reid told Travel Weekly in her first media interview in her new role.

“We want to be seen as easy to do business with, and we want to strengthen our trade relationships.”

“We want to make sure we are easy to do business with, make sure we empower travel agents so that they know how to book us, know how to correct things, know how to reissue a ticket in the event of an irregular operation, and just be visible.”

United has become part of the furniture in the Australian market, operating consistently for over 30 years now, and it’s this strong network that has ensured the airline remains competitive, according to previous Aussie director, now managing director of Japan and Pacific sales Alison Espley.

“We feel pretty well established in the market,” Espley told Travel Weekly, in town to conduct a handover with Reid this week. “But that’s something you can never take for granted and must always keep working at.”

“You can’t beat the network we have.”

But it’s the focus on the ever important trade market that has inspired United in its strategy, starting with its string of successful trivia nights, drawing around 500 agents to its events in Sydney, Adelaide, Melbourne and across the ditch, Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland.

“This is part of what we do to connect with agents,” Reid said.

“It’s about getting to know the agents, and agents getting to know us. We also continue to do educational initiatives to educate the agents, with trips and a focus online, as well as operating a lot of the expos to get the agent awareness up.”

From a customer point of view, United has been kicking goals of late, bringing the market’s first long range Dreamliner down under, focussing on technology, and upping the ante in the food department.

“We were very excited in the Australian market to get the first long range Dreamliner – it was a big coup for us, which we celebrated,” Espley said.

“From customer perspective it’s got the big windows, it’s got the bright lighting, it’s got the overhead storage, it’s got reduced jetlag because of pressurisation, so it’s an enjoyable experience for everybody.”

Espley told Travel Weekly that with technology such an important part of remaining competitive, it’s no longer good enough to leave Wi-Fi out of the equation.

“We as a company are investing significantly in technology. So we have Wi-Fi now on 80% of our mainline aircraft, and that will be completed by the end of the year, and that’s something our customers have come to expect; it’s not a nice to have kind of thing, it’s an expectation.”

In the future, when it comes to Wi-Fi, United plans to upgrade offerings so that, for example, customers can purchase just one hour of Wi-Fi as opposed to purchasing it for the entire flight, or having the option of paying for it using their miles instead of their credit cards.

The newly minted United app also helps passengers to do all the important airport chores – check in, chase up gate numbers – but it also goes a step further, booking Ubers and securely uploading passport details for online check-in.

The dining experience has also received a revamp, with the new economy dining experience launching on June 1 this week.

“The new food offering in economy class is not only an upgrade to quality and quantity but to the delivery,” Espley said.

On the 14-hour flights, economy will now have a three-part dining experience, starting with appetisers such as cheese and biscuits, before a main meal, and subsequently a dessert, are provided.

Overall though, Espley says it’s about being “a flyer friendly airline.”

“We wish to be a flyer friendly airline, and we’re actually using that for all our marketing and creative works. So that turns into Wi-Fi-friendly, lie flat bed-friendly, extra legroom-friendly, that’s our goal.”

“It comes down to not putting obstacles in front of people but trying to make it an enjoyable experience both on the ground and in the air.”

“People want the right schedule, the right network, of course they want competitive pricing, they want technology, they want good food – it’s a mixture of all of these things,” Epsley added.

“For Australia this year I think we’re actually going to be happy to actually benefit from the changes we made last year. Think we’re going to have very solid 2015 and as more of our customers realise the benefit to the early departures that’s going to again further support the business.”

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Email the Travel Weekly team at traveldesk@travelweekly.com.au

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