CLT F/As more important than PIT ?

[Travelpro72]

I think there is LESS bickering about where you are based or who you "worked" for these days. Besides maybe LGA and BOS many commute to bases even CLT that don't live there. PHL is overwhelmingly commuter but the pot has melted so much that we are everywhere. You don't hear "Where ya'll based" much anymore. We are all together for the most part. Oh yeah little ol' PIT included. Love PIT and from there but I certainly DO remember the compassion that wasn't shown to other bases. That doesn't speak for everyone and I guess could be said for anywhere.

 

[xoxo]

Sounds an awful lot like somebody would rather have the PIT F/As quit rather than displace half the world back to reserve elsewhere. Careful what you wish for.

What are you talking about? I am a reserve..the bottom 100 in the east right now. I never said I wish for them to quit....Tell me where I said they should quit? I said...If they want to stay in PIT maybe they should find other means of making money...because if they dont wanna commute..then they are gonna be s@#t out of luck. If anyone thinks for a minute that PIT is gonna prevail..you are seriously in LALA land.... :blink:

 

[Itestwell]

Trust me - I've had many conversations with FA's over the years about how PIT people are old and nasty, or CLT will stab you in the back etc. etc. - If you think it isn't going on out there - you are sadly mistaken. They may not say it to you as a fellow employee - but there are plenty of your fellow FA's who would glady throw you out the door at 35000 feet. And to make things worse - this seems to be a trait unique to US employees. Maybe it's because there are so many different cultures that were combined over the years - who knows.

Sorry, does not happen here at USAirways. You are misinformed. Every airline has their stereotypes about certain bases; it's mainly a joke. But thanks for the heads up, tho, I will make sure nobody from CLT or PIT tries to throw me out the door at 35000 feet. Thanks for the laugh....

:mf_boff:

 

[EMBFA]

Keep in mind that when PIT was our largest base with 3000 F/As,1600 pilots and over 400 flights a day, it NEVER had the meltdowns that PHL is now seeming to encounter on a regular basis.

A BASE and a HUB are two different things.

Yes, the airport in PIT is nice. Yes, its cheap to live there and the operation ran smoothly because of the design and geography. But it's not a global city and not big enough to support a hub. If it was, another carrier would have gone in there. They haven't. Southwest went in with a handful of flights and hasnt added much since (compare to thier quick build-up in major cities like Philadelphia). It is not coming back as a hub for US or anyone else.

Philly has problems- some that are shared with New York and DC like geography, weather, overcrowded skies, and high cost of living/low paid employees. Some are unique (poor terminal design). But its one of the biggest metro area of the US, has huge O&D both domestic and international, and its responsible for 40% of Airways revenue. 40%! I would wager that the hometown airline is more of a problem than the city itself- they control morale, pay, operations, and terminal layout to an extent. If any base gets bashed its Philly because the majority dont live there and assume no one does. Meanwhile they live in places like Buffalo and Greensboro which while nice aren't exactly cultural centers. And no matter how many times US puts it on a napkin, I'm not sure anyone would consider Charlotte to be "cosmopolitan" relative to other east coast cities.

No airline is going to maintain a hub somewhere that can't support one for operational reasons alone. It's just not going to happen. PIT as a hub has gone the way of places like Dayton and Syracuse. And folks, theres another merger coming with another one of the big six. No matter which one it is, the measly 39 flights a day at Pittsburgh will be the first casualty. Its gone.

As far as a crew base goes, it depends on how they would like to staff. Many regional airlines have crew bases in outstations rather than at the hub. For example you may be based in New Bern or Harrisburg or Akron Canton even though the major operations are through CLT and PHL. Major airlines do not tend to do this because of the sheer size of thier operations. Bases tend to be in the hubs unless there is a specific reason for a base (like the DCA LGA BOS bases are for the Shuttle operation as well as the focus cities that remain there). PIT barely serves as a focus city, and the majority of the US flights are not operated by US but Republic, Trans States etc. There are 39 flights a day and that will probably shrink more- it's not going to be a crew base in the future, thats a reality-thats what people are trying to say here.

