Dear United (and the Entire Airline Industry),

Oh, United.

How you toy with my heart. Some days I love you. Others, I can hardly look you in the face.

I have been a loyal fan for a number of years especially after giving up my Delta life once leaving Atlanta. But increasingly, you keep slapping me in the face with late flights, canceled flights, troubled app technology and a few negative (read; mean and angry) employees. I wish it wasn't so.

A few weeks ago, I traveled through several countries in Europe and Asia then back home. Never a problem encountered at any airport in Europe or Asia. No delays at all. No frowns or sarcastic comments from agents.  Not a problem, that is, until I arrived back in the U.S. at Newark. Welcome home.

In this instance, there were weather delays. Then the icing on the cake: they had no crew once a flight coming from three hours away arrived. Hmm. Three hours to get a crew but no one got a crew. We waited. Another 90 minutes. The pilots had to drive from home to the airport.

Imagine my frustration this morning when in the car to the airport my flights for a business trip were canceled.  Well, I suppose you sent an email while I was sleeping in preparation of getting up at 4am to come to the airport. Alas, I stayed the course en route to the airport as my travel was not an option. It's my business. I am required to travel for customer visits.  So, I don't get to throw up my hands and say, "Oh well. It happens!"  Not only had I been bumped and canceled, I was assigned some really bad seats on the new flights. No one should pity me for a middle seat in coach. But, I use the flights as a chance to catch up on work, answer emails and read ahead. It's tough to do for a 6-3" guy in a cramped middle seat. That's why I buy early, book seats early and check in 24 hours before hand.

When arriving at an agent's desk, I asked to change my seat. With a hint of sarcasm, I got, "If you were here a few minutes earlier, you could have taken the earlier flight."  True. But if you (the airline) had not canceled my flight in the first place, I would not have needed to take an earlier flight or rebook seats that I am now waiting for you to kindly do. As the awkward, unapologetic conversation continued, I decided to ask if there was a reason for the cancelations. "It says here weather," she explained.  

Funny. Take a look. 

Some really bad weather. I hope everyone stays safe out there amid the "partly cloudy" skies. Rough, indeed. There was no bad weather anywhere within the travel routes. I wish you could just admit the reason. Perhaps there was not enough sold tickets on the flights to warrant the trip? Did you cancel and rebook to fill seats on other flights?  I would respect that business decision much more than blaming "weather".

Now, what's the point of this post? The point is about traveler inconvenience. I call the entire airline industry, not just United, the "airline mafia".  They do what they want to do. There's not much you can do to fight back.  The airline passenger bill of rights may be full of good intentions   But, it's now summarily been canceled on, rebooked, rerouted, etc. 

Before you go there with "we just want to get your there safely," I agree. Get me there safely. But the fragmented structure of industry hierarchy in the U.S. allows a blame game for any problems. In what other industry can a provider of services offer such poor quality and still succeed in operating?

• If the owner of the privately-owned local gas station where I purchase gas once a week treated me this way, I'd take my business across the street to the Shell station and pay a few cents less. Instead, I support his business and slightly higher prices because he makes a great effort at customer service - every time I arrive. There's never a bad experience or bad word. There's value in customer care. There are plenty of choices otherwise.
• If the owner of the local salon cut half of your hair then said, "Oh, I'll have to cancel the rest of the cut today. We'll rebook you tomorrow", you would find another stylist or barber. There are plenty of choices.
• If the local restaurant owner served you bad food, you could choose to go elsewhere until you found acceptable food. There are plenty of choices. 

The point?  There is not much "choice" in the airline industry for consumers. You could choose another airline but likely get similar service problems and issues. You could choose to take a train but find most of the country unaccessible by Amtrak. You could choose to drive from the East Coast and get to California by a week from next Tuesday.

Why all of the problems in this industry? First, there's not enough competition for consumer dollars. Then everyone gets to blames\ everyone else while no one takes responsibility. The airlines blame air traffic control for delays. The airport blames the weather for delays. The airlines blame the unions for late employees. The series of blame game volleys is endless.. 

In the end, we still must fly. So, we do just that with little hope of anyone watching out for consumer rights. 

Safe travels...and stay away from the really bad "partly cloudy" days. I hear flights get canceled a lot on those days!

Sincerely,

Booted, canceled and rebooked.

NOTE: The views expressed here are my own. They do not reflect opinions of any customers or employers and are not intended to do so.