United Airlines announced today an updated customer commitment as it tries to improve baggage delivery and how it handles delays.
United, the largest carrier at Denver International Airport, said it is striving to deliver all checked luggage within 25 minutes of a flight’s arrival. The airline said that is its standard, but it may not achieve the delivery time consistently.
Baggage delivery is “one of the last links in the service chain and can tarnish an otherwise positive experience,” United chief executive Glenn Tilton said in a message to employees.
The updated customer commitment covers 12 areas, and United said it gives customers more information on policies and pledges than the previous version.
It also includes information on the airline’s new ground-hold policy outlined in May.
United said it will provide customers with compensation, generally with discount travel certificates, if it has a diversion or taxi-out delay on the ground before takeoff longer than four hours or a taxi-in longer than 90 minutes.
United’s move comes as airlines draw criticism for their customer service and carriers try to forestall a legislated passenger bill of rights by enacting their own policies that don’t have the force of law.
JetBlue announced its own customer bill of rights in response to a February meltdown that left passengers stuck on the tarmac in New York for hours.
Staff writer Kelly Yamanouchi can be reached at 303-954-1488 or kyamanouchi@denverpost.com.
