United Responds to Poor Flight Experience

[Below is United's reply to my letter I sent them in late January. You can read the letter by scrolling to the next post.]

Dear Ms. Parma,

I regret the inconvenience you experienced on your recent travel to San
Francisco.

I understand that you encountered the following:

1. Cancellation of your flight #1247.
2. Delay of flight #6210 to Los Angeles on which you were protected for
cancellation of flight #1247.
3. Rerouted to Oakland for your flight to San Francisco.
4. You had to go through baggage and security check again at Los
Angeles airport.
5. Lost luggage on your trip to San Francisco.
6. Unprofessional reservations representative as per your report.

First and foremost, please accept my apologies that we did not serve you
better. We have no excuse for the poor service you had to tolerate.
You're frustrated with us because we postponed your flight's departure
time more than once. I'm sorry that you experienced this type of
creeping delay. We recognize how important it is to you that we
maintain schedule integrity and we certainly don't want you to be
inconvenienced by flight delays or cancellations. Our goal is to
achieve the highest level of on-time performance whenever possible with
safety as our primary concern. It's unfortunate that in our business
there are so many factors that can impact our schedule such as necessary
equipment repairs as well as situations beyond our control, for example,
weather and air traffic control. Your frustration nonetheless is
understood.

I know that when United fails to deliver the service you anticipate you
doubt our desire to be an airline you can count on. You expect a
dependable and easy travel experience. And be assured that we will meet
this goal as we refine our quality standards and procedures. Your good
comments will help us focus on specific areas that will make your travel
more enjoyable.

I understand that you arrived but your baggage did not. I am sorry.
This frustrating situation you describe happened despite quality control
standards to assure baggage reaches its intended destination. So I'll
forward your good comments to our airport management so they can work to
improve baggage procedures.

Further, United expects our employees to provide courteous and
professional service at all times. It is clear from your email that we
did not meet our mutual expectations and I am truly sorry for the same.
Let me assure you we take this sort of situation very seriously. Please
be assured, your report of unsatisfactory behavior has been given to our
manager responsible for his internal review, so that, this situation
will not be repeated.

You experienced so many difficulties, which we regret, and while I can't
undo the circumstances you experienced, I am issuing you a discount
travel certificate for your future travel for the value of $150. Please
allow 7 to 10 business days for the delivery of the same.

Please give us an opportunity to provide you the service you expect from
United Airlines.

Regards,

Amit Madan
United Airlines Customer Relations