TURBULENT SKIES.

• Author: MAREK, SUE
• Position: United Air Lines Inc.

To SAY THAT THE PAST SEVERAL months have been a hard ride for United Airlines is an understatement. Since last summer, the Chicago-based air carrier has been plagued by labor problems, customer service difficulties and soaring fuel costs. Recent financial losses by parent company UAL Corp., and the possibility that regulators may complicate UAL's pending acquisition of competitor US Airways only add to the list of ills.

"We've been in business for 75 years, and these last seven months have not been anything we are proud of," says Roger Gibson, United's vice president, North America, Mountain Region. "But it happened, and now we are trying to get out of this situation."

United's troubles have affected travelers across the country, but Denver fliers are especially aware of the carrier's woes. United and United Express handle about 70 percent of the passengers at Denver International Airport. Exactly how the airline will overcome all of its difficulties isn't clear, but Gibson says the troubled carrier is in better shape now than it was this summer. "We are better, but we're not where we want to be," he said.

Recent statistics indicate United has made some headway, at least in passenger traffic. In October, United's passenger count was down just 2.4 percent from the year-ago period, compared with a 12 percent year-to-year dip in September and a 13.4 percent drop for August. But in customer service, the carrier still has a long climb ahead. Ask any frequent traveler about their recent United experiences and the response will likely be tinged with frustration and exasperation.

"I can't begin to count the number of late flights I've had," says a Denver-based cable television executive and frequent traveler who asked not to be identified. "United's new policy seems to be that of 'just-in-time maintenance,' where they get everyone to the gate and on the plane and then find something that's not perfect." The most frustrating part of the executive's traveling woes has been his inability to do anything to resolve them. "Do the delays make me want to switch to another airline? Of course they do. But what other airline flies out from Denver to Washington, D.C. as often as United?"

The heart of United's troubles started in April, when the company failed to reach a contract agreement with the Air Line Pilots Association. United pilots are not just a critical group of workers, but major holders of stock in the company, which has an employee stock-ownership...