Bob:
To the customer, an apology, depending on the circumstances, may, indeed, mean little. However, for the airline it can mean a lot. Jet Blue is a recent example.
The Jet Blue board of directors may have canned Dave Neelman for his meaculpa in the case of their 2007 Valentines Day meltdown. However, I think today, that same board will--privately--admit it helped their airline a lot. People still have respect for people who, as Neelman did, will own-up to their shortcomings provided a credibile plan is laid-out to mitigate or eliminate future occurances. To this day, Jet Blue is one of the few domestic carriers who have incorporated their customer service plan into their contract of carriage.
By contrast, American Air's December, 2006 mass tarmac strandings yielded little more than a "sorry for the inconvenience." Their customer service plan continues to be separate from their contract of carriage. Indeed, in a subsequent tarmac delay, a flight attendant was very quick to point that out.
American Air, as is the case with other carriers, may have "hostage" customers in some markets. But do those customers hold their nose when they buy an American ticket??
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