customer service representative

baggage handler

passenger assistant

utility worker

cabin leader

United-Ground-Express

Review:

I’ve never experienced such a toxic work environment. During the interview, I was told the position was part-time, which fit perfectly with my schedule. However, after being hired, I quickly realized that I was actually expected to work full-time hours, despite being promised otherwise. The pay is unbelievably low for the amount of time and energy you’re expected to invest, and they don’t provide any flexibility.

One of the worst parts is the lack of consideration for personal commitments. When flight delays or cancellations happen, you’re forced to stay beyond your shift, with no regard for previous appointments or other jobs. It doesn’t matter if you’ve made plans or have responsibilities outside of work—they expect you to drop everything.

The so-called “lead workers” are another major issue. These people have absolutely no qualifications or experience to lead a team. There are no requirements for becoming a lead, so they’re given power with no understanding of how to actually lead or manage people. They think that because they make $1.50 more an hour than you, they can boss everyone around and mistreat their coworkers. The reality is, most of them don’t even want to work. You rarely see them, and when you do, they’re never around to help out.

Favoritism is rampant at UGE. Certain employees are allowed to sit around and do nothing while others are expected to pick up the slack. Some of the leads get furious when they are required to actually work instead of spending their time on their phones in the break room. Meanwhile, other workers are forced to remain at their stations at all times. If you take a break, go to lunch, or even push a wheelchair, you can bet they’ll start gossiping about you, always assuming the worst about your intentions—even if you’re a good worker. There’s never anything positive happening here.

To make matters worse, the older adults on the job are incredibly messy! They lie and pass on misinformation as if it’s the gospel truth, constantly gossiping and trying to pull innocent workers into their drama. It’s exhausting and frustrating. These people are sad, immature, and disgraceful. Even management is part of the problem—they’re so unprofessional, it’s honestly unbelievable! They start drama, stir up tension, and keep it going every single day. Then, everyone tries to pretend they’re not part of the chaos. It’s mind-boggling. These people are toxic and low vibrational beings. If you value your mental health and peace, do NOT work here.


A typical day at work is just like any airline station, you will deal with delays and random (sometimes crazy) situations. This would be tolerable if it weren't for having to deal with the general manager who has created a hostile work environment at UGE Paine Field, in Everett, Washington. Prepare to be bullied, harassed and to deal with the GM's emotional roller coaster. The stress can be overwhelming at times.

During our "in class" training none of the equipment worked properly, we never had OJT and were put out on the job the first day at the opening of the station, basically, sink or swim.

The flight benefits are good; but to get time off to use them you have to have someone take your shift with the same qualifications as you. Most of the employees stick it out because they can not afford to fly back home to their families on their own.

You are expected to complete hours of online training by a deadline each month, which is OK if you are allowed time and access to resources to get it done at work. 90% of the time you are not and you will be expected to get it done on your own time unpaid. 

Another issue is that this is a union station and we never saw a union representative. Our training started on February 22, 2019, the station opened on March 31, 2019. Training consisted of 6-8 hours a day in a class room. After six months, the probation period is over and you get a .50 per hour increase. UGE designated our start date March 31, 2019 when the station opened NOT February 22, 2019 when we began our training even though we were subject to penalties for attendance during this period. This increased the probation period from six months to over seven.

Some other sticky situations: We were unaware that we were supposed to be taking 1/2 hour breaks for shifts five hours or longer, we were never told nor were they scheduled. The 1/2 hour dollar amount was automatically deducted from pay. This was resolved after employees contested.

Overtime:  Employees with excessive overtime have had their overtime hours classified as "training" hours so the General Manager can stay within her budgeted amount of overtime. 

When trying to reach help at the corporate office to get answers to payroll/HR questions the results were pretty much like a cat chasing their tail, I got nowhere.

Again, until UGE replaces the current management at Paine Field, I would not recommend this station for employment.

The only upside to working there is fellow crew members.

Let me start off by saying I love the airport. The reason I applied for this job is because I wanted to work at the airport because I think the environment is super fun and you get to interact with diverse groups of people which makes every day on the job different! 
I like the physical aspect of the job because it made me feel accomplished at the end of the day as I easily would reach 10,000+ steps each shift. 
I like the social aspect (for the most part) because although not required (and many of my coworkers did not do this), I always engaged in small talk conversation with my passengers. This led to interesting conversations sometimes! 
Above all, it’s a pretty easy and straightforward job but they are strict on attendance so be prepared to dedicate your whole day there (1 point = 1 minute late if you clock in last shift start!). The company is the worst part about the job since management was downright rude at times and not super respectful of employees; luckily, you don’t have to engage with them much unless there’s a problem.  
This is a good job for you if you like to be social, enjoy physical activity, want to work in an airport setting, and don’t mind the inconvenience of the commute. Don’t apply if this does not describe you unless you want to be miserable.  

