I just sent this via the contact form on united.com. We'll see what, if anything, they have to say to me.

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This past weekend, I traveled from Columbus OH to Lubbock TX on 1/13/12 for an academic conference, and then returned on 1/15/12. My flight from Columbus to Houston was fine, but my flight from Houston to Lubbock was delayed over 3 hours. The aircraft that I was scheduled to ride had mechanical problems on its prior flight to Baton Rouge, but it was not adequately dealt with, because I after I boarded, it still had problems. According to the captain, the "number two engine [was] pouring out smoke." If an aircraft experiences major equipment failures of this sort on two consecutive flights, I wonder if it might be wiser (or perhaps safer?) to change to a different aircraft while the faulty equipment is being serviced. I was offered a seat on an alternative flight from Houston to Lubbock, but that flight was also delayed 3 hours for reasons I am unaware of. By the time I arrived in Lubbock, I had missed the beginning of my conference by several hours.

On my return from Lubbock to Houston, the plane had cabin pressure issues, and we were delayed approximately four hours. Everyone on the plane missed their connecting flights, and I was forced to stay the night in Houston. I missed a meeting I had scheduled for early Monday afternoon, because the first flight from Houston to Columbus did not arrive until 2pm.

In total, I spent approximately 8 hours in the air, 4 hours in scheduled layovers, and 18 hours waiting for delays.

This ratio is not just unacceptable, but downright embarrassing for United Airlines. Furthermore, the consistency of mechanical failures makes me feel unsafe flying United, and almost 15 years of exclusive patronage do not shake my thought that United has changed from a company that prided itself on providing the best service to one that will save a dollar any way it can, even at the expense of the safety of its customers and crew.

Because of the extreme delays on my flights in both directions, I missed important events on both Friday and Monday. I do not ask you to compensate me for the time I spent waiting for equipment failures to be resolved, and I do not ask you to in any way address the value of the engagements I missed because of the delays. However, because United Airlines did not provide the service I purchased (that is, getting me to my destination in time for my scheduled events), I do ask to be reimbursed for the price of my tickets.

Sincerely,
Benjamin Coy