United Airlines Kicks Off the Holiday Travel Season
Source: United Airlines
Nov 19, 2007 - 12:39:25 PM
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New Customer Service Initiatives in Place, Travel Tips to Get the Holidays Off to a Pleasant Start
CHICAGO, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- To kick off this holiday season and ensure customers get to their destinations safely, comfortably and on time, United has adjusted its staffing and enhanced its airport technology. United also recently revised its customer service commitment, called Our Customer Commitment, which details information about what United does to minimize inconveniences, especially during unexpected weather and Air Traffic Control (ATC) delays.
"The improvements we have made so far this year place our customers at the center of everything we do," says Barbara Higgins, vice president - Customer Experience. "We are working hard behind the scenes to create a positive experience for our guests during the holiday travel season, and to deliver a more dependable and consistent experience every time they travel with us."
Areas where United has concentrated its efforts include:
-- Staffing -- Adjusted staffing to ensure we have the appropriate number
of people available to best serve our passenger and cargo customers.
-- Technology -- United has added 140 Easy Check-in(R) kiosks in the gate
areas of our busiest airports, so when United automatically rebooks
customers who are experiencing delays or cancellations, these travelers
can print their new boarding passes without having to go through
security again.
These kiosks also have United's Easy Rebook(R) software that
enables customers to make changes to their itineraries, such as placing
themselves on the stand-by list for an earlier flight.
United is adding more than 78 Easy Bag Claim kiosks in the baggage
claim areas of our busiest airports. These kiosks enable customers to
scan the barcodes on their baggage claim tags to see exactly where
their bag is and to which claim belt it will be delivered.
-- Reliability -- United has added more than a minute of service time --
the time allotted to clean, prepare and board the aircraft -- to each
flight to ensure our customers' flights are on-time and each aircraft
is in the proper condition when we welcome customers onboard.
United recently renewed its service commitment, called Our Customer Commitment, which is a 12-point plan outlining the ways in which we strive to keep our customers feeling relaxed and respected during normal operations, and what they can expect if delays occur. As part of this commitment, United will communicate flight updates to delayed passengers every 15 minutes, reduce long in-aircraft and taxiing delays, and strive to deliver luggage at the bag claim carousels within 25 minutes. United's full Our Customer Commitment can be found here.
Helpful Suggestions: 3Ps -- Print, Pack & Plan
United's customers can take the following steps to get their holidays off to a great start:
Print
-- Check-in and print boarding passes using united.com. Customers can check-in up to 24 hours prior to departure -- even if they are checking bags. Once they have checked in online, customers can take their bags to the convenient united.com bag drop at the airport, and proceed directly to security. If customers are traveling on a domestic flight from one of United's hubs (Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, Denver, San Francisco or Los Angeles), they can use our united.com BagCheck to quickly check bags at Easy Check-in kiosks.
Pack
-- Before packing carry-on or checked luggage, review the latest baggage
restrictions from the Transportation Security Administration and
United's checked baggage policy on united.com.
-- Be sure that holiday gifts are unwrapped. Passengers may not take
wrapped packages through security.
-- Liquids, aerosols or gels may be transported in carry-on bags only if
they are 3 ounces or less in volume. Passengers must place these items
into a one-quart, zip-top, clear plastic bag that should be taken out
of carry-on bags and placed into screening bins at the security
checkpoints. A limit of one bag per passenger applies.
-- Enclose a copy of the e-ticket receipt in each checked bag for quick
identification.
Plan
-- Allow extra time at the airport during the holiday season. For domestic
travel, we recommend arriving at the airport 60 minutes prior to
flying -- 90 minutes for customers who are checking bags.
-- We recommend that passengers traveling internationally arrive at the
airport two hours prior to their flights.
-- During the peak holiday season, we recommend that passengers who are
traveling from our busiest airports and need to park their cars
(Chicago O'Hare, Washington Dulles, Denver, San Francisco or Los
Angeles) arrive an additional 60 minutes earlier than the times
suggested above.
About United
United Airlines (NASDAQ:UAUA) operates more than 3,600** flights a day on United, United Express and Ted to more than 200 U.S. domestic and international destinations from its hubs in Los Angeles, San Francisco, Denver, Chicago and Washington, D.C. With key global air rights in the Asia-Pacific region, Europe and Latin America, United is one of the largest international carriers based in the United States. United also is a founding member of Star Alliance, which provides connections for our customers to 855 destinations in 155 countries worldwide. United's 55,000 employees reside in every U.S. state and in many countries around the world. News releases and other information about United can be found at the company's Web site at united.com.
**Based on the flight schedule between Jan. 1, 2007 and Dec. 31, 2007.
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