Employees Join Forces, Extension Requested, &

[USA320Pilot]

Employees Join Forces

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - Scores of employees pitched in over the New Year’s weekend to thank customers for their business, help them through the Philadelphia airport and lend a hand to fellow airport employees as the long holiday week ended with a surge of passengers.

Management employees, including a number of officers, worked nearly 300 shifts at Philadelphia from Thursday through today. They were joined by other frontline employees who spontaneously arrived – some in uniform – to help in Philadelphia and elsewhere.

“I owe it to this company. I’ve had a wonderful career here,†said Cathy McLaughlin, a Philadelphia-based flight attendant who strode through the baggage claim area greeting passengers and answering their questions. She came in early before working a flight to Cancun. “Who can defuse an unhappy customer better than a flight attendant?†she asked with a broad smile.

Captains Eric Jordan, Bill Altman and John Duncan, all of Charlotte, manned a complimentary refreshment stand at the domestic ticket counter, greeting passengers, directing them to the proper counter and answering questions.

In the case of Velma Pride, who works in the Payroll department at Crystal City, her last name says it all. “I really love what I do and want to see the company survive. We have a lot of great employees,†she said.

Don Galante, Indianapolis sales manager, said, “Our customers welcomed the extra assistance. We were able to provide them with information and verification quickly. We answered their questions and concerns. Overall, it was a very positive experience.â€

While Philadelphia was the focus of the recovery effort, employees pitched in at other cities as well. At LaGuardia, for instance, fleet service and customer service agents worked through the night to organize baggage deliveries for the next day. Flight crew members and sales representatives reported for duty to help at the airport. Employees even took bags with them as they left for home to deliver to customers who were on their travel route. “The spirit has been great with so much support from all areas,†said Lou Macedo, LaGuardia passenger service manager.

In Charlotte, employees stepped up to the challenges of unloading several planes and tractor trailers with baggage from Philadelphia to sort it and redirect the bags to customers, in addition to the heavy loads that normally come through the hub. “I am so proud of them,†said Terri Pope, managing director of customer service. “They represent the spirit and professionalism of the majority of our fantastic employees.â€


Extension Requested

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - US Airways has asked the bankruptcy court for more time in the exclusivity period during which it may file a plan to successfully emerge from Chapter 11. Such requests are common in bankruptcy cases.

The company currently faces a deadline of Jan. 10 and has requested an extension through March 31. The company said it expects to meet a Feb. 15 deadline for filing a plan, as agreed upon with General Electric Capital Corp. in its financing agreement. A hearing is expected on Jan. 27.


Sun Sale Fares

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - As the holidays pass and winter wears on, US Airways is putting sunny destinations on sale, with fares starting as low as $49 each way, based on required roundtrip purchase.

Sample one-way economy class fares include $49 from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale and from Philadelphia to Tampa, while just $69 will purchase a fare from Pittsburgh to Miami, or Charlotte to Pensacola.

Advance purchase restrictions, minimum-stay requirements and other conditions apply.

Click here for press release.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

 

[Rico]

I think with all of the negativity on here, that many forget the power of coming together and keeping the focus on our passengers, product, and our future.

Good luck to all in the coming difficult times, and best wishes for a strong recovery.

Despite the naysayers and doom predictors, We are not dead yet

 

[Bob Owens]

Employees Join Forces

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - Scores of employees pitched in over the New Year’s weekend to thank customers for their business, help them through the Philadelphia airport and lend a hand to fellow airport employees as the long holiday week ended with a surge of passengers.

Management employees, including a number of officers, worked nearly 300 shifts at Philadelphia from Thursday through today. They were joined by other frontline employees who spontaneously arrived – some in uniform – to help in Philadelphia and elsewhere.

“I owe it to this company. I’ve had a wonderful career here,†said Cathy McLaughlin, a Philadelphia-based flight attendant who strode through the baggage claim area greeting passengers and answering their questions. She came in early before working a flight to Cancun. “Who can defuse an unhappy customer better than a flight attendant?†she asked with a broad smile.

Captains Eric Jordan, Bill Altman and John Duncan, all of Charlotte, manned a complimentary refreshment stand at the domestic ticket counter, greeting passengers, directing them to the proper counter and answering questions.

