FFOCUS Responds to Tempe --Q4 SOTA FAQ-Question

[vantheman63]

In this downward spiral, there are a number of things I find amazing, from a customer perspective.....and rest assured, I have a long, long history of it involving a great deal of resources.

First off, one of our members has an e-mail from a senior manager more or less communicating, "we're not going to deal with FFOCUS as a group, we'll deal with everyone as individuals." I know my name was delivered to them....hell, not only did that person deliver it, I delivered it myself.....so many times I gave up delivering it and simply started filing D.O.T. complaints...because no one cared and when they did "care" it was, "we got you there, deal with it." So, from a customer perspective, I can't think of ANY company who has more disdain for it's customers then US Airways.

Second, if I were in charge...if I were CEO or COO (and I am for the business that I own and manage with our team of people) and I had a group of customers who, FREE OF CHARGE, offered up ideas and suggestions....OMG, I'd jump at the chance. Its not unusual to find companies like US actually paying for that opportunity....never mind, FFOCUS has served it up to US for the DOUGHNUT!!!

Third, and this is where the sneaky side of me comes in to play....if I were CEO or COO, I WOULD USE A GROUP LIKE FOCUS TO (a.) BE MY CHEER LEADERS (b.) TEST THOUGHTS AND IDEAS and (c.) USE FOR "VIRAL" MARKETING!!!

FFOCUS could have, would have EASILY been a group that can go out and essentially, (FREE OF FRIGGIN CHARGE!!!!!!!!!) go out and sell ideas to the customers, the members of the flying public, etc.

FFOCUS could have, would have EASILY been a group to test ideas out with....AND THEN GO SELL OR UNSELL THEM!!! Like...."we're thinking about testing a new inflight menu...or wine idea....or IFE....we'd like you to tell us what you think.

FFOCUS could have, would have EASILY been a group to spread thoughts or ideas....."Art, Bob, would you guys sell to your group, we're still not sure if we want to use glasware or not and here's why." That is easy.

To this day, there are STILL people on the board (myself included) who love the company....and while I'm not in the group of "blind loyalty" any longer, there are still people who are BLINDLY LOYAL to US...for whatever reason....and the management team wants to push these people and this group away???? Makes ZERO sense to me.

A group like FFOCUS would have cost Proctor & Gamble or J&J or Dow Chemical tens of thousands of dollars....and instead, this management team pushes it to the side. I will never get that...nor will I understand it. Then again, I understand why the management team is content to let the airline run as two entirely separate work groups....its cheaper. That is the only reason.

I know for me, until the Envoy debacle last summer, I was still booking on US and I was "US Proud." I'm not anymore...not desiring of booking on US, I do it because I have to, nor am I "US Proud." Breaks my heart....but it is what it is.

In any case, this amazes me.....the management team has the opportunity to use thoughts and ideas from people who spend a LOT of money on the company and it pushes them away. Then, in a statement to the employees, the company says, "we meet with them regularly" when we have the e-mail, "we will not and are not going to deal with FFOCUS as a group."

Absolutely amazing.

For the record, and I did this yesterday...I'm absolutely, by NO means, the "biggest spender" on these boards (or any boards), but through 42 days of the year, I've managed to spend $11,000 on roughly 68,000 miles of traveling for me and the great people I work with. My personal spend on US thus far for 2008 is $2,100.12 at about $0.129 per mile. If you take out my BGI trip that was paid for in F, I'd be a hair over $800 total, on $11,000....about $0.07 per mile.

On CO, I'm at $3,500....$0.192 per mile....never afraid to buck up and spend it there...

4 or 5 years ago, that would have been UNTHINKABLE.

 

[AstroLounge]

Friends,

During the Q4 State of the Airline Q & A, an employee brought up FFOCUS and asked about our organization. The person commented that our home page seemed to bash US, and that many of our posts were negative in nature. Management's response to the question was not entirely accurate.

Below is the note we just sent to US Management in response to their comments at the FAQ....

Dear US Airways Management,


FFOCUS is in receipt of a transcript of the Q4 State of the Airline Report, Frequently Asked Questions document. We are concerned about the facts as misrepresented in the following statement:

"FFOCUS (Frequent Flyers Organized and Committed to US Airways Success), their web site seems to be more of a Smear Campaign than actually a commitment to the success of the NEW US Airways. Just reviewing many of the FFOCUS posters on US Aviation from home. Is this group for real, have we met with them to address their concerns, or are they just unhappy with the past and wanting it all back, more First class, Glassware etc.etc..

FFOCUS is a group that we have met with regularly. They've given us some good suggestions and we do pay attention to what they say. Sometimes, their posts are very negative, but they do represent some of our customers."

