ir system. Then they started making phone calls. The goal was not only to apologize, but also to explain their plans to fix the company. Each phone call took easily an hour, since the customer was invariably frustrated and wanted to let them know just how badly. Customers usually appreciated the time and effort. To improve the level of customer satisfaction, Continental concentrated on what frequent business users had to say. These customers regularly paid full fare and traveled often. Their demands were simple: airplanes and terminals that are safe, comfortable, and attractive. Other concerns were on-time flights reliable baggage handling, and good food at mealtimes. With the exception of safety, Continental had failed on all of these accounts miserably. The first thing they did was painting the exteriors of every airplane to match the interior. All the carpets in the airport terminals were replaced. The old Continental logo was redesigned as well. The renovation was completed in six months. Continental received high marks from customers and employees. In fact, many of them could perceive Continental was changing visibly. To assure on-time arrivals, flight schedules were rewritten by the Department of Transportation according to what pilots and airport operators advised. Continental also offered employees a reward: For every month, each employee would receive $65, if the company finished in the top five out of ten airlines in "on-time performances" as measured by DOT. With in months, most flights were on time and regularly finishing in the first place. The food policy was adjusted to reflect the time of the day, length of flights, and class of service. For instance, the breakfast is now served on 7:00 A.M. Nowadays, the first-class meals consist of items like fresh pasta, soups, sandwiches, and freshly baked cinnamon rolls. In 1995, Continental made a profit of $224 million, and in1996 it more than doubled that. Finally, Continental ha...
