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United Airlines is offering 30,000 MileagePlus miles to passengers impacted by its operational issues this week as an apology after thousands were impacted by delays and cancellations.
United began sending notes to eligible passengers today. It reads:
I know this week was hard. Really bad weather, air traffic control issues and some of our own operational challenges led to a rough experience for you and many of our customers.
Because this was a unique series of events and your travel plans were significantly disrupted, we’d like to give you and any other travelers on your reservation 30,000 free MileagePlus miles each. You’ll get an email from us next week with simple steps to claim your miles.
Miles never expire and can be used for flights, Wi-Fi, onboard food and drinks, seat upgrades and more.
Providing these miles is the right thing to do. After all, you put your trust in us and expect more.
Running an airline means managing things that are in our control and being ready to adapt to things that aren’t, and I’m confident that we can be better at both moving forward.
I know you have options when you fly, so thank you for choosing United. We look forward to welcoming you on board soon.
Linda Jojo
Chief Customer Officer
United Airlines
Severe thunderstorms were the start of United’s troubles last weekend. This compounded with scheduling issues and the delays and cancellations started piling up. United fared the worst of any US airline, partially based on the geography of its hubs and partially on some other internal issues. United initially tried to blame the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) for the disruptions, but as the week progressed and United continued failing (see more here), it was clear the FAA was not the issue.
To make matters worse, United’s CEO chartered a private jet and fled from Teterboro Airport (TEB) to Denver International Airport (DEN) where his vacation home is located (see more here).
United is recovering and the number of delays and cancellations is shrinking, but the damage has been done. Gifted miles won’t replace someone’s vacation and many travelers are vowing never agin to fly United.
Anthony’s Take: The miles are a start, but United needs to address the core issues and find solutions so that this does not happen again.
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