We sought an ongoing relationship and were led to believe this might come to fruition, but after only two meetings we were pointedly informed that you had no interest in further discussions with FFOCUS as a group; rather, you would deal with members' concerns on an individual basis. At your request, we submitted names of high revenue FFOCUS members who expressed a willingness to have their concerns addressed by your management team, and not one member was individually contacted. Mutual trust and credibility are the cornerstones to any successful relationship. Comments like the one above made either publicly or internally do little to further the goal of a mutually beneficial relationship between US Airways and our group of employees and customers.

FFOCUS remains committed to the principle that employees should be a company's first priority, followed closely by customers. When these constituents are well-served, the shareholders will prosper. Misleading statements about your relationship with FFOCUS, which you terminated, are disingenuous to say the least. However, we stand ready to actually have the regular meetings you said were occurring and to further the mutual goal of US Airways becoming the "Airline of Choice."

The Policy Commitee on Behalf of the 1000 Members of FFOCUS




Oh.....and was the home page a little negative? Yes it was. But was it truthful? Yes it was. We have learned over the years that sometimes the only way to effect change is to point things like this out in a public forum....and if it causes improvement, so be it.


We just wanted to set the record straight folks.......

VERY Disturbing to say the least. On behalf of the countless employees, both East and West that want to do THEIR Job, I apologize for a P*ss Poor Management Team that FAILS to do theirs.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

FFOCUS and LCC cooperation has "WARNING: dysfunctional relationship in your future" written ALL OVER IT.

People tend the sort themselves out in social groups. FFOCUS is going to attract folks that hope (consciously or sub-consciously) to complain themselves into getting goodies. Face it, our society has a certain percentage of people that are like that. They're not a representative sample of the market of frequent flyers.

If a company wants market data to make good decisions, I think they need a more arm's-length, dependable process that doesn't have the inherent relationship problems that FFOCUS presents.

I'm not sure that it isn't helpful to have an ability to read folks' unfiltered internet opinions about 1000's of daily minutiae, but it's very important to keep that stuff in perspective. FFOCUS, along with other ways to measure culture and society in the internet age, needs to be handled appropriately.

 

[vantheman63]

People tend the sort themselves out in social groups. FFOCUS is going to attract folks that hope (consciously or sub-consciously) to complain themselves into getting goodies. Face it, our society has a certain percentage of people that are like that. They're not a representative sample of the market of frequent flyers.

See, I find this point of view "glass half empty" instead of "glass half full."

You are 1,000% right...people will complain for ridiculous and silly things. I've actually said to my mother, "you would complain if I gave you $50,000.....because it was in $100 bills instead of $10 bills."

So, we agree here.

BUT, there is a way to manage and harness that energy and prosper from it.

It's funny, in my business, people get bent out of shape all the time. About 3 weeks ago, someone accidentally sent me an e-mail calling me, more or less, a jacka$$ for the way I conduct business. The poor bastard OBVIOUSLY sent it to me by mistake. I shared it with a particular client 'cause it was indirectly related to him. And it was this guy trying to "complain loudly enough to get goodies."

SO the client says to me, "wow, that's harsh, are you gonna tell him he sent it to you?" My answer: "NO WAY! Keep your friends close, keep your enemies closer! You NEVER know when I can use this e-mail and the words written in it to get some things I need, we need to advance our cause."

So, you are correct....there is complaining, there are malcontents....but if I had people like Art and Bob and there were some potentially sour situations that came up.....I bet I'd know how to make lemonade from it.

 

[RowUnderDCA]

Boundaries..... Boundaries...... Boundaries FFOCUS has no boundaries.

I don't work in the airline biz, but I wouldn't introduce personalities, like those reflected on these threads, into my workplace as an interpersonal relationship to save my life. Dumping these relationships on a colleague? .... no way am I going to do that.

Executives are not going to introduce highly personal relationships into a professional environment. The very fact that you guys get so disgusted about folks being reticent to getting into these personal relationships, furhter illustrates the potential danger and causes the objects of your interest to run away even faster away from you. Talk about underlining, bolding and throwing exclamation points all over the place!!!!!!!

Guys, these situations get polarized and the chasms grow geometrically. It's like the citizen at city hall that starts out with a reasonable idea, get's turned down for some good reason...... three months later he's giving a diatribe at every counsel meeting getting personal with aldermen and is never listened to again. And in industry, it's even less likely that executives are going to engage in this stuff, because businessmen have business ways to get this information.

BTW, I lived in Lawrence, but didn't go to KU. Beautiful town.