In the case of Velma Pride, who works in the Payroll department at Crystal City, her last name says it all. “I really love what I do and want to see the company survive. We have a lot of great employees,†she said.

Don Galante, Indianapolis sales manager, said, “Our customers welcomed the extra assistance. We were able to provide them with information and verification quickly. We answered their questions and concerns. Overall, it was a very positive experience.â€

While Philadelphia was the focus of the recovery effort, employees pitched in at other cities as well. At LaGuardia, for instance, fleet service and customer service agents worked through the night to organize baggage deliveries for the next day. Flight crew members and sales representatives reported for duty to help at the airport. Employees even took bags with them as they left for home to deliver to customers who were on their travel route. “The spirit has been great with so much support from all areas,†said Lou Macedo, LaGuardia passenger service manager.

In Charlotte, employees stepped up to the challenges of unloading several planes and tractor trailers with baggage from Philadelphia to sort it and redirect the bags to customers, in addition to the heavy loads that normally come through the hub. “I am so proud of them,†said Terri Pope, managing director of customer service. “They represent the spirit and professionalism of the majority of our fantastic employees.â€
Extension Requested

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - US Airways has asked the bankruptcy court for more time in the exclusivity period during which it may file a plan to successfully emerge from Chapter 11. Such requests are common in bankruptcy cases.

The company currently faces a deadline of Jan. 10 and has requested an extension through March 31. The company said it expects to meet a Feb. 15 deadline for filing a plan, as agreed upon with General Electric Capital Corp. in its financing agreement. A hearing is expected on Jan. 27.
Sun Sale Fares

ARLINGTON (theHub.com) - As the holidays pass and winter wears on, US Airways is putting sunny destinations on sale, with fares starting as low as $49 each way, based on required roundtrip purchase.

Sample one-way economy class fares include $49 from Baltimore to Fort Lauderdale and from Philadelphia to Tampa, while just $69 will purchase a fare from Pittsburgh to Miami, or Charlotte to Pensacola.

Advance purchase restrictions, minimum-stay requirements and other conditions apply.

Click here for press release.

Regards,

USA320Pilot

[post="235589"][/post]​

Were you one of the a$$ kissers too?

What a bunch of Saps, working for free. Just goes to show that suckers truly are boirn every day. Imagine being so devoted to a corporation that could care less about any one of them!!! Pathetic!

 

[Rico]

Yeah I helped out Bob, just like I always do.

And in this time, like all the other times, it was not just for "the company". It was to help a passenger(s), or help a fellow employee tryihg to do whatever they can to help our passengers.

Same thing to me as taking the time to walk strollers up to help the travelling parents, flipping seatbelts and grabbing trash to help the Flight Attendants (working or non revving), Grabbing food for the remainder of the crew on a tight turn so we can stick to our schedule or get home. Stopping and taking the time to make sure a passenger knew where to find a gate or baggage claim. Showing respect to all of the people that work alongside me and the passengers we all serve.

Why should that day be any different than any other...? Just because the company asked for help this time...? Because there was food and drinks to hand out...?

I do this job because I like the flying, the people I fly, and working with those that still give a damn.

If you have a problem with that, then you are the sad sucker, working in an industry that pays what is pays, for the money alone.

 

[planeirish]

I know that when reading this post about U's employees I am supposed to get a warm fuzzy feeling but I don't hear anthing about how U is trying to fix the "real" problems in PHL. I don't feel the "Welcome Wagon" approach is effectice.

Planeloads of folks still arriving without their bags and some still looking for them since before Christmas and folks in reservations getting irates and calls lasting very long over lost bags. It seems that what it costs to deliver one or two bags would just about pay for the extra body that ramp folks in PHL are saying they need to load the planes.

I would think the customers would get feel better about U if someone said they are addressing the problem and it will resolved shortly.

 

[firstamendment]

I think with all of the negativity on here, that many forget the power of coming together and keeping the focus on our passengers, product, and our future.

Good luck to all in the coming difficult times, and best wishes for a strong recovery.

Despite the naysayers and doom predictors, We are not dead yet

[post="235594"][/post]​

Rico,

You are absolutely right!!

 

[usfliboi]

Its posters like that , that reveals why US and other old carrieers have a hard tim. At piedmont, we had nooo problem pitching in and making it work. The old saying of teaching old new tricks comes to mind!

