Hello everyone, this is Patti and welcome to FLT-LINE on Tuesday, March 4th.
First of all—it’s official! The DOT announced yesterday that United was #1 in on-time performance in January with 88% of our flights arriving on-time:14. Our terrific
performance is followed by our competitors, Southwest at 87.5%, American at 86.3% and Continental at 85.4%. I hope you are as proud of this accomplishment as I am, because it makes a tangible difference in the way our customers view United.

We’re starting off this year with a great trend, January was number 1 and February is looking good as well.

In other good news for our business, customers are snapping up the reduced business fares we introduced in the beginning of January. These fares boost our revenue by $20- $25 million dollars per month. This is a perfect example of a creative business strategy that is as good for our customers as it is for our bottom line.

I’m glad to have this good news to share with you. I hope it helps you keep focused on safety, our customers and on taking care of each other.

I know it’s easy to get distracted when United takes a beating in the headlines. When times get tough, remember our competition. Jet Blue, Southwest, Continental, American and Delta are certainly thinking about us and how to make United’s customers theirs. We are in a fight for our business each time a customer boards a United airplane. You can help by doing what we’ve been talking about, remaining visible, working the aisle and providing a level of extraordinary service that will persuade our customers to choose to fly United Airlines again.

I’d like to close today with a letter from Captain Chuck Crosby, who wrote to thank this Chicago-based crew for doing an extraordinary job in making service count. Captain Crosby writes, “ After I took my assigned seat, my coat was taken, beverage order delivered, what more could I ask for. As I was sitting there, I noticed one of the flight attendants making her way through first class greeting each passenger with a firm handshake and a very warm and welcoming smile. Wow, what an impact this had, not only on me but also on the other customers seated around me.”

Captain Crosby goes on to describe the high quality of service this crew offered
throughout the entire flight and sums up his experience this way. “I just want to say that this entire crew was fabulous. Their attention to detail, and level of service should be the benchmark by which we measure our standard of service. Purser Anne’s ability to lead by example was enjoyed by all on this flight, not only for the passengers, but for the cabin crew as well.”

Well I’d like to add my personal thanks to Purser Anne Penland, and the entire crew, Jerry, Jennifer, Judith, Dawn, Gretchen, Colleen, Jeannie, Mary, Jewell and Jacqueine for setting such a great example of quality service and professionalism. That’s what we all need to do on each and every flight.

Thank you for listening, I’ll be talking with you again on Friday. Until then, take care of each other and of our customers.