Come Work at US Airways !

[nycbusdriver]

They hang onto outdated concepts like Defined Benefit Pensions, cradle to grave medical coverage and the seniority system for example.

These were all good things but to hang an entire movement on elements that oft times are NOT economically viable in many industries.

Defined Benefit Pensions are not the problem. The fact that companies can legally go years without making contributions to those plans until they are untenable is the problem.

When the USAirways pilots lost/gave up their DB plan in 2003, we were given a lesser Defined Contribution Plan (which you are touting) which Siegel said would save humanity. Lo and behold, the DC plan required that payments ACTUALLY BE MADE to the plan participants, and suddenly this, too, was outrageously expensiveand unaffordable.

It seems to me that you are a staunch proponent of the capitalist system. That's OK. To a large degree, I am, too. What you seem to be missing is that for any capitalist system to remain healthy AND capitalist, there needs to be a very large middle class. Greed at the top of the system will eventually bleed the system dry. And that's what we are seeing daily in the United States.

Just as we witnessed the inevitable collapse of the communist economic system, we may also live to see the collapse of the capitalist system in this country due to the lack of any protection for the dwindling middle class. The airline industry is a microcosm of the process; if you think service sucks now, just wait a few more years. As a "preferred," you will be lucky to get an employee to even talk to you, let alone have the time or inclination to give you any service.

 

[luvn737s]

Sorry but if I pay for a ticket it's the airlines job to monitor, direct & inspect employee performance. It's also their job to maintain a standard of service.

So what they pay is there business and I have the right to complain whether the employee earns $7.52/Hr or $27.52/Hr. There is very little correllation between wages earned and level of service given. If there were you'd never hear about "Sr. Mama's" or the US "Prison Matron" Flight attendents.

It's much more about management and their attitude and approach to employees.

Well, you can't plant beans and expect tomatoes to grow.

You are right about the airline ticket being a commodity. As such, eventually the price drops closer and closer to the cost of production and the margin that attracted entreprenuers to the business evaporates. At that point, there is no way to raise fares above that which the "market maker" sets and consequently no incentive to maintain acceptable service levels. The travelling public has been conditioned to think they are entitled to ever-decreasing fares while somehow magically maintaining an unsustainably high level of service. They have no objective yardstick by which to judge what a "fair fare" is and assume they are just being ripped off because of the proliferation of budget airlines that can offer bargain fares.

The government had a pretty good handle on the cost of production when they decided to regulate the airlines initially. The justification was that an airline industry that was strong and stable was in the public interest and that unrestrained competition would lead to a stagnation in development and innovation due to the commoditization of air travel. Well, the industry did stagnate on it's own after the rebuke of the SST so, the government saw no reason to offer protection from competition.

Good service requires extremely large profit margins over the long-term. In an industry like the airline business, that means you are the price-setter and you must have the lowest costs to provide your service at a profit.

Costs drive price which drive profits which drive service levels which drive employee salaries and working conditions. This is a closely guarded industry secret, let's make sure it doesn't get out.

 

[Happily Retired from PHL]

...or....in basic terms, you go into a restaurant and order a steak, you pay for the steak, and you get a steak. At USAirways (and many other carriers) the passengers order a steak.....but want it for the price of a hamburger.......and then complain because they thought we SHOULD have upgraded them a filet mignon for free.

 

[luvn737s]

More accurately, the menu just says "meat" with a picture of a steak and they get the excuse that they are all out of hamburger because they had to grind the steak up that noone was willing to pay for. How 'bout an RJ weiner?

 

[US1YFARE]

Well, you can't plant beans and expect tomatoes to grow.

I planted pickles once and got cucumbers.

Good service requires extremely large profit margins over the long-term.

No, luxury service requires extremely large profit margins over the long-term. Good service requires good employees being treated with respect.

 

[rjh]

Then don't complain when you get entry level service from someone who isn't looking forward to doing their job for long. You know, someone who is trying to get one or two free or ID20 trips and then they are gone.

If I pay for a service from a company--any company--I expect good service from the employee, no matter how much that employee makes. It's called having a good work ethic. If the employee wants to move up within that company, they should definitely give good service regardless of their pay. Even if they are just a student, workign to get extra cash--they should still give good service.

Poor work ethic has become a huge problem in this country the last several years (in all industries). I remember an earlier thread where a crew member was saying it's alright to call in sick on holidays (when they're not sick), becuase it sucks that they have to work them anyway. Hello ..that's part of the business!

 

[luvn737s]

No, luxury service requires extremely large profit margins over the long-term. Good service requires good employees being treated with respect.

No. The Luxury market is very small and not terribly lucrative. The fares are high, but so are the costs.

Good service comes as a result of competition for market share in a potentially profitable industry. That industry is not the airline industry.

Lower fares to the point that you take away the profits and you lose the incentive to provide good service. Regardless of "work ethic", the prime motivation in good service (as in much of anything else) is greed.

 

[Bear96]

There is very little correllation between wages earned and level of service given.

On the one hand you like to lecture about how the labor market is all about supply and demand, just like any other market, so workers had better suck it up and realize that "the market" is why wages for certain jobs are falling. (And BTW, I agree with your points in that regard.)

But then on the other hand you come up with gems like this one, which essentially says that the labor market does NOT behave like other markets. You seem to live in some little frequent flyer utopia dreamworld, where you can give plenty of reasons why airline employees should be paid less to keep your fares low, but yet you don't want to acknowledge that by the same reasoning, the same lower pay that gives relatively low fares will also lead to reduced service levels for the allmighty entitlement-minded consumer.

If your employer cut your wages by 50% tomorrow, and in response you left and found another job, do you think the person they will find to replace you, who is willing to work at the reduced salary, do as good a job as you are doing?

 

[DCaf]

NHBB says, above...with ominous background music..
"DL/SW/B6 eating LCC's lunch. (Slowly, but eating none the less)"

"Eating LCC's lunch" Whether true or not, that's one of those "whatever that means" statements that needs to be quantified. Moving into LCC markets? Sure. Taking market share? Right, but any new entrant would. Causing LCC to be unprofitable? Not yet.

 

[polkadot1]

Leave those jobs for the illegals to fill. I don't know of anyone else who could even try to live off those wages. My kid works P/T 3 days a week in an Ice Cream store, and is in that ballpark. I have no idea where you live, but a $10 an hour job in my area won't even cut it anymore.

I live in Charlotte NC and really am disgusted and really and truly insulted by how they changed their tune once I went in for the interview when they told me originally I would be interviewing for Ticket Agent at the counter then when I go in for the interview they said it would be for the CAR position at 7.52.

Good Grief this is the 21st century......Apparently all the money that US Air claims to be making now sure does not go to the good hard working employees but to the Big Wigs in my opinion.

Thank you for your info wings396. Do appreciate your input.

Polkadot1

 

[The End]

With the aging employee base at east the airline will eventually have only low wage people left. That is certainly the long range goal of management. The low wages will only attract a certain segment of society. Someone only looking for experience or a free aiplane ride and then moves on resulting in high turnover. Which in turn leads to the lack of exprienced workers and poor service. The aircraft maintenance will truly suffer where experience is king.
In the end you end up with a third rate airline with third rate employees and third rate service. It has been my observation that most businesses are a direct reflection of the people that manage them. The End