ClueByFour
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No, Bob opens his mouth. For every Bob, there are 10 people who simply won't fly US again, but do it silently.
No, Bob opens his mouth. For every Bob, there are 10 people who simply won't fly US again, but do it silently.
sky high states: Funny that a "former" AWA would say this. Isnt the reputation of this company, now in the hands of (DUI) DOUGIE? Every airline makes the news. For better or worse. Drunk Pilots.......Airline of the Year.
Great contract for decades......below industry standards for decades.
.......Funny, how I'm shaking MY HEAD now at the wonder boy in Tempe.
only stating opinions.
singh4us
Senior
Many of US will try to go the extra mile and do all possible in rebooking customers to get them on their way. I often use ALL the tools that I have (calling OA for confirmed seats and IM), however, others don't even make the effort. 🙁 They will just "yell" at the customers saying that all flights are full or that they can stand-by for the flights. Its really sad... I work really hard in doing my job and the person next to me, just calls "Next" and yells at the customer.
Yesterday a GA using the PA system, after several delay announcements, simply told customers "Stop asking me questions about this flight and sit down!" I was so embarrassed by this. Some customers complain to agents telling them that they're very rude, and the agent loudly says "Thank you, yes, I'm rude! Next!!" :down:
Inventory Management and OA tell me "no problem, we're here to help you". Customers can see the difference in our attitudes in trying to resolve thier issues, which they themselves didn't cause. A little empathy for the customers goes a long way. They appreciate our efforts and sometimes don't care what we do to "get it done".
Harry Callahan
Veteran
US1YFARE
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PA18
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MMY,
Among all the management bashers (including yours truly), and the management apologists here, you do often stand out as a voice of reason.
I know you and I have discussed this before, but I think the subject warrants re-visiting in light of this weekend's difficuties, which, as you say, does indeed happen every year.
IMHO, the biggest reason US Airways has this recurring problem every winter is the policy of funneling so many passengers traveling from the northeast to Florida and other vacation destinations through the hubs -- especially PHL -- in lieu of having seasonal non-stops. (And the fact that the major winter storms always happen over holidays, school vacations, and spring break.)
Previous managements ended the non-stops years ago, claiming that they couldn't make money on Florida flights. Yet, they would still sell tickets to Florida, through the hubs. It seems to me that if the airline insists on selling tickets from the northeast to Florida, that they would lose less money operating seasonal non-stops, than enduring the one, two, or three annual winter meltdowns at the hubs.
I'm only guessing, but it wouldn't surprise me that the lack of north-south non-stops this winter had something to do with trying to show as little overlap with Delta as possible, since the merger came front-and-center as the winter schedule was being formulated. That was an understandable strategy.
But do you suppose that management will at least look at the annual winter horror shows in PHL, and maybe consider flying more non-stops to vacationland next winter, in an effort to take the pressure off of the hubs?
Here's an example: when the Boston Red Sox first moved their spring training to Ft. Myers in the early 90's, then-US Air offered non-stop flights from BOS to RSW -- MD-80's, full each way every day -- only during the month of March. When the demand was highest.
Last week, the Red Sox played the Yankees. Scalpers were getting $200 for a ticket. Two hundred bucks to see a spring training game!
Which means the demand is there. If they'll pop for a deuce to see a spring training game, they'll probably be willing to pay a reasonable fare -- not exorbitant, but not give-away, either -- to get there non-stop. And in the end, it will cost the airline a lot less, in terms of assets used and goodwill, to get them there and back.
And if I may touch upon one other thing you mentioned, that might be worth contemplating for next winter; crew scheduling.
Many, many times this weekend, there were flights upstairs in the terminal cancelling for lack of crews, while there were crews downstairs in the crew room with no place to go -- and no way to get in touch with crew scheduling because all the lines were busy, all day.
In the recent past, there were 'hub trackers' at each crew domicile and major hub. They could put together airplanes and crews, and keep things moving; or, they could find hotels for stranded crews, many times as a result of local knowledge.
I realize that is something that will never return on a full-time basis, but how about this? Have a cadre of systems crew schedulers that are willing to be trained, and to be deployed TDY into the hubs and domiciles when a major storm is forecast. Give them access to the scheduling and/or OCC computers, so they can make decisions in the field. This would give the crews direct, face-to-face contact with a scheduler instead of them futiley attempting all day to call PIT, while stranded passengers and idle aircraft spend all day at the terminal.
