Continental Airlines Reviews

Pros

Benefits--medical and flight are both excellent
Management treats us with respect
Great close knit culture
Laid back and casual
Empowered to solve problems on the spot

Cons

Moral is going way down along with our customer service ratings since the merger. Not sure if we are keeping the Continental Culture. I was impressed with how quickly we recovered from Irene. We got back to normal in days not weeks. I worry that United management is not customer focused and that the only goal now will be profit. Clearly they undoing a lot of great things that Gordon Bethune did for the company

Advice to Senior Management

If you can blend the operational side of United with the Customer Service side of Continental then this truly will be a great airline.

Pros

CAL is in the middle of a merger...will get worst before it gets better, however, at the end of the day a job at the new united/continental will mean security for years to come.

Cons

a new management and in the middle of a merger... changes are taking place and the jury is still out.

Advice to Senior Management

combine ual and cal union contracts in a timely manner. Separation keeps things fragmented and could be more costly in the end.

Pros

excellent benefits, good work culture and Ethics.

Cons

merger with United...to big to control .

Advice to Senior Management

Need to be proud of the Continental Culture, and get the word out to the United Management.

Pros

Co-workers were great. Lots of hard working people that I was, for the most part, proud to work with.
Newest planes in the industry.
Opportunities to move bases between NJ, Houston, Cleveland and can do both domestic and international flights, not consigned to just one.

Cons

Only 3 bases to choose from so you have to live in Houston, Cleveland or NJ - or commute.
Everything is based on seniority-but this is the same of any airline-not specific to Continental.
I'm not a fan of our union, there sole purpose seems to be helping people-that should be fired-keep their jobs.

Advice to Senior Management

More transparency between management and labor.
More input from inflight staff that will eventually be implemented into Standare Policies and Procedures.

Pros

Flex hours and schedules are great

Cons

Hard physical work out in the heat

Advice to Senior Management

Keep the current mix of part time and full time workforce and continue with our liberal day trade policy please

Pros

Flexible, clean. great work environment.

Cons

Many positions are based on seniority..

Advice to Senior Management

Pay more attention to the fine things. Hello, thank you..good job.

Pros

Great people here, everyone is helpful and friendly. All of the departments work together to accomplish the job at hand.

Cons

No one wants to move to Chicago, but it is being forced upon us. A lot of good people are bailing. Continental was a great company. Still a great place to work, while it lasts.

Advice to Senior Management

Treating your employees with dignity and respect requires you to keep your management people informed and payed more than those whom they manage.

Pros

open, relaxed environment, good camaraderie

Cons

With UAL on the riegns, things are never going to be same...lack of transparancy in my opinion.

Advice to Senior Management

gotta keep your labor force in the loop guys

Pros

It is almost impossible to get "fired" at Continental so the stability is good. Often the threat of lawsuits allows people to make entire careers out of this strange occurrence.

Cons

Every person begins at Continental thinking that the "free" flights will make it a dream career. Management highly abuses this "benefit" though by 1.) not being realistic about its limited nature and 2.) compensating employees well-below median salaries. Unfortunately, flights are almost impossible to get on because in a bad economy we downsize the amount of seats available and in a good economy we have all the seats full. Throughout all of this though, you still have to pay for this "benefit" through low-pay, few raises, and poor other benefits such as health insurance. Sadly, working at Continental is very similar to working for the government in that it is "who you know" instead of "what you know" and promotions reflect this. There is significant waste from within and a deep entitlement mentality. The worst part is that this is all passed on to the customer with the blame put on "9/11," "rising fuel costs," and "natural inflationary expenses."

For the record, I am not being laid-off, did not get denied for promotion, and have no vendetta against Continental. This is merely a case of honesty meeting a company that has just grown beyond concern for worthwhile-personnel and customers.

Advice to Senior Management

Though maybe too blunt, stop lying about how great the company's benefits and culture are. When people do not spend $20,000 a year on plane tickets our salaries should not be on average that much lower that outside median salaries. Additionally, break ties with government friends as we know that it is not the "fees" at the airports that cause high plane fares when the highest management is regularly seen with these fee-makers. There is no excuse to blame fictitious reasons for low pay and high customer ticket prices.

Pros

Company tenets of Working Together and Dignity and Respect made for one of the best corporate culture environments I have ever worked in. It worked because it was followed by everyone, from top management to every level throughout the company.

Cons

Remains to be seen whether the merging of legacy Continental culture with the more aggressive United corporate culture will work in the end.

Advice to Senior Management

Dignity, respect and working together go a long way towards making the average employee feel vested in their work and the company goals - try to maintain as much of that culture as you can as the merger proceeds.