US Airways responded to my complaint

Dear Mr. Pile,

Thank you for contacting US Airways. Please accept my personal apology for any difficulties or inconvenience caused by the delay of your flight. I realize you expected your flight to depart as scheduled; so did we. Any delay, even when weather created, is costly both financially and in customer satisfaction.

In this case, very poor weather conditions precluded the scheduled departure of your flight. Most weather delays are initiated by Air Traffic Controllers who monitor conditions all along the flight path filed by each plane. While we are compelled to abide by these decisions, we support all considerations relative to safety. Safety considerations, of course, override all flight decisions. Despite the best planning procedures, weather situations cannot be predicted, as in this instance.

Please accept my apology that your flights were disrupted and less than enjoyable as result of the malfunction of equipment onboard. It is unfortunate that the problem with the system was not detected until after departure. These In-flight services are certainly a significant component during your flight and our crew made every attempt to correct the problem. We regret the service aboard was not up to our standards and appreciate the understanding.

We appreciate and value your business. We’re working hard to earn your continued patronage. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to do so.

Sincerely,

Manny XXXXXX

US Airways Customer Relations

Dear US Airways Customer Service,

I recently flew flights #4805 and #4897 between Nantucket (ACK) and NY La Guardia (LGA). I have flown your airline many times and have also flown to and from ACK consistently several times a year for the past 25 years. Nantucket airport is small, prone to delays by fog and traffic, and I myself have been stranded multiple times. So it is with some authority that I say that yours was the worst flying experience of my life. Here are some pointers for providing better service:

1. Working air conditioning. I can appreciate that you want to save fuel, but in the future please remember that airplanes that have been sitting on the ramp for several hours in 90 degree heat get warm, and closing the cabin door does not help air circulation. In the future please consider turning on an internal generator to provide A/C. For small prop planes (like the 20 year old Saab 340s you fly), try connecting a portable generator while on the ground. I have seen these used many times on other airlines. It may seem like a frivolous expense now, but killing several of your elderly customers while sitting at the gate is bad form.
2. Working lavatories. Another lavish amenity, I know, but many people want to use the bathroom when waiting for over hour on the runway because you had to make your on-time departure even though there was no chance in hell you would depart because the destination airport was shut down.
3. Check tickets. The elderly gentlemen in the front of the plane on flight #4805 was surprised to be on Nantucket and not Portland when he got off, as was the pilot, who could be heard saying “un-fucking-believable” over and over.
4. Pilots who don’t treat their passengers like morons. When a pilot stops just short of the runway and tells his passengers the destination airport is closed and we’ll have to wait on the runway for an hour without a way to relieve ourselves, tell him to taxi with both engines on. When you taxi with only one engine all the way up to the flight line, it looks suspiciously like you left the gate for some alternative reason, like faking an on-time departure knowing full well you would never take off on-time. It is obvious when more than one engine is on in a prop plane, because they have propellers.
5. Flight attendants who don’t treat their passengers like morons. When baking customers for over an hour in a smelly tube of aluminum death, allow them to use a laptop computer. Telling someone it’s not allowed “because you won’t be able to turn it off in time” seems unlikely since most laptops I have encountered have hinges that allow them to close in less time than it takes to start a turboprop.
6. Don’t gouge your customers. Here’s the thing: I can handle morons, broken equipment, loud terminals, and delays that are out of your control, but why do you have to knowingly rip me off? I paid $50 extra to upgrade to an earlier flight at check-in, and the agent was in no hurry to print the ticket, even though the plane should have been boarding. Only after I rushed through security did it become obvious why: the jokes on me, the plane had no chance of leaving on time! Why not tell me that? Why take my lousy $50 on top of the several hundred I had already given you? Did it not occur to the agent that there might not be much reason to taking an earlier flight if it was delayed? Did it not occur to her that this might be information I would be interested in? Having no respect for your customers is one thing, but no respect for your customers money is just stupefyingly ignorant. It’s offensive. (The $50 wasn’t a total waste, the flight I was originally scheduled to leave on did leave after us— 5 minutes after).

Given the widespread and overbearing incompetence of every US Airways employee I have encountered over the past week, I won’t be flying your airline ever again if I can help it. Luckily on this particular route I can: JetBlue, Continental and a host of smaller carriers do the exact same service for the same price. A few of them even have working bathrooms. How long can a company so utterly bankrupt as US Airways compete?

Sincerely yours,

Andrew Pile