No Christmas from Northwest for our "TROOPS"... As my son, a active duty Army soldier, trying to come home for Christmas along with many other soldiers and sailors, were in for a rude jolt when landing at DTW on Northwest Airlines. THe troops were not told at landing, when stepping off the planes or when in the terminal, that their connecting flights had been canceled and any luggage they had handed over at JFK had suddenly disappeared into air, not to be found again. When these soldiers approached the NWA desk wanting answers to how they would get to their families all over the US, they were told, direct verbage/quotes from desk representatives of NWA talking into cell phones the troops were holding up so families could hear the treatment "... It's not our problem to get you home, you must find other transportation... It doesn't make a difference to me that you are active duty military trying to get home, see if your families can get you home or drive here to pick you up... Standby is the best we can do... We do not have vouchers for meals while you wait... There are no flights available on any airlines... Your stuck here..." Well, thanks to Southwest Airlines, whose employees not only stepped up their already great customer service, they embrassed these young warriors and citizens and got them home... On flights all over the US that your NWA reps said didn't exist. Many cudo's will follow to Southwest directly for their unparrelled service during the holiday flying season.
The Missing Luggage... Still M.I.A., with the phone at the NWA Desk in Omaha taken off the hook (QWEST operator confirmed that the busy signal was a "off the hook phone and not a active phone call"... Hmmmmm,, well there goes the 12/25 by 5pm gurantee given at DTW, or even the 24 or 48 hour time frame... All have or soon will be passed as of this writing with not a single call or update to your online or phone system on where abouts of the M.I.A. Luggage...
As a veteran of the military (not to mention a 20 yr military brat, a spouse of a retired veteran and a mother of a active duty soldier now serving), I am apalled at the treatment of our soldiers by Northwest Airlines. You ALL dropped the ball... Your representatives at the counters 12/25/04, talking in very loud and lacking of all human emotion or feelings, to not only our nations finest, but to everyday citizens of our great country were all victims of the same cruel treatment. If the counter people would have looked up from their counters, they would have seen al the customers holding up their cell phones for all to hear the treatment that would be inflicted upon the soldiers and other patrons. Across America a wonderful thing called word of mouth has started flowing across not only family rooms, phone lines and the internet, but will tomorrow be forwarded to all newsagencies and local newspapers to include the Military times papers and travel agencies that handle all military travel. I for one have started my own such forwarding and campaign.
Luggage. Still not found for my son, which included his military clothing and cold weather cloths for Iowa extremes... All family plans outside have been canceled due to him not having any clothing to wear except for cloths on his back. No toiletries... No nothing. With his limited budget, and ours due to paying for another ticket for hime to get from DTW to OMA, which were told by your great employees we may or may not see again, we are still speechless. Many questions. No one can or will answer them, When or will we ever see my sons luggage? When will he be reimbursed for meals, trip, cloths, missed Christmas...??? Please answer as we hope your line is not also "off the hook".
Sncerely,
R.M. Cotton
Cc: News affiliates at ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, AFN, Military Times (Army, Airforce, Navy, Marines), IA Atty General, NY Atty General, MI Atty General, BBB, Military Brats.com, FAHS.com, goarmy.com, Armed Forces Travel Network
R M
Glenwood, Iowa
U.S.A.
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