This winter (again) was a disaster. Tempe now has six months to come up with a better plan for next winter. Here's hoping they use that time wisely.
Exactly. The only real problem the airlines have had the last 5.5 years is exactly how to get those average fares higher. Reducing domestic legacy capacity by a greater amount than the growth of LCC capacity would be a start.
"Can't shrink to profitability" is often heard and nobody wants their legacy airline to go out of business, no matter how beneficial that would be to the finances of the legacy airlines that survive.
phillyphlyer
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i cant stand all you people making excuse for for the way this company is currently being run....i live in phl(yes in the city)and at midnight fri it was already sleeting!!!Every forecast i saw said sleet and freezing rain...they dropped the ball!!!Were any of you standing at a gate for nine hours straight trying get accomodate customers I do care about this airline thats why im still here..call me an optomist...but when half-a##ed decisions are made that affect me doing the best job i can i star to loose hope..case in point QIK...it doesnt work!!!!!!!!15 steps to accomplish 1 task.....i leave work everyday close to tears (of frustration) because i know we can do better...I didnt make the decison to switch to QIK but i have to bear the brunt of this stupid decision When will tempe realize we are the best asset he has We are your airline...start listening to us....we are on your frontlines every day...There has to be a better way
soc-hpjester
Senior
Phillyphlyer, You can't just throw up your hands like Jetblue and cancel everything on a weather forcast. You have to try and be able launch a few flights. US is restricted flying in ice pellets with a mix of other precip. This is hard to predict, if there are any pilots out there I think CO has an exception to this and maybe some commuters.
US1YFARE
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You are SOOOOOOO wrong. I sat in PHL for 16 hours on 2/14. Your people do not know how to handle these situations. Your people do nothing...absolutely nothing except yell at the customers trying to rebook.
Dog Wonder
Veteran
You left out the resounding success
sky high states: tried several times to get ahold of scheduling on the phone. Due to cancellations, re-routes and to volunteer to help. Several times, the wait time for scheduling was over 30 minutes. Whether you were calling at 8am or 12midnight.
SUPERB IDEA, PA18
only stating opinions
US1YFARE
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If you are talking about what the gate agents in PHL say, you have it all wrong, it is more like this:
I'm going on break, OKAAAAAYYYYY????? My crystal ball be broken and my computer be frozen...I have no idea when you be getting on a flight...I'm not mother nature okaaayyy?..oh, no you didn't...don't you raise your voice with me...I told you, I'm going on break....you can wait in line all you want 'cuz I'm ain't helping you...I'm on Break...o-kaaaayyyy?
More than weather hindered US Airways
Frustrated employees also blame lack of staffing, reservations systems
STEVE HARRISON
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com
The last stragglers were expected to have left Charlotte/Douglas International Airport by Monday evening, but some US Airways employees are frustrated at how their airline handled a winter storm.
US Airways was taken by surprise Friday when a storm was more severe than forecast, and that it hit Philadelphia directly, instead of grazing it.
But some employees complained that a lack of staffing and an inadequate reservations system compounded the problem. The result: For the second time in two weeks, Charlotte/Douglas was filled with angry passengers. Roughly 3,000 people slept in the airport Saturday night.
Passengers on some flights in Philadelphia waited on board for nearly six hours before the airline took them off in buses.
"People understand there is a weather problem, but they don't understand why they can't get home for two days," said Mike Flores, president of the US Airways flight attendants union.
Flores compared Charlotte/Douglas Saturday to "Saigon, where people were fleeing the war." He said it was the most chaotic he had seen the airport. Charlotte/Douglas provided 900 cots for passengers.
US Airways said it was getting back to normal Monday. Through Monday evening it had 57 total cancellations compared with 200 Sunday. The airline cancelled 2,100 flights Friday and Saturday.
Passengers should arrive at least 90 minutes before their flight today, US Airways said.
Though weather in Charlotte wasn't bad over the weekend, numerous flights to the Northeast were cancelled. And because the airline was surprised, many passengers started their journeys -- only to be stopped halfway at the Charlotte hub. The airport also received some flights that were diverted from Philadelphia.
Other airlines cancelled flights during the weekend storm, but US Airways has taken longer to recover.
Two weeks ago, the airline switched to a new single reservations system, called Shares, resulting in long lines at Charlotte and other cities on the East Coast where US Airways has a large presence. The main culprit was that self-service kiosks weren't working.
