Mobissimo

Once the leader among airlines, United Airlines has become a distant contender.  Some reasons are obvious, others are not, read more here.

United is beginning to dispel the nagging perception it has lousy customer service, they say. It's doing a better job getting passengers to destinations on schedule. And its operations are starting to improve, despite a recession-induced drop in travel that's the worst since after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. Instead of touting that progress, Tilton and his team have spent the last eight weeks trying to convince skeptical analysts, skittish investors and the flying public that United is not as financially bad off as Baker had warned.

They've tamped down the brush fire. United's stock price roughly doubled in August from $3.36 on July 22, two days after Baker's critical report landed. Then, in the last 10 trading days, as all airline stocks have risen, shares of United parent UAL have risen another $3 to close at $9.09 on Wednesday.