It used to be that companies didn’t want to mention competitors by name. United Airlines has no such taboo. They go after competitors they see as weak, where there’s an opportunity. Whenever they want to refer to Delta, for instance talking about which airlines are profitable or are pursuing premium customers, they talk about themselves “and one other airline.”
But they’re gunning for American Airlines in Chicago, and they’re doing it by name:
They’re advertising to the local Chicago market, emphasizing the features they have that differentiate them from American, and pitch status matches.
United says they’re winning Chicago. And they’re getting more gates there, while American is slated to lose gates. American didn’t fully rebuild their schedules in Chicago post-Covid. During American’s earnings call, though, Vice Chair and Chief Strategy Officer Steve Johnson said “If United is gaining share in Chicago they’re gaining it from someone other than us” and noted that they’ve been profitable in Chicago in the past, have been there for 99 years, and have a loyalty customer base – though concedes “we understand we’ll probably always be second place in Chicago.”
Ironically, United has been dipping its toes in the water of moving its corporate headquarters out of Chicago.
This is hardly a first. United ran a Super Bowl ad two years ago in Colorado markets noting that they got passengers in and out of Denver for the holidays (while Southwest melted down).
They threw shade at Southwest’s boarding.
And they ran another campaign of comparisons against Southwest – bear in mind that back then Southwest had free checked bags, they pioneered no change fees and their trip credits didn’t expire, plus they offered more legroom in standard coach than United.
Now these campaigns hit harder, as Southwest walks away from the advantages that made them different. It becomes far less clear why you’d choose them over United, with Southwest even introducing basic economy and squeezing legroom?
Meanwhile, Southwest Airlines responded to United by claiming to be the biggest when they weren’t anymore, citing old data.
In the battle of advertising jabs to assert themselves as DEN’s hometown airline, Southwest ads have been going up saying they’re the most flown airline in DEN. pic.twitter.com/Ru7EyiwCMN
— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) April 10, 2023
It’s clear that United has ‘won’ Denver (at least for now) and they’re putting a lot of effort into Chicago, where a weakened Southwest holds court at Midway airport and American has offered a lesser schedule, lesser product, and has a weaker balance sheet.
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