Continental Airlines Reviews

Pros

Excellent Benefits - 401k, Vision, Health, Dental Insurance.
Flight Benefits - You can pretty much fly anywhere around the world for free. Using vacation passes you can sit first class.
Work in team environment and meet new people daily.
You have a lot of freedom. If you do you flights and get them out on time you won't have any problems.
Very flexible schedule.

Cons

Extreme physical work. Sometimes loading 200+ bags on airplane manually.
Unsatisfying pay scale. They started me off at $10.00 hourly and it takes 10 years to get to $19-20 per hour. Top of the pay scale is $20.00 hourly.

Advice to Senior Management

Management at Continental Airlines was pretty good. I never had any problems with management or supervisors.

Pros

Great traveling perks, great communication between management and a laid back corparate atmosphere. Overall, I would recommend working at this company to any of my friends and family.

Cons

The pay is lower here than what yuo can make at other companies. Raises and promotions are based on open positions rather than if you deserve a raise.

Advice to Senior Management

The management is great at communicating with the employees however there may be too many managers. There's really no need for employees to have 4-5 managers to report to.

Pros

People are great; encourage thinking outside the box and bringing new ideas. Upper management communicates very well for better or worse, they at least talk to us. Open door policy.

Cons

Merger with UA, Low pay compared to other airlines. Hard to keep talent with the move to Chicago not because Chicago is a great city but the airlines generally do not pay very well and the cost of living in Chicago vs. Houston, Dallas, Atlanta or Phoenix.

Advice to Senior Management

Make sure we bring the culture of CO to the new UA.

Pros

It looks like it really depends on your immediate boss what your experience will be in the company. If the boss is great, you'll love the job, if not, not so much.... I'm lucky with a great boss, but speaking to other people in other groups I understand how lucky I really am. Great things in the company is the ability to work from home one day a week if you don't have direct reports, travel benefits are great, but if you don't have enough vacation time to use them they are not of much value.

Cons

Sometimes it seems to me that to move along the career ladder in this company you really need to know the people, not so much prove how good your job is... but this seems to be the case pretty much everywhere else in this country, so it's Ok I guess.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't let the unions with their weight of thousands of members make the smallest group in the company - management employees - misearable. Unfortunately it feels like our voices are not heard since we're so few compared to the rest of the company. This will result in the best and the brightest leaving the company the first, which is already happening... and Chicgo HQ was the worst idea ever if CO management is expected to take over!

Pros

To be largest airline in the world
Good business sense to merge but not to move to Chicago.
Good flight benefits, till they last

Cons

Got sold too cheaply
Moving to a more expensive city. Doesnt make business sense
Culture wont be the same
Will loose friends in the process of merger

Advice to Senior Management

Doesnt matter. Executive management wont listen. They didnt listen to employees in IAH or ORD when they just decided to move to ORD without offering any legitimate reasoning.

Pros

entry level position that prepares you with the knowledge to learn the travel industries computer systems. speak with all types of people.

Cons

at times you feel like it telemarketing. some calls will last longer than others.

Advice to Senior Management

if agents has that built a rapport with a customer and is asking all the required questions two to three minutes off their time should not matter.

Pros

Great benefits; extremely motivated people to work with. Very progressive company with great benefits. Management cares about employees and wants to see them succeed

Cons

Very difficult industry to compete in; very low employee turnover, so hard to get promoted. Flight benefits are difficult to take advantage of with reduced capacity

Advice to Senior Management

It would be great to provide more flexibility in working hours, especially for positions that do not need to be conducted during a 9-5 workday.

Pros

Nice place to work, great benefits, good corporate culture

Cons

Pay is much lower than other companies of this size.

Advice to Senior Management

Keep employees informed throughout the merger process.

Pros

travel is great flight are not that full

Cons

management has no clue as to what is on the line. Maybe if they were a bit more active and fly a few trios they would be able to understand whats going on

Advice to Senior Management

be careful of what you say to manangement. the jr employees are writting up sr employees and its getting petty.

Pros

The people who I work with are great individuals
The flexibility of my position is great

Cons

I am in the lower bracket compared to my peers

Advice to Senior Management

Advancement opportunities is critical to the foundation of the company