their employers are picking up the tab anyway? What United seems to be forgetting is that most passengers aren't asking for miles; they just want the basics -- flights that leave on time (or leave at all) and land in the correct place. Apparently, that's been too much to ask this summer. In his letter to Salon, Jack Mingo explained how he recently put his 14-year-old daughter on a United plane in Oakland, and instead of going straight to Detroit, it abruptly landed in Denver. She then was shuttled to Las Vegas and Minneapolis before arriving in Detroit the next day. Her compensation? A $6 phone card. Yes, it's going to take a lot more than miles and apologies in the local newspaper -- which analysts are calling "embarrassing" and "stupid" -- to quell customer complaints. Now, one can only wonder what United will do to appease investors. The company on Thursday warned that its third-quarter profits would miss expectations, because -- surprise -- customers are bolting to other airlines. United says it won't meet the already-lowered $2.60 to $3.20 a share earnings range it issued in July. The company expects to lose as much as $150 million this summer from all the turmoil. "Although booking patterns remained strong through early August despite poor operating performance, booking levels have since fallen on the adverse publicity surrounding the cancellations that occurred in early August," Goodwin said in a press release. Investors took the news as expected, sending the stock -- which traded at $79 in January -- down another dollar to close at $48.50. "This is a total airline meltdown," says Joe Brancatelli, a columnist for biztravel.com, which covers the airline industry. "Things are continuing to spiral out of control, and if it doesn't get its act together quickly, it could have a long-term impact." After all, Brancatelli says, a prepared written apology or a few extra miles won't win back passenger confidence, especially business travelers, who provide nearly half of the company's total revenue. "If United offers impossibly low fares, that may appease the general public, but not heavy business travelers. Corporations that are putting employees on the road aren't concerned about getting the cheapest fare. They need an airline to be reliable." Stephen Klein, an airline analyst with Standard and Poors, agrees that all-important business travelers could defect in mass, unless United resolves its labor conflicts soon. "Business travelers can't tolerate even the slightest delays, because there's no reason to travel if they miss their meetings. Because of this, they tend to shy away from airlines facing a potential strike or other problems." Klein believes the P.R. crisis, which amounts to daily media accounts of problems at the nation's airports, is putting increasing pressure on the airline to settle its dispute with pilots. "They have to be thinking whether it's worth settling to buy peace. After all, look at how much they're losing in terms of market share, revenues and the value of their stock." United has been in contract talks with the pilots union since December 1998, but scheduling troubles began after the pilots' contract came up for renewal in April. Seeking better pay and working conditions, the pilots began rejecting overtime work. But the pilots say the flight cancellations have more to do with the airline's failure to hire eno