What a cluster-F.

I don't run an airline - but why there wasn't a substitute plane sent at the first available opportunity to get those people home is a matter of simple stupidity.

In pure media value, in the Chicago market - 3rd largest ad market in the country - an article like this written about something POSITIVE would have a worth of perhaps $100,000.00. Meaning - if you tried to buy this kind of coverage, that's what you might expect to pay. Some experts may believe it to be more or slightly less. Now - as a NEGATIVE article - one could assume a much greater impact in negative value.

What this article in United's hometown has cost them in potential revenue, customers, and just plain bad PR (which they have plenty of right now), far exceeds the amount of money it would have cost to just send a new plane and fresh crew as a gesture of goodwill and responsibility.

Add to that - how many articles in print and online, not to mention TV coverage, have slipped in the fact that people have tried to call United only to get overseas call centers who had little/no information. Every time that is put in print it casts a palor over United that continues to negate the cost savings of operating offshore.

OK - it was one flight out of thousands that they operate - but this whole incident speaks to a complete lack of something. You mean to tell me that there was NO ONE in the entire system - no one with authority - that could have sorted this out better than the way it happened?

Disgusting.