United comes out with customer service plan

As the airline industry continues to face calls for new regulation in the area of customer service, United Airlines has issued its own 12-point customer service plan (www.united.com/page/article/0,6722,52163,00.html), a series of promises about what it will try to do – there are few guarantees here – to keep passengers satisfied.
Most of the 12 points seem to be simple restatements of what airlines are already supposed to do -- e.g., “Notify customers of known delays, cancellations and diversions;” or “work closely with our regional flying partners to deliver responsive customer service”. United does say that it will try to deliver checked bags to the carousel within 25 minutes of a flight’s arrival, but does not say what it will do for customers if it doesn’t meet that goal.
When it comes to long ground delays of the sort that have spurred calls for congressional action, United says it will “proactively manage to minimize ground holds of more than three hours and prevent those of more than four hours” for departing flights, and will “proactively manage” to minimize ground delays of more than 60 to 90 minutes on arriving flights. When delays happen, United pledges to “manage the situation aggressively,” and says it has contingency plans “to provide food, water, restroom facilities and access to medial treatment for customers onboard.” Passengers who sit on a grounded plane for more than four hours outbound or 90 minutes inbound will get discount travel certificates of an unspecified value. (“These certificates have no blackout dates,” United boasts.)
When a flight is cancelled and passengers can’t be rebooked until the next day, United promises to provide overnight accommodations – unless the cancellation was caused by “severe weather, air traffic control decisions or other issues outside of United’s control.”