It's bizarre how corporate cultures change. I flew with United a lot in the 1990s - my airline of choice for North America (and I wasn't alone in that in the company I worked for). They had a very good air miles scheme, usually relaxed and very competent staff with a good sense of humour, and enthusiasm to please the passenger when they could.
I last flew with them two years ago, having not done so for a while. What a change! No frills, not much courtesy really, but to be fair, it was obvious that the staff were far more stretched than they used to be. On our way back, they tried the "offers approach" to get four passengers to go standby (internal flight: LAX to EWR), and succeeded at around $800 for the last person.
Surely the right way to solve their problem would've been to either buy seats on another airline for their staff, or charter a small plane. They were wrong at so many levels.
I'm going over again in a few weeks - we decided to try Aer Lingus this time, and a handy by-product is that it avoids Heathrow, too.
E.