Dive Brief:

• United Airlines customer experience initiatives have boosted its net promoter scores, United President Brett Hart said on a Q1 2024 earnings call Wednesday for the period ending March 31.
• The airline has retrofitted the interior of its mainline fleet with larger overhead bins, in-flight entertainment and Bluetooth connectivity. Among on-time flights, aircraft with this interior had a NPS score 9 points higher than the rest of the narrow-body fleet. 
• United also touted its MileagePlus pooling ability, which allows customers to share and use frequent flyer miles among family and friends. United, which unveiled the feature in March, is the first U.S. airline to offer the feature.

Dive Insight:

Though United reported a net loss of $124 million across its operating revenue of $12.5 billion, the airline pointed to its customer experience wins as a bright spot that will carry the company forward.

“Running a reliable operation and enhancing the customer experience continues to differentiate United,” Hart said. “These encouraging operational results and improved net promoter scores, combined with our focus on safety, are creating strong momentum for the rest of 2024.”

United is trying to bounce back after Boeing’s crisis.

The airline took a $200 million earnings hit when the FAA ordered the grounding of Boeing Max 9 planes, according to Mike Leskinen, United EVP and CFO.

As fallout from the Boeing incident impacted the entire airline industry, United suffered a series of unrelated safety incidents. A subsequent Federal Aviation Administration review of the carrier's processes prompted United to embark on a customer-trust campaign. 

On Wednesday, CEO Scott Kirby reiterated the airline’s commitment to safety and addressed the FAA’s oversight head on. 

“Safety is the fundamental pillar of our core four — safety, caring, dependable and efficient, and in that order,” Kirby said. “We welcome the FAA's engagement, and we are embracing this review as an opportunity to take our safety culture standards to an even higher level.”

Despite the safety incidents, customers are still booking with United. 

“On demand, we see continued positive momentum and bookings across all customer segments from the most price sensitive customers to domestic road warriors and up to the premium global customer,” Kirby said. 

Key to any airline’s service is getting its customers to their destination on-time. United had its second best on-time departure performance in its history excluding pandemic years, Hart said. Among competitors, United took second place for on-time departures for the seventh month in a row.

With new interiors increasing customer satisfaction, United is looking to retrofit more aircraft. The airline is on schedule to have 50% of its fleet in North America completed by the end of the year, Hart said.

The larger overhead bins increase carry-on space by 80%, according toits earnings statement, meaning passengers will less likely have to gate check their bags. Overall, NPS for WiFi and in-flight entertainment ratings increased 6 points year over year.