Agents voting with their feet

[REACC1]

4merres said:
"I guess my question remains unanswered, if you hate the company so much, and you have all been so "wronged" and your not getting the pay you deserve, why not find another job?"

Thats the idea, they are and they will. People endure the prolonged aggrivation because of the pay and bennies, offered at one time. Remove the goodies, and watch em run. Low pay,high anxiety= no sale.
If you''re in it simply because you ''love'' this company, find a good shrink if you can afford it.

 

[smallstFSA]

Astute observation, neither one of the people I referred to were heads of household. What is significant is that the sharper agents are willing to trade financial compensation for less stress and better days off, leaving us with people skills challenged individuals. The other point I would like to make is that most of the stress comes from the express outfits. Working 5 different express outfits does not make for a good day. I''m just a lowly ramper now (thank God) but I''ve worked many years upstairs and the CWA''rs have all my sympathy

 

[Smoke and Mirrors]

ResRat,

That was a very good post. The typical response to your question is that: I have too many years with this company or I don't want to start out at the bottom again. There are thousands of people outside the airline industry that "start over" with new careers every day. The most important thing in life is your family and enjoying your job. If you don't like where the ship is going, then it might be time to get off. There are plenty of governemtn programs and grants that will allow anyone to obtain a college education or another trade. You will never progress in life if all one did was sit around and complain about their work. One must be motivated to take action and improve their own lives.

To networking: Paying an employee $20 bucks an hour doesn't equal great customer service, then same that paying a person $6 bucks an hour will equal bad customer service. With that logic you can say that all express employees provide bad customer service- This isn't true and there is generally a higher turn over rate in every profession. The only difference is that when a person is making $20 bucks an hour, they feel "stuck" in their profession and might start providing bad customer service. I know many topped out agents who do a great job on the front lines, but also know many that hate their jobs and it shows with their customer service skills.

I guess that since Disney pays their new hires $6.35 hour that they provide bad customer service? How do you explain that a large majority of employees, especially part-timers have been with the company for 10-15 years and are making only 11 or 12 bucks an hour? My relative has been with this company for 5 years and on her 2nd aniversary, she received a 5 CENTS raise. So to say that low pay equals bad customer service doesn't hold water. Most Disney employees love their jobs. There are MANY call centers that pay their employees between $8-15 bucks an hour and I don't notice bad customer service. Most bank tellers start out at $7 or 8 bucks and hour and my bank reps are great.

Airtran provides very good customer service and they don't pay their employee anything close to the agents with usair. They even pay 50% of their health insurance.

Severe N Happy brings up a great point, there are many call center jobs that provide very good salaries. A friend of mine works at Dell Computers in Nashville taking phone orders and last year made $70K with commissions. While most of the reps brought home $30-40K, there are many jobs outside of usair that are willing to hire. I know that some AOL phone reps are making 40K + after one or two years of employment, so the excuse that one is "stuck" in their job isn't valid.

 

[networking]

Smoke and Mirrors: Your name says it all. Comparing Disney to USAirways is not a valid comparison. I can''t see the morale at Disney being very low but at U it is at an all time low. The employees have been lied to, cheated, blackmailed and have sat back and watched their upper management pillage the company over the last 10 years. Most of us love the airline industry and our blood is part jet fuel but to sit there and say that there is no comparison between low pay and bad customer service....you have got to be kidding. Work the front line in the airline industry and then comment on what you think compensation ought to be. I guarantee your comments would change. If you have worked it and you think it should be 9 dollars an hour I pity that you hold your worth so low. Your comments are a perfect example of how the rich get richer and the poor stay poor.

 

[drifterreno]

Thought you all would like to compare some. Starting pay in res at HP is $7.65 per hour. But!!! free vision if you take medical, free short term disability and long term disability, free life insurance for self and spouse, and get this Medical is only $10 co pay and costs the agents---$14.35 for family coverage. Also meds are $10 co pay. Also has 401k and still doing tuition payments. Hummm seems like the old US with some added bennies. That''s why I''ll be starting all over again.

 

[diogenes]

I agree with networking. I''ve watched ASA''s operation for many years now. Their payscale starts out in the eight dollar range, and the few that have lasted 10 years make about $13. Those payscales are reflective of pilot and f/a salaries. As a result, normal operations can be problematic. If bad weather, a mechanical, or a few oversold flights occur in a row, the operation often looks like six monkeys trying to hump a football. They only have a few agents that are able/willing to deice, and I''ve frequently seen them farm out deicing if those agents weren''t available. I''ve engages all of them in conversation, and the bottom line is, "I''m only getting paid so much, and I''m only gonna work so much." Their retention is terrible.

