An apology

Just a note to remind us that other operator face difficulties too ... here's an apology from a carrier that we use in another of our 'lives'

Dear xxxxxxx Customers,

We are sorry and embarrassed. But most of all, we are deeply sorry.

Last week was the worst operational week in xxxxxxx's seven year history. Following the severe winter ice storm in the Northeast, we subjected our customers to unacceptable delays, flight cancellations, lost baggage, and other major inconveniences. The storm disrupted the movement of aircraft, and, more importantly, disrupted the movement of xxxxxxx's pilot and inflight crewmembers who were depending on those planes to get them to the airports where they were scheduled to serve
you.

With the busy President's Day weekend upon us, rebooking opportunities were scarce and hold times at 1-800-xxxxxxx were unacceptably long or not even available, further hindering our recovery efforts. Words cannot express how truly sorry we are for the anxiety, frustration and inconvenience that we caused. This is especially saddening because xxxxxxx was founded on the promise of bringing humanity back to air travel and making the experience of flying happier and easier for everyone who chooses to fly with us. We know we failed to deliver on this promise last week.

We are committed to you, our valued customers, and are taking immediate corrective steps to regain your confidence in us. We have begun putting a comprehensive plan in place to provide better and more timely information to you, more tools and resources for our crewmembers and improved procedures for handling operational difficulties in the future. We are confident, as a result of these actions, that xxxxxxx will emerge as a more reliable and even more customer responsive airline than ever before.

Most importantly, we have published the xxxxxxx Airways Customer Bill of Rights ... *** our official commitment to you of how we will handle operational interruptions going forward^including details of compensation. I have a video message *** to share with you about this industry leading action.

You deserved better^a lot better^from us last week.

Nothing is more important than regaining your trust and all of us here hope you will give us the opportunity to welcome you onboard again soon and provide you the positive xxxxxxx Experience you have come to expect from us.

Would I use them again? Yes - and I would use a carrier that delayed us 36 hours too. Why - because, as the guy says here, it's about trust. Trust comes from keeping people informed, for admitting fault where it's fair and just, and about not creeping services back down from 4 to 3 and 2 coaches and reducing your staff levels so you've no sickenss cover when you think the media's not watching and you can save a few quid - short term - for your shareholders