United Airlines experienced significant issues during the Fourth of July weekend. This includes mass delays and flight cancelations, and a PR disaster involving their CEO who took a private jet while passengers were stuck. To regain customer trust, United is giving away free Mileage Plus miles. Affected passengers are going to receive 30000 miles as compensation for their inconvenience.
Free 30000 Miles as Compensation
In an email obtained by Fox Business, the airline says that the free 30000 miles given to passengers can go to “flights, Wi-Fi, onboard food and drinks, seat upgrades, and more.”
Aside from those affected during the Fourth of July Weekend, complimentary miles are also offered to passengers scheduled between June 24 and June 30, who were delayed the following day or never arrived at their final destination.
In the email about the free 30000 miles, United blamed the “really bad weather, air traffic control issues, and some of our own operational challenges.”
From June 24 to July 2, 47% of the airline’s scheduled flights arrived late. Plus, United canceled 15% of its flights in the same period. And on top of this, United had almost 900 delayed flights on Sunday alone.
One of the Most Operationally Challenging Weeks
On Wednesday, United’s CEO was criticized for taking a private jet from New Jersey to Denver. This happened when thousands of United passengers were stuck after 750 flights were canceled on that day.
Kirby later apologized saying that it was “the wrong decision.” He added that it was “insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home.”
On Saturday, Kirby wrote in a note to United staff that “This has been one of the most operationally challenging weeks I’ve experienced in my entire career.”
The week preceding the 4th of July was a busy week not just for airlines but for everyone. In the past four days, the Transportation Security Administration recorded around 10.7 million air travelers that passed through security checkpoints. This includes 2.88 million on June 30.
