Originally Posted by SDF_Traveler
Write a letter to NWA using the on-line "Contact Us"....
I got a personal response from the Chief Safety Officer (also held a VP title, IIRC) at NWA apologising about the INOP APU's. The letter really just explained it happens every once and awhile, but as a general rule APU's are functional on 99% of our aircraft.. blah.. blah.. Letter was cc'd to Hector Adler (used to be VP Inflight Services IIRC - no longer with NWA) and I was given some bonus WP miles or something.
Once in a while my arse - this kind of thing happens ALL the time, at all the airlines.
In the good old days, the aircraft used to sit at the gates between flights with the APUs running, so even on the hottest days they could keep the cabin temps reasonable while the plane was on the ground.
Once the financials started going downhill, the airlines insisted the APUs be shut down while the planes were at the gates in order to save fuel. The constant starting and stopping causes frequent breakdowns, and unfortunately, APU write-ups can easily be deferred, so aircraft are dispatched all the time with inop APUs.
It's usually only a big issue in the summer months when it's hot, so the airlines don't spend a lot of time worrying about it. People get sick and threaten to sue, but they recover, have miles dumped into their accounts (or they receive some other token compensation) and they forget about it.
You can try following through and hiring a lawyer, but I'm sure the airline would make sure that it was a much bigger headache for you than for them.