Employee Engagement: Welcome back, United Airlines

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February 1, 2006

Welcome back, United Airlines

United Airlines emerged today from the longest and costliest bankruptcy in airline history after cutting $7 billion in costs and 25,000 of its workforce. I was on the communications team that worked through the night and early morning on December 10, 2002, to prepare for the filing the next morning. I will never forget the sense of profound sadness and despair that we all felt when the call came in at 6:15 a.m. that the Chapter 11 filing documents had been received by the court and date stamped, starting the communications rollout to internal and exteral customers. Although we had been preparing for months, the fact that United -- once the world's greatest airline -- had filed for bankruptcy still was difficult to fathom.

Say what you want about United (and I know everyone has their United horror stories) but here's hoping that this is indeed the start of a new era for the company and for the employees who remain. To say United's rank and file employees have been through a lot is an understatement to say the least. Throughout the three years in Chapter 11, I continued flying with United and was always struck by how nearly every single employee was still trying to make the most of a bad situation and do the right thing by customers despite the dire affect of the bankruptcy on their own lives. To those employees who remain today and are doing their best to keep the skies friendly, I say thank you and good luck.

Posted by Christopher at February 1, 2006 6:25 PM