As for base jokes, thats at every airline. Its mostly in good fun.

 

[Itestwell]

NBC Nightly news thirty seconds ago.... Top 3 US areas with the fastest declining population:

#1 Pittsburgh Area
#2 Cleveland Area
#3 Buffalo Area

 

[iwantout]

NBC Nightly news thirty seconds ago.... Top 3 US areas with the fastest declining population:

#1 Pittsburgh Area
#2 Cleveland Area
#3 Buffalo Area

You will never convince these burgers that there is any place other than PIT. TO them it is still 1987 and the world revolves around them.

 

[BuffaloJoe]

You will never convince these burgers that there is any place other than PIT. TO them it is still 1987 and the world revolves around them.

Western PA is good for Great NFL QB's, Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Joe Namath. I know I am missing alot but there are alot of good football players there. And most of them know better than to go to PITT. That's why Marino never won the Super Bowl.

1987 Penn State won its 2nd National Championship, Good Year!

As to the U of Pitt, its a good University, just a Penn State fan here.

BTW, what is the status of the Steelers Plane? When are we to expect to see it?

 

[ClueByFour]

NBC Nightly news thirty seconds ago.... Top 3 US areas with the fastest declining population:

#1 Pittsburgh Area
#2 Cleveland Area
#3 Buffalo Area

Newsflash: it's natural. Old people die. Pittsburgh is the only large MSA in the country that has a "natural" population decline due to the fact that there are a ton of old people. CLE and BUF are very close to natural population declines. You had a sudden and drastic loss of jobs 20-30 years ago that left, quite frankly, a "hole" in the job base of each of these places.

Understanding why it's going on is important. In reality, each of these metro areas probably has another %10-20 population loss coming before they finally stop bleeding from the combination of elderly populations and the aforementioned "job hole" that was created when steel tanked. The PIT MSA, for instance, should settle around 2 million people and then start to climb again (or so people at various places who supposedly understand this stuff have told me).

I am also fascinated with the notion that PIT will be cut down even further if a merger happens with another legacy (which, BTW, won't happen). While I don't get up there a lot, I'm told that the general feeling is that LCC should be making money in the market, as mainline flights are all packed and fares are not cheap (except in the markets where true LCC competition exists). And it's the encroachment of real LCCs that, more than anything else, would lead to a potential mainline drawdown. That should worry the CLT folks, since (and you can mark my words on this because I called it about PIT) CLT is on someone's radar (probably Southwest). When that happens, the profitability (eg, ability to gouge the eyes and wallets out of the CLT flyer) will cease to exist and CLT will become a helluva lot less attractive.....

 

[2clippedwings]

As a customer - it just amazes me at the complaining and whining that goes on on these boards. You are all union employees, with a union negotiated contract, and then when something doesn't go your way you expect the company to do what isn't in the contract. Give me a break! You work in a union shop - you live with the union contract - and get over it. If you were at Delta it would be a different story - and I might have some sympathy - but you aren't - so deal with it!

We're not Delta.
This board is a safe venting place. Put us all on "ignore" if you can't handle it.
If you are indeed a "frqntflyer" on USAirways, thank you for your business.

I believe that voluntary furlough should be an option offered prior to displacement, PIT, CLT, wherever.

 

[safety stud]

Probably because even with the 40 gone, PIT will still be overstaffed. Not to mention they have the most miserable negative flight attendants in the system. I actually think it is funny these people who are on reserve now where the same people that used to look down on reserves as the scum of the earth back in the good old days of PIT.

PIT with the most miserable negative flight attendants, as you say still outshine every other base combined. We are only negative and miserable when we have to work with the likes of you...

BooYa...

 

[beachboy]

Now guys...come on. Lets show some empathy even if it MIGHT not have been shown to us in the past.

 

[Travelpro72]

displacements are bad but bringing folks off of furlough is good. This outcome is good for all. Nobody gets laid off or pushed where they don't want to be but 40 people. For the 40 people yeah it stinks but look around. Was it a shock? I got the boot 4 years ago. Welcome back to those that may be here on the property again soon.