 

[Bear96]

Were you one of the a$$ kissers too?

[post="235596"][/post]​

Yeah, A320, did you volunteer to work at PHL like you said you would in another thread?

Where did you work? What did you do? When did you do it? Anyone here see him working?

 

[Bob Owens]

Yeah I helped out Bob, just like I always do.

And in this time, like all the other times, it was not just for "the company". It was to help a passenger(s), or help a fellow employee tryihg to do whatever they can to help our passengers.

Same thing to me as taking the time to walk strollers up to help the travelling parents, flipping seatbelts and grabbing trash to help the Flight Attendants (working or non revving), Grabbing food for the remainder of the crew on a tight turn so we can stick to our schedule or get home. Stopping and taking the time to make sure a passenger knew where to find a gate or baggage claim. Showing respect to all of the people that work alongside me and the passengers we all serve.

Why should that day be any different than any other...? Just because the company asked for help this time...? Because there was food and drinks to hand out...?

I do this job because I like the flying, the people I fly, and working with those that still give a damn.

If you have a problem with that, then you are the sad sucker, working in an industry that pays what is pays, for the money alone.

[post="235611"][/post]​

Last time I looked none of these airlines are charities.

They are for-profit companies.

Any hourly paid employee who would go in on their own time and work for nothing is not only a jerk but they are taking money out of the pockets of other workers and giving it to the stockholders.

These are the same stock holders that are in it ONLY for the money and once they decide they can get a penny or two somewhere else they will liquidate your beloved company and throw you and every other worker out on the street.

You are the sad sucker because you feel that a corporation is capable of compassion and loyalty.

USAIR is not a cause, it is not capable of human emotion, it is a corporation and just like every other corporation it is an entity that was created in order to create wealth for its owners, its owners not its employees. When its owners no longer feel that it can meet that requirement it will be folded and its assetts sold off. They are in it for the money, so is everyone else. Wake up!

 

[BoeingBoy]

Something of an admonishment from the ALPA MEC Chairman:

This is MEC Chairman Bill Pollock with a second US Airways MEC update for Tuesday, January 4th, with two new items.

Item 1. I want to thank all pilots who volunteered their time this past weekend in PHL to assist in Operation Recovery. It was an extremely successful effort, and your company, your customers, and your union appreciated this service.

However, we have received reports of some employees engaging in activities that are only to be performed by other unions. No one appreciates the importance of scope more than our pilot group, and we would not tolerate anyone performing the duties that only our contract allows. Regardless of US Airways’ operating situation, I am reminding you that employees must respect the scope of others’ contracts.

Item 2. After analyzing the February 2005 pairings, the Association was very disappointed with the results. ALPA, along with the Flight Ops Department, was anticipating better pairings. Despite increased aircraft utilization and flying hours, the number of trip pairing “productivity breaksâ€￾ exceeding two hours increased year-over-year.

Members of the Central Scheduling Committee, along with individuals in US Airways’ crew planning department, are analyzing the software which is currently used to construct trip pairings. In the very near future, with ALPA input, this system will be benchmarked against other products currently on the market. In addition, the optimization software is being modified to allow some control over the length and number of unproductive time which occurs within our trip pairings.

The Central Scheduling Committee will work closely with the crew planning department over the next several months in an effort to increase the quality of our working conditions.

Please remember we have 1,879 pilots on furlough.

Thank you for listening.

 

[PlanetKyle]

First of all, let me state unequivocally, that despite being a competitor, I sincerely hope and pray that U completes the turnaround and all the sacrifices that have been made by the employees will be worth it.

Things I do at my company - help when non-revving or deadheading, offer to help with preboards/wheelchairs, carried strollers and wheelchairs up or down to the ramp, even though it's not my 'job' and I wasn't directly financially compensated for doing so. I say 'directly' because - even if you leave out the altruistic part, of just doing the right thing to help coworkers, and customers - I benefit financially in the long term by promoting a helpful and stable company. Yes, the company is in it for profit, but hey so am I. And I want to enjoy being here. It's a win/win.

So, bottom line, hats off to the people who are willing to do whatever it takes to save U. Hang in there despite the negativity.

PlanetKyle