The airline sent 20 agents from Phoenix to Charlotte to help, but those employees had already gone home when this weekend's storm hit. The airline also installed new kiosks in Charlotte last week, but the airline disabled them because people were trying to use them to rebook flights, which the machines can't do.
When the airline was flooded with passengers trying to rebook flights, the airline's reservations system crashed for an hour Saturday. US Airways spokesman Phil Gee said there also were subsequently some "intermittent issues." One problem: When passengers rebooked, not all of their information was transferred electronically.
Agents said that the new system doesn't process rebookings as fast as the previous system, Sabre.
Agents have complained in the last two weeks of being made to work extra hours to handle a backlog of passengers. They say their contracts allow the airline to force them to stay because of weather or other unexpected issues but not for a lack of staffing. They complain privately that many of the airline's recent problems are due to a lack of people.
Flight attendants are negotiating with airline management over a new contract, though agents are not.
US Airways President Scott Kirby last week said that staffing levels at Charlotte were adequate.
Gee also said the airline has experience in dealing with winter weather. Though the airline's new management team is in Tempe, Ariz. -- headquarters of the old America West -- the flight operations center for most US Airways flights is in Pittsburgh.
"No one has more experience than Pittsburgh," said Gee.
Frustrated employees also blame lack of staffing, reservations systems
STEVE HARRISON
sharrison@charlotteobserver.com
The last stragglers were expected to have left Charlotte/Douglas International Airport by Monday evening, but some US Airways employees are frustrated at how their airline handled a winter storm.
US Airways was taken by surprise Friday when a storm was more severe than forecast, and that it hit Philadelphia directly, instead of grazing it.
But some employees complained that a lack of staffing and an inadequate reservations system compounded the problem. The result: For the second time in two weeks, Charlotte/Douglas was filled with angry passengers. Roughly 3,000 people slept in the airport Saturday night.
Passengers on some flights in Philadelphia waited on board for nearly six hours before the airline took them off in buses.
"People understand there is a weather problem, but they don't understand why they can't get home for two days," said Mike Flores, president of the US Airways flight attendants union.
Flores compared Charlotte/Douglas Saturday to "Saigon, where people were fleeing the war." He said it was the most chaotic he had seen the airport. Charlotte/Douglas provided 900 cots for passengers.
US Airways said it was getting back to normal Monday. Through Monday evening it had 57 total cancellations compared with 200 Sunday. The airline cancelled 2,100 flights Friday and Saturday.
Passengers should arrive at least 90 minutes before their flight today, US Airways said.
Though weather in Charlotte wasn't bad over the weekend, numerous flights to the Northeast were cancelled. And because the airline was surprised, many passengers started their journeys -- only to be stopped halfway at the Charlotte hub. The airport also received some flights that were diverted from Philadelphia.
Other airlines cancelled flights during the weekend storm, but US Airways has taken longer to recover.
Two weeks ago, the airline switched to a new single reservations system, called Shares, resulting in long lines at Charlotte and other cities on the East Coast where US Airways has a large presence. The main culprit was that self-service kiosks weren't working.
The airline sent 20 agents from Phoenix to Charlotte to help, but those employees had already gone home when this weekend's storm hit. The airline also installed new kiosks in Charlotte last week, but the airline disabled them because people were trying to use them to rebook flights, which the machines can't do.
When the airline was flooded with passengers trying to rebook flights, the airline's reservations system crashed for an hour Saturday. US Airways spokesman Phil Gee said there also were subsequently some "intermittent issues." One problem: When passengers rebooked, not all of their information was transferred electronically.
Agents said that the new system doesn't process rebookings as fast as the previous system, Sabre.
Agents have complained in the last two weeks of being made to work extra hours to handle a backlog of passengers. They say their contracts allow the airline to force them to stay because of weather or other unexpected issues but not for a lack of staffing. They complain privately that many of the airline's recent problems are due to a lack of people.
Flight attendants are negotiating with airline management over a new contract, though agents are not.
US Airways President Scott Kirby last week said that staffing levels at Charlotte were adequate.
Gee also said the airline has experience in dealing with winter weather. Though the airline's new management team is in Tempe, Ariz. -- headquarters of the old America West -- the flight operations center for most US Airways flights is in Pittsburgh.
"No one has more experience than Pittsburgh," said Gee.
The hubs were dump on because when the kiosk were rush to be brought back online. The kiosk check-in passengers that were going to miss connect due to flight lateness. The agents job of protecting or backing up the connection was unrealistic due to staffing and labored due to SHARES.Saber flag all miss connects
