At 01:12 PM 1/4/99 -0800, you wrote: Thank you for writing concerning the prayer card presented on our meal
trays.

The prayer card has been part of our meal service for many years. The
volume of favorable comments from passengers encourages us to continue
including the card on each tray.

Nice try but I'm not gulible enough to believe that you've received any comments that stated that their flight was enhanced by the prayer card at the bottom of their meal.

While I certainly acknowledge your
strong opposition to the card, we will continue to monitor customer
sentiment on this matter and make changes accordingly.

You can register my comments everyday because I will never flyer Alaska Airlines again. I recently flew on another airline to Florida and Chicago and San Francisco since my last flight on Alaska and there were no prayer cards and therefore a pleasant flight. I'm kind of mad at myself because when I first moved to Seattle, I wanted to work for Alaska. I'm glad that I never followed up on that desire short of submitting a resume. I would have then been a disgruntled worker.


Thanks for telling us how you feel. We value your business and look
for the
privilege of welcoming you on board another flight in the near future.

as I stated in the previous comment. I will not fly Alaska again until the prayer cards are removed and I will encourage all my friends, family and business associates to do the same by permanently altering my signature file on all my outgoing email and email marketing.
Scott Colburn

*****************Here is the letter that received no response********************

11 November, 1998
Mr. Edward W. White
Vice President, Customer Service
Alaska Airlines
Post Office Box 68900
Seattle, Washington 98168-9988

Dear Mr. White:
On a recent flight, I was shocked and greatly disappointed to find an Alaska Airlines card at the bottom of my food tray which preached Christian doctrine. Not only is the content of the card incongruous with the airline business, it is also completely inappropriate that such a message is thrust upon your unsuspecting customers in such an underhanded manner. "You've just eaten your meal, SURPRISE, you've been preached to!"
On occasion I've had the misfortune of having religious dogma thrust upon me by swirly-eyed right-wing fanatics while walking down the street of several large cities; I do not expect this sort of unwelcome attack when choosing an airline. The very manner of delivery adds insult to injury - to have your religious views slipped in to my food on a flight I've paid for was, indeed, deceitful and offensive in and of itself. Had there been any prior warning that my ticket purchase would subject me to such distasteful abuse upon my personal spiritual choices, I certainly would never have considered Alaska Airlines at all!
Please be aware that one of the rights the citizens of this country enjoy and have fought for is that of religious freedom. It is certainly not the place of a large, for-profit corporation to call my spiritual nature in to question or to attempt ministry to my soul.
If you choose to continue in your tactics, I strongly suggest that Alaska Airlines put great effort in to making the public aware that it views itself as a Christian organization and will force its belief system upon their paying customers. Barring this, I expect Alaska Airlines to cease and desist in this unethical practice at once and allow its paying passengers to fly in peace with their spiritual beliefs in-tact and unquestioned.
Sincerely,

Jaye D. Barr
Enclosure
cc: American Civil Liberties Union
Better Business Bureau

*******************CONCLUSION**********************
This is from a conversation with a friend of mine

At 10:17 AM 1/27/99 -0800, you wrote:
well, Im not particularly religious, but I don't agree with you at all. I
mean, if it's an actual ad for a particular church then it's weird, but
for it to simply be a prayer...I don't see what's wrong with that.

What's wrong with it is that I pay them for a service. If I had know that this service included religious prayer cards, I would have gone somewhere else. But I didn't know and couldn't get off the plane mid flight or get my money back. I don't think there is any place for your religious beliefs in business. It will hurt more than it will help.


ANOTHER HAPPY CUSTOMER WRITES

Found your Alaska Airlines prayer card page and want to say first, thanks for putting it up. My wife recently noticed the card and was very offended as well. Also, she had flown Alaskan before and not noticed it, makes me wonder if it's something they've recently started and are trying to say it's a tradition. Anyway, I'm including our little email exchange with the fundamentalists if you would care to add it to your page.

Thomas Williams
Jet-Screamer Web Design & Maintenance
thomas@jet-screamer.com
http://jet-screamer.com