United Airlines plans to eliminate all human contact customer service by the end of April.

They had "customer no service" anyway -- a foreign call center staffed by people with no authority to solve problems -- but what a statement this makes. United doesn't even want to consider pretending that they offer customer service!

They're now suggesting that anyone with a complaint write a letter or send an e-mail.

The airline industry has repeatedly shown a complete lack of focus on the customer. A powerful lobby in Washington has shot down every effort to make this a customer-focused industry. Hmm…isn't it ironic that they can't seem to figure out how to make money?

The key to running a business is to treat your employees well and communicate a sense of mission to them so they can go out and help the customer. Clark refers to it as romancing your employees so they'll romance your customer.

But the airlines have made it their mission to continually cheapen their product to the point that no one wants to buy. Even as they park aircraft, they can't do it fast enough to accommodate the decline in demand brought on by years of poor customer experiences.

To paraphrase Gordon Bethune -- the man who saved Continental -- it is possible to make a pizza so cheap that no one will ever want to eat it.

Perhaps the congressman and senators who fly commercial aren't really aware of the shoddy customer service. After all, they get preferential treatment and their own private waiting rooms. But currying favor in D.C. is not a way to make money. You make money by treating your customers right.

Shame on you, United.