 

[FrugalFlyerv2.0]

Third, and this is where the sneaky side of me comes in to play....if I were CEO or COO, I WOULD USE A GROUP LIKE FOCUS TO (a.) BE MY CHEER LEADERS (b.) TEST THOUGHTS AND IDEAS and (c.) USE FOR "VIRAL" MARKETING!!!

No kidding, I think any other company (industry) would be all over a group like FFOCUS like a fat kid on a Smartie. Is the US behavior just Tempe arrogance or does this kind of behavior apply to the airline industry as a whole?

 

[vantheman63]

Boundaries..... Boundaries...... Boundaries FFOCUS has no boundaries.

I don't work in the airline biz, but I wouldn't introduce personalities, like those reflected on these threads, into my workplace as an interpersonal relationship to save my life. Dumping these relationships on a colleague? .... no way am I going to do that.

Executives are not going to introduce highly personal relationships into a professional environment. The very fact that you guys get so disgusted about folks being reticent to getting into these personal relationships, furhter illustrates the potential danger and causes the objects of your interest to run away even faster away from you. Talk about underlining, bolding and throwing exclamation points all over the place!!!!!!!

Guys, these situations get polarized and the chasms grow geometrically. It's like the citizen at city hall that starts out with a reasonable idea, get's turned down for some good reason...... three months later he's giving a diatribe at every counsel meeting getting personal with aldermen and is never listened to again. And in industry, it's even less likely that executives are going to engage in this stuff, because businessmen have business ways to get this information.

BTW, I lived in Lawrence, but didn't go to KU. Beautiful town.

I s'pose I would agree to disagree...and there's certainly no harm in that.

First, I do think people are more, shall we say, "vocal" on a board like this because there's a sense of "anonymity" they/we/I get. Would they be like that in a "highly personal relationship?" I think we both know the answer to that.

Next, what is it we say in sales? "The bigger the tree, the harder they fall?" Or, "the largest trees fall the loudest?" I'd bet the ranch that guys that are "vocal" like Piney Bob would become the most vocal cheerleader you EVER heard. And I don't think it needs to be a "highly personal" relationship....just a relationship..purely contractual...."I need your opinion on something" and when there is disagreement, provided it's not giving up key strategy that is confidential, "we're not going to do that and here's why."

Finally, I suppose there is "danger" and "risk" in everything....and there is also reward.....

Right now, we have an airline that treats people like me, who will spend $60K or $70K on air travel during the course of a year, as though we are insignificant and don't matter.....I just wonder how sustainable THAT is....regardless of overall attitude or the ways and means that attitude is conveyed?

Interesting discussion.

As for Lawrence...it is beautiful...and I thought I would retire there one day....until I moved to the ocean...and then to wine country....suddenly, a small, college town in the midwest just doesn't get it done for me. LOL But I do have incredibly fond memories having played sports and lived there during my "formative" years.

 

[Travelpro72]

For a management team that feels they are as smart as they think they sure are in a fog when it comes to reality. How long do they truly believe they will succeed in treating their most loyal customers and their hard working employees like trash. It's almost as if they are some sort of closed cult and that everyone on the outside is viewed as idiots to them. They are the most incapable, bottom of the barrel, arrogant and idiotic management team I have ever seen. As bad as some were in CCY even THEY were smarter than these bafoons. Their managing style most certainly will come back to bite them at some point. I just hope they don't take the employees and the company down with them when they fall.

 

[2clippedwings]

When you have, in the same week, UWCactus admitting to planning an earlier retirement and EMBFA updating the resume, it's time to decide what part you want to play in this debacle.

I truly believe we all have the same desire for the outcome to be a successful USAirways, a work place to be proud of. I'm not sure that will ever happen again. The name should have been changed in the merger and the goals of this company should have been spelled out then. Instead we have an airline with multiple personality disorder, narcissistic tendencies and paranoia.

UWCactus, the staunch Tempe supporter that isn't afraid to post opinions (almost all I totally disagree with) and EMBFA on the other end of the spectrum opining with great ideas, sharp critiques and hilarious barbs both want the SAME THING and BOTH are so disillusioned that they are formulating their departures.
Discouraging to say the least.

I'm sorry for our former and current customers-you have to know it's not for lack of trying our best with the tools we have been given and the complete lack of competent leadership.

I'm sorry for the employees who try so hard to do their jobs without the proper tools and the lack of competent leadership.

I don't know what the shake out in the aviation industry is going to bring over the next 18 months or so but I'd strongly advise my fellow employees to start seriously considering what other skills they can bring to the job market. We are certainly adaptable, creative thinkers who would no doubt flourish with the right leadership.

