Dear Mr. Kiker:

Thank you for your letter of August 15. I am curious as to what telephone number you used to reach me earlier, as my home number is connected to an answering machine and my work number is always answered by a secretary during working hours.

As you mention, several UAL employees have extended their apologies in the past, but they have done so as individuals, writing me during their personal time, and not as representatives of your airline. At any rate, I am pleased to see that you, as a UAL official, are offering an apology for the poor service we received on our trip to Japan and Hawaii. That is all we asked for when we first wrote your airline in June 1996. It is unfortunate that others in your company did not see fit to offer such an apology at an earlier time.

If there is anything further you wish to discuss, I would be happy to hear from you.

Sincerely,

Dr. Jeremy Cooperstock
Visiting Researcher
Sony Computer Science Laboratory