Continental Airlines First Response

Dear Mr. Schneider,

Thank you for including Continental in your recent travel plans and for taking the time to let us know about your experience. I have been asked to respond to your email on behalf of Larry Kellner and Anne Munoz.

I can imagine how disappointing it must have been when you learned you would miss your connection in Houston to Liberia due to the cancellation of your flight out of Boston. Our Operational Summary indicates Newark was under a Code Red and our hubs in Houston and Cleveland were under a Code Yellow on December 21. Across our system there were 74 Continental and 164 ExpressJet flights cancelled. Close to 20,000 of our customers were impacted by flight irregularities that day.

Considering the number of customers affected and holiday passenger loads, locating our next available flight for displaced passengers presented many challenges. Our phone lines may have been inundated with calls for assistance with re-booking. The history in your record shows our automated system re-confirmed you for travel on December 23. From your comments this was unacceptable as you had prior commitments in Costa Rica that would have been missed.

The bottom line is you are unhappy with the overall handling of your reservation and you were adversely affected. That certainly was not our intent, and I apologize. Interruptions in air travel do happen, and things go awry from time to time, but I am so sorry that your trip was blemished.

Due to the uncontrollable nature of the flight cancellation we are unable to reimburse or compensate for airline tickets you purchased from another carrier. Although this is not a promise of a refund, I have forwarded a request to Refund Accounting for their review of a possible refund of the difference in coach and first class for the Houston to Liberia portion of your tickets. Unfortunately, we are unable to back date the ticket cost due to the change in routing for the outbound.

I will monitor the refund request and be back in touch with you once the refund review is complete. My direct line is xxx-xxx-xxxx and I am available for calls Tuesdays through Fridays should you have additional concerns regarding this event.

Again, I regret if your experience was disappointing and hope you will not allow this to deter you from choosing Continental to meet your future travel needs. We value your support and hope you will give us an early opportunity to regain your confidence.

Regards,

Dana Gabriel
Customer Care Manager