 

[N965VJ]

<SNIP> Executives are not going to introduce highly personal relationships into a professional environment. The very fact that you guys get so disgusted about folks being reticent to getting into these personal relationships, furhter illustrates the potential danger and causes the objects of your interest to run away even faster away from you.

Or they don’t wish to engage in a dialog with folks that know more than they do, and it’s not just the customers they dismiss.

The VP of Inflight cancelled a meeting with front line personnel, from all appearances, to avoid some tough questions.

So instead, Tempe relies on hand-picked employees in little focus groups and silly customer surveys that reveal customers like quality food and arriving with their bags.

 

[tadjr]

Regardless of the reasons WHY Tempe decided to not get into a personal relationship with FFOCUS, the problem with this particular situation is they said they MET WITH THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS when in fact they DID NOT. Unless someone in Tempe would like to redefine regular. 2 times a year out of the past 3 years is regular? Unless they consider these boards as "meeting". Its all about being truthful and straightforward. Tempe should have said we did meet with FFOCUS a couple of times and found that we couldnt work with them for X,Y,Z reasons instead of saying they met regularly. It like a lot of the other things that come from Tempe. They think that just because they say things people are going to think them true. Might have happened in the past when people took everything that came from Tempe as true, fact, no questioning, but not any more. I've seen too many things personally to just have blind faith in ANYTHING they say.

 

[vantheman63]

Regardless of the reasons WHY Tempe decided to not get into a personal relationship with FFOCUS, the problem with this particular situation is they said they MET WITH THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS when in fact they DID NOT. Unless someone in Tempe would like to redefine regular. 2 times a year out of the past 3 years is regular? Unless they consider these boards as "meeting". Its all about being truthful and straightforward. Tempe should have said we did meet with FFOCUS a couple of times and found that we couldnt work with them for X,Y,Z reasons instead of saying they met regularly. It like a lot of the other things that come from Tempe. They think that just because they say things people are going to think them true. Might have happened in the past when people took everything that came from Tempe as true, fact, no questioning, but not any more. I've seen too many things personally to just have blind faith in ANYTHING they say.

PERFECTLY stated.

None of this is "rocket science," it's people skills and management skills 101. Very simple, very easy.....just tell the truth and then explain it, that's all.

Hey, maybe they want NOTHING to do with us because, in their opinion, we're idiots....oops! Problem in that, can't insult your best customers, right?

Or maybe, in their opinion, "we don't get it?" Okay, well, sell us on what you are trying to do....because, from our vantage point, what you are trying to do doesn't make any sense. If we're wrong, explain to us what we're not considering....and who knows, you might have a cheerleader on your side if your rationale is compelling enough!!!

 

[jimcfs]

Regardless of the reasons WHY Tempe decided to not get into a personal relationship with FFOCUS, the problem with this particular situation is they said they MET WITH THEM ON A REGULAR BASIS when in fact they DID NOT. Unless someone in Tempe would like to redefine regular. 2 times a year out of the past 3 years is regular? Unless they consider these boards as "meeting". Its all about being truthful and straightforward. Tempe should have said we did meet with FFOCUS a couple of times and found that we couldnt work with them for X,Y,Z reasons instead of saying they met regularly. It like a lot of the other things that come from Tempe. They think that just because they say things people are going to think them true. Might have happened in the past when people took everything that came from Tempe as true, fact, no questioning, but not any more. I've seen too many things personally to just have blind faith in ANYTHING they say.

Thank you, Tad... you've hit the issues we have over this dead on.

 

[Art at ISP]

Row and others,

This has nothing to do with personal relationships...we are a group who speaks for a significant number of customers. The issue at hand here is not the validity (or lack thereof) of a group like FFOCUS. It is about the way a question from an employee was ansered (untruthfully). So now you have to question just about everything you are told from Tempe. Simple. It's a matter of trust.

I think it would be interesting to know how the question came up in the first place in such a forum, but that is another issue entirely...

 

[flyinawa]

So, you FFOCUS people don't even work here? SERIOUSLY? WHAT THE HELL? Don't you have anything better to do than lurk online and whimper to the employees about the direction that company is headed in? Get serious! You're the ones buying tickets. You're the ones the company is suppose to be listening to. One of my family members was a Chairman's Preferred for years and USAir was interested in her opinion. Stop trying to hustle the employees and start putting pressure on the company. What are you hoping to achieve by lurking around on these boards? Getting ammunition to try to cram up the company's back-side to get a few extra frequent flier miles?

Do we hang around outside the offices of what ever the heck it is you do and try to work ourselves into YOUR conversations? It's a free market. If you don't think USAirways gives you the product you want, tell the MANAGEMENT. If you don't feel satisfied, go someplace else.