American Airlines Responds

Kudos to the airline for a personal letter and explanation. I'm no longer angry.

April 6, 2006

Dear Ms. Noggle:

I'm sorry that your trip from St. Louis on March 30 didn't go very smoothly. It must have been frustrating when your flight was delayed in Raleigh and then again in Chicago. There is no question that you were inconvenienced.

Probably few things are more annoying than having to wait for an available gate after your aircraft has landed. While normally every incoming flight has a gate designated, operational difficulties can sometimes cause us to change these arrangements. For example, if a flight arrives earlier than expected, its assigned gate may still be occupied by a departing aircraft that is boarding customers. Unfortunately, since airport space is limited we frequently do not have the luxury of "spare" gates to accommodate such situations. At the worst extreme, a severe off-schedule operation caused by bad weather may result in lengthy delays as too many aircraft on the ground wait in line for the next available gate.

Regardless of the situation, we expect our employees to be courteous and helpful at all times and especially in situations such as you described. Please accept my sincere apology.

As more tangible evidence of our concern and regret for your disappointing experience, I've mailed each of you a transportation voucher. The vouchers may be redeemed within one year of the issue date toward the purchase of a ticket for future travel on American Airlines or AmericanEagle.

Thank you for writing. The next time you fly with us, we will do our best to restore your confidence in our ability to get you where you are going -- as planned| We will look forward to welcoming you aboard again soon. It is a privilege to serve you.

Should you wish to correspond with us again, please feel free to do so via AA.com. One of our representatives will be back to you within a couple of days. Just click on the Contact AA button on the top navigation bar. Select the 'AA Customer Relations' link on the left side of the page. Then click on 'email AA Customer Relations' to access our on-line form.

Sincerely,

Fredia Luckey
Customer Relations
American Airlines

hln

Posted by hln at April 6, 2006 12:38 PM | Praise and Blame | TrackBack