United Airlines is offering 30,000 air miles to passengers affected by huge disruption to its schedule, which pushed the CEO to take a private jet
- United Airlines is offering 30,000 air miles to passengers affected by flight delays over the weekend.
- Passengers were left stranded as hundreds of flights were canceled ahead of the July 4 holiday.
United Airlines is offering 30,000 miles to passengers as compensation for flight delays and cancellations over the weekend ahead of Independence Day on July 4, according to various reports from Fox Business and the Washington Post.
The Chicago-based airline is gifting free Mileage Plus miles — a loyalty program offering rewards — to passengers affected by the chaos that can go towards "flights, Wi-Fi, onboard food and drinks, seat upgrades and more," according to emails viewed by Fox Business.
The complimentary miles were also offered to those whose flights were scheduled to travel between June 24 and June 30 but were delayed overnight or never reached their final destination.
United passengers experienced mass delays over the Fourth of July weekend, partly brought on by thunderstorms along the East Coast the previous weekend, CNBC reported.
From June 24 through to July 2, 47% of United's mainline schedule arrived late and 15% of flights were canceled, per CNBC. Nearly 900 United flights were delayed on Sunday,
United's CEO Scott Kirby even came under fire for taking a private jet from New Jersey to Denver on Wednesday while thousands of passengers remained stranded after 750 flights were canceled that day, The Associated Press reported.
Kirby apologized for his actions saying it was "the wrong decision because it was insensitive to our customers who were waiting to get home," per AP.
In a note to staff on Saturday, according to CNBC, Kirby said: "This has been one of the most operationally challenging weeks I've experienced in my entire career."
United Airlines did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment, made outside regular working hours.