What is the best part of working at the company?
The social interaction you have with the passenger..some are moody and not good but you have to understand them maybe they are going thru something,we just have to be more compation with them 

What is the most stressful part about working at the company?
The supervisor ,or leads. Some are co worker ..what I never like was the favoritism that the supervisor has for some employees..And I believe every suppose to be treated equally..

What is the work environment and culture like at the company?
The environment was not bad at times ,but then there wer moments that it's was ..the one thing I didn't like was the lunch room or break room ,people never respected the properties of other and there was no control in that.

What is a typical day like for you at the company?
A typical day for me was coming in happy to work and I did work I work hard,but I felt it was never appreciated..we will be in back of united agents putting luggage in the belt and sound our thing greeting ppl and taking their bags wasn't bad some ppl wer very nice and beautiful hearted ..but some were not but that's the airport ,it's stressing..even if you came happy to work and socialize with the customers,we wer wrong to do that ,the united agents will tell us ..they didn't like to check in the passenger so they would come to me for help and I would help them cause I already knew what to do and I mean help in the kios not the input on computer of any kind but we were still the bad one and united agents just argue with us in front of even customers ..so at the long run you'll go back home feeling like you just can't take it anymore because of the disrespect of you coworkers,agents,and even your own supervisor or leads,I did like ve working and I loved what I did ,but how much can you take

UGE is a great job for young adults/students or retirees. It definitely isn’t a stable income type of job. You get to work with people and airplanes. You’ll definitely get your steps in as a ramper. Some days are great, some not so much. You feel the burn once you have to start retagging a random bag at the back of your stack. The reasons I rate this place on the weaker side is because I initially tackled this job on with the prospect of making this a potential career. This is a job with no real advancement opportunities and it seems that if you have the dreams of becoming a sup or a gm you’re chances are slim as usually they don’t hire internally within the station you work at. So you’re stuck with trying  being lead, which makes about a buck more than a regular agent, with 10 bucks an hour more worth of responsibilities. 
This is the airline industry. Delays and cancellations are common and inevitable. When these happen, you and your team have to up your critical thinking and problem solving as you navigate where to put 5 planes that have all landed back to back. Communication is of major importance at this job. 
This job is great if you want to travel too! We are allowed to do shift trades and you are allowed to give away as much as 50% of your shifts, allowing you time to use those coveted flight benefits. You can also stack onto your shifts by picking up others as you do this so it breaks even. 
The high turnover rate is mostly due to attendance which is very strict at this job. If your station is unlucky and has less than the necessary amount of workers, your workload definitely increases and worse, you could be MANDOd to stay past your shift per operational need. 

I worked for one year in this job had 23 points for a couple months stayed at 23 points and only in january of 2021 i  was one of the employees that couldnt say anything about her lates nd why she dont come to work because that was my personal life.i was in a very intoxicated violence relationship,And because of that i got lots points and coming in late,so because i didnt explain or say my rights i didnt even have the chance to say anything but i got fired from a job i had learned alot from.i was not only a cabin agent but i helped in the equipment room,and a volunteer LEAD .i was one of those agent that does not complain about her work even if it wasnt my job i just do what i was ask for.but i know i had 23 point for my personal reasons.but me knowing their are alot of peopel agents that have more points then i but still stayed back, didnt get fired.so i was to recommend this job to a person,family,friend i would because this job you learn and meet great manager and great friends, you have teamwork and great communication but i will also tell them the mangers their are not fairly equal they all have favoritism so just do you and dont worry about others because one mistake they will get on you even its not your mistake.I personally think that union or the manager should give people chances to explain their points before judging them. Because they can never know whats going on with them, and when they fire them they take away the peoples only way to feed and shelter their family,especially with this pandemic its really hard.so united ground express is a really great environment to work in.Hope they can see my point and give me another chance to work here again.

