Hello, this is Charlie Ahmes with an update for Friday, October 20, 2006 .

This week was the inaugural meeting of Onboard's new Customer Experience Committee, which is focused on improving our customers' experience on board our aircraft.

One purser-qualified flight attendant from each domicile, two AFA representatives and two supervisors volunteered to serve on this committee for one year. They will meet quarterly. Approximately 85 flight attendants who are purser qualified volunteered. Our domicile managers made the final selection on the basis of their leadership abilities and customer problem resolution skills.

I am particularly pleased that the AFA has agreed to join us in this important effort.

I had the pleasure of kicking off the meeting and spend time with the group, many of whom I have known for years. The proven abilities of these professionals give me great confidence in this committee's ability to drive change. Its inception coincides with a range of new company-wide initiatives to improve our customers' entire travel experience.

Among the items discussed were the results of recent research conducted among our elite customers. The findings, which were covered in a recent Onboard Updates, support how we can best serve our elites, while meeting the needs of all United customers.

The group also discussed issues, particularly those over which flight attendants have control.

One issue was the taking of entrée preferences in premium cabins. With the goal being to provide a good experience for all customers, the outcome of the discussion was wide-spread agreement that taking first and second choices from the front to the back, then allocating preferences in the galley by customer status was the best option. Passengers who received second choices would then be notified. This is in contrast to the approach of asking higher status customers first about their meal choice, then moving through the cabin in descending order. From a customer perspective, the outcome is that the highest-status customers receives their first meal choice, yet the process is "invisible” to other customers, some of whom could become our best customers in the future.

This type of dialog is incredibly valuable, particularly when we have a wealth of experience together in one room. We often talk about the value of listening to each other and our customers. The Customer Experience committee is this type of opportunity. Going forward, it's important that we act on ideas that come out of these meetings.

On a personal note, I am happy to report that we had no reports of injury among our 470 flight attendants who work or reside in Hawaii as a result of the earthquake there last Sunday. We did our best to reach out to those that we didn't hear from in the hours following the earthquake. Each time we go through an incident such as this, we seek to improve our response efforts. Please let us know if you have any suggestions. While we know that the situation in Hawaii is difficult for our people who live and work there, we're thankful that everyone is safe and accounted for.

That's all for today. Thanks for listening and fly safely.