DALLAS — After being kicked off an American Airlines flight for refusing to stop playing a game on his cell phone, actor Alec Baldwin sounded off on the airline and plane travel in blog posting yesterday, which included a jab at Greyhound, CBS News reported. To read the full story, click here.
Greyhound today issued an open letter to Alec Baldwin in response to comments made by the actor on Dec. 7 regarding Greyhound. Following is the response from Greyhound President and CEO Dave Leach:
"Dear Mr. Baldwin, as president and CEO of Greyhound, I was disheartened to hear about the comments you made regarding our company. Now I'm the first to admit that Greyhound has had some challenges with brand perception, so I understand that you probably were basing your comments on that alone. But we've made so many changes in recent years to significantly improve the travel experience. My guess is you've never traveled with us, but I ask you to give us a try for a number of reasons and see for yourself that we're really a great way to travel.
"First of all, we have hundreds of new buses in our fleet where we've added more legroom, leather seats, power outlets and free Wi-Fi. I think you especially would find the latter two amenities exciting, because we don't require our customers to turn off their electronic devices…ever. You could therefore play Words With Friends® during your entire trip and nobody would give you any grief over it. As a matter of fact, we have a Facebook page (www.facebook.com/GreyhoundBus), so if you wanted to start a Words With Friends game with us, just Like us and we'd be more than happy to take on the challenge.
"As the industry leader, Greyhound is committed to providing a new class of service to our customers. After all, we carry more than 17 million customers every year. We've been training all of our employees to provide stellar customer service, we're moving into brand new, modern facilities and fixing up the ones we currently reside in, and we're putting more focus on getting customers to their destinations much faster. I think you'd like our premium Greyhound Express service, which provides customers a guaranteed seat on our new buses, with direct trips between major city pairs in the Northeast, Midwest and Southeast. I invite you to meet with me in New York and we'll take a trip to Boston so you can see first-hand what a great ride Greyhound can be.
"Should you still decide not to try us, even after I've shared with you all of the exciting changes we've made here at Greyhound, all I ask from you is a simple apology. We are not the same company we used to be. We are better, providing a safe, affordable and modern travel alternative to other forms of transportation. Greyhound is an American icon, a proud company that many people depend on to get them to their destinations, the same people who watch your films and TV show. Mr. Baldwin, please reconsider your position and come see how great a company Greyhound has become."