I only stayed with this job about four months before I was fed up. Enjoyed the tips and working alone when I assisted passengers. Didn’t like that when I did aisle assists it was usually me and another female and at times we were either too short or not strong enough to pick a person up. Once was told by a manager that you have to be quick but safe when lifting a person, and those two don’t go together when a lot of times you’re lifting dead weight in a confined space.
Hated when I had to work baggage claim in the lobby because you mainly stand in one place the whole shift and it’s painful on your feet and legs because you’re not able to walk around. 
Your schedule shifts every couple months and if you have no seniority there’s a chance it’ll suck. For example I wanted part time, but there’s a chance you’ll end up having to work a full time schedule. 
I worked 3 days overnight and every Saturday and Sunday I had to work a mandatory extra 4 hours. I was fighting falling asleep behind the wheel as I went home on those days.
Also, you had to request from dispatch to go to lunch and it seemed like sometimes they ignored you or would put you on your lunch randomly and you wouldn’t know unless you looked at your tablet. I had to carry my lunch around with me because trying to make it to a designated lunchroom at o’hare in 30 minutes would have you actually missing your meal

So far, the experience of working at United Ground Express (UGE) in Richmond, VA has been reflective of the current ills that plague the airline industry: inadequate pay, understaffing, failure to uniformly apply company rules and policy, and managerial dishonesty and dysfunction.  A typical day at work behind the check-in counter can include flight delays and cancellations, equipment malfunctions, and long wait times on the phone with the United Helpdesk that lead to an inability to efficiently service the customers.   This in turn leads to high passenger dissatisfaction causing them to act-out and can affect employee morale.  However, despite these issues, Richmond colleagues express an outstanding  "can-do" attitude, are mission-oriented, strive for team work, and support each other with shift swaps, and encouragement, etc.  The positive aspects of the job include meeting new people daily, helping individuals and families get checked in and safely making it onto the flight and to their destinations.  Many customers arrive to the airport stressed out and, sometimes, in an emotionally agitated state.  It can be very gratifying to calm them down, take care of their needs, and get them on their way.  It's icing on the cake when they express their appreciation to you for helping them.  This job is great for retirees or individuals with a second job, as the pay is very low.  The flight privileges on United and other airlines and the discount program are the biggest benefits of working for UGE.

1. Corporate Disconnect
Even when the corporate office is physically close to operations (like in Chicago), it can feel worlds apart if leadership isn’t regularly engaging with the frontline teams. This is a classic symptom of top-down management where decisions are made in a vacuum, and the people on the ground are left to deal with the consequences—often without proper support or resources.

2. Empty Talk on "Valuing People"
Slogans about valuing employees lose meaning quickly when they’re not backed by action. If leadership isn’t listening, responding, or visibly supporting teams, it's natural for employees to feel like these messages are just PR spin. The gap between stated values and actual behavior erodes trust fast.

3. Toxic or Cutthroat Culture
A cutthroat environment typically thrives where competition is prioritized over collaboration, and where management rewards outcomes without regard to how they’re achieved. This fosters burnout, turnover, and resentment. It’s particularly harmful in industries like ground handling, where safety and teamwork are critical.

4. Unfulfilled Expectations from the United Airlines Connection
Being a wholly owned subsidiary of a major airline like United brings expectations of higher standards—both operationally and in terms of employee treatment. When that expectation isn’t met, it feels like a betrayal. The parent company’s brand and reputation should imply a level of professionalism and care, but it sounds like the ground handling subsidiary isn’t living up to that standard.

This is not a place where you will feel proud to be part of the team. In order to have a team, there has to be respect and good will amongst the members. People need to feel valued. Although there is a fair amount of lip service paid to standards and principles, in reality you will be a poorly paid, unappreciated, entirely disposable resource. If you take pride in doing a job well, be prepared to be exploited. On the other hand, if you want to put in the minimum, always waiting to let someone else do the heavy lifting, this is the place for you! If you feel tired, go hide out and take a nap! Or play on your phone! Feel free to be disrespectful to the people who are short roping you to your meager paycheck - if they leave, there are always more suckers who think getting to ‘fly for free’ would be awesome. And it would be, if flights and seats were available. Ah, you spent months rising in the middle of the night, or waiting until the middle of the night. You’ve survived the excruciatingly dull and useless training camp. You haven’t been crushed or wounded by the constantly broken equipment. You’re going to Hawaii!! Or so you think. Actually, you’re sitting in Chicago for 12 hours, and maybe getting there, chewing your nails for 2 days wondering how you’ll get home, and spending another day limping back. Bottom line, there is no destination worth seeing that entails being used as a doormat.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Customer service representative 1 salary reported	$9.20 per hour
Baggage handler 5 salaries reported	$17.00 per hour
Passenger assistant 4 salaries reported	$18.00 per hour
Utility worker 2 salaries reported	$14.00 per hour
Cabin leader 20 salaries reported	$19.87 per hour

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