United Airlines’ Guam service so bad, attorney general gets involved

In response to what they describe as chronic customer complaints of “subpar and declining flight services,” the attorneys general of Guam and the CNMI are calling out United Airlines. In a letter to United’s acting CEO, they’re asking the airline to fix a whole litany of nagging issues plaguing the Guam-Honolulu route.

The list of complaints includes loss of free in-flight meals and entertainment, increased baggage costs, old planes, frequent breakdowns and insufficient flight crews. Attorneys General Elizabeth Barrett Anderson of Guam and Edward Manibusan of the CNMI say they want to initiate dialogue with the airline to improve the Honolulu flight, the most direct route from Guam to the US mainland.

Guam’s AG was not available for an interview, but in the letter to acting United CEO Brett Hart, the AG’s also say Guam-to-Honolulu should be considered an international flight that comes with free meals and baggage. They say the inequities are even more glaring because the fare from Guam to Honolulu is double that of the Narita-Honolulu flight, even through the routes are about the same distance.

The two AG’s even suggest that United’s level of service leaves might have Guam customer’s longing for the old pre-merger days of continental Micronesia.

They write that united has never met the level of Continental, a carrier which they say was deeply rooted in this region, and invested in its people.

United managing director for business development Sam Shinohara said he has not yet seen the letter and declined comment at this time.