Why is United Airline a good company to I have an internship on it - Research Paper Example

United Airlines Having been formed in 1927, United Airlines has its roots in America and is presently the second largest air carrier following its expansion into international routes. As at now, it flies within 26 countries across 117 destinations and has its hubs in major cities such as Los Angeles and Chicago as well as key international gateways in major cities that include Frankfurt and Tokyo. The airline company employs over 80,000 people across the world and carries over 210,000 passengers all through the week.

Moreover, the company has the most fuel-efficient fleet among U.S network carriers (“The World’s Leading Airline”). Through Star Alliance, the foremost global network, United’s customers are able to access over 729 destinations across the globe. In 2010, United Airlines merged with Continental Airlines in a bid to create synergy within two dissimilar employee performance review procedures. HR teams from both companies came to a decision that saw a new working philosophy established; where two cultures were integrated and a culture of working together was reinforced.

This reflected on United Airlines valuing of a culture centered on working together (Kuehner-Herbert). In August 2013, United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek in an interview said that the company now has the capacity to provide more stable careers through consolidation and capacity discipline. This was after he had insisted that he intended for employees to view the company as a business not merely an airline. The company strives to provide employment opportunities that are well rewarding, as well as investing more in products so as to meet their customers’ expectations.

This indicates crucial values upheld by the company, from the perspective of both its employees and customers. In addition, the CEO emphasized that managing the airline after its consolidation with Continental Airlines involves being mobile and interactive, not just sitting in an office. Such a mentality reflects on the good leadership undertaken on the company which adds on to the fact that it would be a great place for one to undertake their internship (Rose). Towards the end of the month, Jeff Smisek bought over 9,000 shares of United Continental Airlines and this cost him an estimated $250,000.

This was a reassuring move to investors by the CEO as the company has been underperforming and his action indicated that he had confidence in the company. A leader willing to make such a bold move reflects well on the company as it shows both his confidence in its resurgence and his dedication to improving its performance. Smisek went on to insist that the company had faced teething problems following its integration with Continental and had managed to weather these challenges; therefore, the company’s situation was bound to improve in the near future (Levine-Weinberg).

About three years after its merging with Continental Airlines, the company was finally able to normalize its operations as it saw customer complaints reducing, flights being more punctual and employees becoming more accustomed to the new changes. Even then, its CEO admitted they still had a long way to go where he wanted employees to change their way of thinking so that the company operates smarter and in a less costly manner. For instance, new luggage handling procedures were instituted at Houston’s Bush Intercontinental Airport seeing the company cut its costs down by $400,000 every month (Carey).

This evidences the fact that the company is slated for a brighter future as strategies have been rethought to allow for adaptation to the present state of the economy and industry. For a student, this is essential for the learning process as one needs to be able to adapt to dynamic changes in the business world. Earlier on this month, the company set out to reward its employees with $100 bonuses for achieving its on-time arrival performance goals for October. The on-time arrival performance goals were set for its domestic and international flights where on time indicated a flight arriving within 14 minutes of its scheduled arrival time.

Following this criterion, United Airlines was able to achieve 85 percent and 82.4 percent performances for it domestic and international flights respectively. Pete McDonald, the company’s chief operating officer and executive vice president, highlighted that employees were keen on operating a consistent, on-time airline and delivering excellent customer service; and as such the company was rewarding their hard work and determination ( “United Airlines Posts…”). This shows that the company values and rewards its employees for the contribution they make to their improved performance.

Further more, United Airlines is seen to have a sense of Corporate Social Responsibility as following the Typhoon Haiyan in the Phillipines, it has collaborated with Operations USA, American Red Cross and AmeriCares to combine efforts towards providing aid to those affected. The company will contribute up to $50,000 to go with donations from partner organizations, its employees and clients through its foundation. In addition, its MileagePlus members that donate will receive a one-time mileage bonus where the company has donated 5 million miles for the initiative (“United Airlines Announces…”).

This endeavor portrays the positive values upheld by the company and why it would be a good place to work at, as it is not just all about making money. Works Cited “The World’s Leading Airline”. United continental holdings. July 2013. Web. 14/11/2013 Kuehner-Herbert, Katie. “How United Airlines Created More Collaborative Performance Reviews”. Talent Management. 2013. Web. 14/11/2013 Rose, Charlie. “Charlie Rose talks to United Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek”. Bloomberg BusinessWeek. 2013. Web.

14/11/2013 Levine-Weinberg, Adam. “United Airlines CEO Tries to Catch a Falling Knife”. The Motley Fool. 2013. Web. 14/11/2013 Carey, Susan. (2013). United on Mend After ‘Awful’ Year, Says CEO. The Wall Street Journal. 2013. Web. 14/11/2013 “United Airlines Posts Best Monthly Performance of the Year and Rewards Employees with Bonuses”. PR Newswire US. Regional Business News. 2013. United Airlines Announces Donation Match and Mileage Bonus Offer in Support of Relief Efforts in the Phillipines.

The Wall Street Journal. 2013. Web. 14/11/2013