At least someone at UA understands customer service

Yesterday I used UA (United) to return from Winnipeg, due to lack of reasonably priced seats on my normal NW flight. After some recent problems on UA flights through ORD, I decided to try a connection via DEN.
Before leaving for the airport, I checked the incoming flight at FlightAware.com (see my earlier post about flight info). I noticed that the incoming flight was expected to arrive 30 minutes late. Given that I had a 40 minute connect time, I was pretty sure that I would have to be re-booked.
Unfortunately UA's own flight status showed only 15 minutes delay. This came back to bite me when I checked in at the airport, and tried to switch flights. "Don't worry, sir, the flight is just a few minutes late. They turn around quickly and catch up the rest on the flight to Denver!"
Yeah, right! Of course the flight arrived almost exactly as FlightAware had predicted. On top of that no-one at the airport seemed to have any urgency to get the flight out quickly. Net result, we arrive at the gate in Denver, and start deplaning at 20 minutes before departure of my connecting flight, which was showing on time departure. On top of that United sent me an alert message to say that they had booed on another flight, leaving Denver the next morning. Having no desire to stay the night in Denver and miss most of my Fridat traveling again, I decided to try for my original flight anyway.
So I took off like OJ through the concourse, hoping to get from one end of the B concourse to the other (a 10-15 minute run for those who do not know Denver airport) before they close the door. Not feeling too happy with UA, I managed to flag down a driver of one of the terminal golf carts and asked him to drive me as fast as possible to the gate.
And this is where the kudos come. Even without me asking, while driving in and out of the crowds as fast as he could, he called his dispatcher and asked her to call the gate and let them know that a connecting passenger was on their and to hold the door. She did that, and then brought back even better news. Boarding, which was supposed to have started 15 minutes earlier, was just about to start. And so I ended up not having to spend the night in Denver, thank goodness.
Unfortunately, due to the rush, I never got that driver's name. But if anyone from UA DEN reads this and recognizes him, give him a big bonus. It is this attitude of taking ownership of a customer problem and doing what he could, that will keep your airline going. This small gesture did not cost him much effort, it did not cost UA any money, but it showed me that he cared for me and my business. As a result, next time I cannot fly my chosen airline, United will be bac at the top of my list as an alternative.