=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/n/a/2005/12/20/financial/= f073856S77.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, December 20, 2005 (AP) United CEO: Not Ready for Early Rush (12-20) 07:38 PST CHICAGO, (AP) -- United Airlines' chief executive says inadequate staffing and unpreparedness at the nation's second largest airline contributed to hours of delays for thousands of early holiday travelers who stood outside for hours in frigid weather at O'Hare International Airport on Saturday. UAL Corp.'s Glenn Tilton said in a message Monday to employees that the airline, which hopes to emerge in February from more than three years in Chapter 11 bankruptcy, "disappointed our customers by not being prepared, as we should have been, for the extraordinary volume of passengers" during the weekend. The Saturday morning delays resulted in lines that stretched outside in freezing temperatures and waits of four hours or more. The city sent four buses to provide shelter to people waiting outside in temperatures that never climbed above 21 degrees. "We felt like we needed to do whatever we could to accommodate those passengers," said Wendy Abrams, spokeswoman for the city's Department of Aviation. United spokesman Jeff Green said Saturday's problems included efforts to find flights for several hundred customers whose flights east were canceled the day before due to inclement weather and travelers showing up early for new flights. He also said more workers should have been scheduled Saturday morning. "The wait times were unacceptable," Green said. He said some passengers were put on later flights, routed through other cities or put on another airline. -----------------------------------------= ----------------------------- Copyright 2005 AP