'Hilarious' Airline Complaint Letter Catches Eye of CEO
Most airline complaint letters are filled with rage, but not this one.
July 1, 2013— -- Most airline complaint letters are so filled with rage and tales of woe, it's hard to see any humor in the situation.
But that's not the case with a letter written to LIAT, a small airline serving 21 destinations in the Caribbean. The complaint waged in a letter to the airline is so funny that it prompted another airline's CEO to tweet it to his more than 3 million followers.
"How to write a complaint letter -- read this hilarious note from a frustrated airline passenger," tweeted Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group.
Not all letters to airlines are to complain. Check out this letter to Delta's CEO after he gave up his seat for a mom late to pick her daughter up from a special-needs camp.
The LIAT letter appeared in the weekly British Virgin Islands newspaper, the BVI Beacon, earlier this year.
The letter was penned by Londoner Arthur Hicks and titled "An Open Letter to LIAT."
Dear LIAT,
May I say how considerate it is of you to enable your passengers such an in-depth and thorough tour of the Caribbean.
Most other airlines I have travelled on would simply wish to take me from point A to B in rather a hurry. I was intrigued that we were allowed to stop at not a lowly one or two but a magnificent six airports yesterday. And who wants to fly on the same airplane the entire time? We got to change and refuel every step of the way!
I particularly enjoyed sampling the security scanners at each and every airport. I find it preposterous that people imagine them all to be the same. And as for being patted down by a variety of islanders, well, I feel as if I've been hugged by most of the Caribbean already.I also found it unique that this was all done on "island time," because I do like to have time to absorb the atmosphere of the various departure lounges. As for our arrival, well, who wants to have to take a ferry at the end of all that flying anyway? I'm glad the boat was long gone by the time we arrived into Tortola last night -- and that all those noisy bars and restaurants were closed.
So thank you, LIAT. I now truly understand why you are "The Caribbean Airline."
P.S. Keep the bag. I never liked it anyway.
Branson himself was once the recipient of what some think is the most epic airline complaint letter of all time. In that letter, the author likens his flight on Virgin to a "culinary journey of hell."