Additionally, we''ve been blessed with MESA (Mechanical on Every Single Aircraft! ). Even their crews hate them. Spoke with a ten year captain, and he''s going to quit and sell RV''s, because he can make more money. They took the job to build up flight time to jump into the majors. With the majors all with long recall lists, the pilots realize that jump is now years into the future, and are reconsidering the wisdom of remaining in commercial aviation.

We''ve recently had a few 20+ year agents cash it in, and start their lives over (music to the Palace''s ears, I''m sure) We''ve also had 20+ year agents refuse recall to full-time, and elected to remain part-time, because they are transitioning to another career. These were some of our best agents, not our worst.

And yeah, Disney pays Mickey bupkus, and he does a good job. I''d wager there aren''t many 20 year Mickey''s, however. Perhaps Doofy!

 

[brandnewsin1]

Let me tell you a little bit about the life of an express agent.

ALL OF THE CARRIERS SUCK. If you are lucky enough to work in a station like PIT then you get to deal with ALL OF THEM.

Real quick..

MESA....HQ in PHX!!! TRANSSTATES...HQ in RIC!! PIEDMONT....HQ in ???? ROA,CLT,SBY,CHO?!??! ALLEGHANY...HQ in MDT!!!!! PSA....could be HQ on the friggin AC and they would still screw it up.

Anytime you need MTC, have an AC swap (300 times a day!), or need anything....somebody in one of these cities has to make a decision. This takes FOREVER. God forbid PDT has MTC on an AC on the 10PM bank. It takes them 2 hours just to find the one guy in Virginia who can actually operate a fax machine, wake him up in his shanty and have him ride his horse back to the airport to fax the info. By the time this goes down, THE CREW TIMES OUT!!!Leaving 30-or so happy people stuck in PIT at 2 am. This is an everyday occurance with each and every one of these carriers. They all are garbage. They always will be. And now they ARE over 50% of US. Way too many hands in this cookie jar......

As for the agent who quit.....good for her! At least half the people I work with are college grad''s. They enjoy working for this company, but there is only so much a person can take. This company should be bowing down and KISSING THE @SS of every agent they have. Not just the ones with 20+ years. Instead, they are screwing everybody around every day. And for you guys who think 13.00/h is enough to deal with the farm show I deal with everyday at PSA....dont worry, you''ll have your chance.

Pretty soon we will all work for MidPacificChataqAllegPiedMesaAtlantic........

for peanuts.

Ain''t life grand.

 

[WO/drone]

If it is so bad go somewhere else. People who care about their job don''t need your type.

 

[REACC1]

Smoke and mirrors;
Yeah, cut Goofies pay to 8/hr after 15 years and you'll have Jurrasic park. I would think that most people wouldnt concider a entry level job at Disney a career choice. Face it, its supposed to be for fun. Not a serious job. Dealing with angry mobs is police work. Trying to live up to the hype the airlines portray to the travelling public is extremely challeging and demanding work. Disney and the airlines are not even comparable. One is a fantasy world geared for entertainment and pleasure. The only thing that makes them simular is the sad irony. In a kind of sick and twisted way.

 

[dash8dr]

On 4/30/2003 8:06:09 PM brandnewsin1 wrote:

Let me tell you a little bit about the life of an express agent.

ALL OF THE CARRIERS SUCK. If you are lucky enough to work in a station like PIT then you get to deal with ALL OF THEM.

Real quick..

MESA....HQ in PHX!!! TRANSSTATES...HQ in RIC!! PIEDMONT....HQ in ???? ROA,CLT,SBY,CHO?!??! ALLEGHANY...HQ in MDT!!!!! PSA....could be HQ on the friggin AC and they would still screw it up.

Anytime you need MTC, have an AC swap (300 times a day!), or need anything....somebody in one of these cities has to make a decision. This takes FOREVER. God forbid PDT has MTC on an AC on the 10PM bank. It takes them 2 hours just to find the one guy in Virginia who can actually operate a fax machine, wake him up in his shanty and have him ride his horse back to the airport to fax the info. By the time this goes down, THE CREW TIMES OUT!!!Leaving 30-or so happy people stuck in PIT at 2 am. This is an everyday occurance with each and every one of these carriers. They all are garbage. They always will be. And now they ARE over 50% of US. Way too many hands in this cookie jar......

As for the agent who quit.....good for her! At least half the people I work with are college grad''s. They enjoy working for this company, but there is only so much a person can take. This company should be bowing down and KISSING THE @SS of every agent they have. Not just the ones with 20+ years. Instead, they are screwing everybody around every day. And for you guys who think 13.00/h is enough to deal with the farm show I deal with everyday at PSA....dont worry, you''ll have your chance.

Pretty soon we will all work for MidPacificChataqAllegPiedMesaAtlantic........

for peanuts.

Ain''t life grand.



You are killing me here. If your life is so bad go do something else since you feel your skills are so marketable and hard to come by