United has also improved its services by adding airbuses and retiring the smaller planes on some routes. This means better air traffic control priority, more departures on time, fewer missed connections, less dread about having to travel and having to calculate what can go wrong. The SFO gauntlet to get off the west coast is still deadly--a real itinerary killer. And getting home through the gates of hell (SFO 80-84) is always iffy. 

Wish United could step up the rest of its game. Its web site and booking process are terrible--clumsy, uninformative, hard to navigate, sometimes in error, and always trying to drain your last dollar. United business culture has an execrable attitude toward its customers across the board. How about some transparency and honesty and actually making it easier on us instead of treating us like the enemy? 

But Hooray for the Airbuses and more on time departures! And-yes-the Eugene Airport is a lovely place. Humane and lovely. Home.