Fixing Philadelphia

[luvthe9]

http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/b...elphia0430.html

 

[700UW]

To all the doubters about PHL and its revenue here are some quotes from the article:

The company committed $20 million to the hub, its second-busiest behind Charlotte, N.C., its biggest by revenue, and its international gateway.

US Airways generates nearly one-fifth of its revenue from passengers flying to and from Philadelphia, more than any other hub, and the airline has more commuter gates in Philadelphia than the number of regular gates it has in Phoenix.

 

[INSP17]

So what exactly is your point? You didn't mention anything the article said about delays into and out of Philly or the loss of baggage!

 

[700UW]

Even with all that, PHL is still the #1 revenue station in the system.

All that is accounted for in the money.

 

[MarkMyWords]

Just goes to show you how bad the last 5 years have been. Infrastructures were allowed to deteriorate to deplorable conditions. As much as we all love to bash PHL, in the last 6 months, they have come a long way. All it took was investing money into rebuilding the infrastructure there. Addressing staffing and equipment issues, working the baggage system, etc.

It is a long road to making the PHL operation something to brag about, but we have made tremendous strides in improving it.

 

[hula-flyguy]

So what exactly is your point? You didn't mention anything the article said about delays into and out of Philly or the loss of baggage!

Looks to me like 700 was addressing revenue/revenue base. I think he made his point abundantly clear. delays and baggage I believe would be a seperate topic.

But then again, if you stuck with the topic, you couldn't be quite as contrary.....which is your aim I guess.

 

[a320av8r]

Looks to me like 700 was addressing revenue/revenue base. I think he made his point abundantly clear. delays and baggage I believe would be a seperate topic.

But then again, if you stuck with the topic, you couldn't be quite as contrary.....which is your aim I guess.

I agree. PHL gets a huge pat on the back for improvement. Most delays are caused by traffic which all carrlers have to deal with, even WN (same as BOS, LGA, EWR, IAD).
The baggage issue is currently being addressed and requires contruction and time- you can't turn an aircraft carrier on a dime.
I give accolades to Team PHL and Tempe.

 

[ClueByFour]

Even with all that, PHL is still the #1 revenue station in the system.

All that is accounted for in the money.

It says revenue. It says nothing about cost or profit margin.

US has 8 billion in revenue (or east did) every year. Pretty impressive looking number until you consider that there was always 8.5 billion in costs.

Revenue, without any further data, is an utterly useless metric.

 

[Jimmy Neutron]

To all the doubters about PHL and its revenue here are some quotes from the article:

This HUB is still and always will be a disgrace for our airline.

Just talk to anyone who works there.

No matter what the management PR puts out in the press it gets worse by the day with no end in sight, what a joke.

 

[700AW]

just FYI, the AZ Republic( repugnant) is not much of a friend to the Hometown airline, they never can seem to put out any positive on US.. It is much like US in PHl, AA in Dallas. Dl, et al... they find it easier to bash and dash then to dig , or work to put out the true tone or report with accuracy.

 

[Jonnyd]

All I can say is that Tony is doing one heck of a job. I see and feel a definite change in morale around the station, and he is one of the most approchable managers you will ever run into. Moving his office from the tower down into the concourse just shows you that.

 

[MarkMyWords]

This HUB is still and always will be a disgrace for our airline.

Just talk to anyone who works there.

No matter what the management PR puts out in the press it gets worse by the day with no end in sight, what a joke.

Care to elaborate how the hub is getting worse? Some of the statistics I see show definite improvement. Can we do better, absolutely. Was Rome built in a day? nope.

I am curious to hear how you feel it is getting worse..

 

[zethya]

It says revenue. It says nothing about cost or profit margin.

US has 8 billion in revenue (or east did) every year. Pretty impressive looking number until you consider that there was always 8.5 billion in costs.

Revenue, without any further data, is an utterly useless metric.

What is your source for the $8.5B Cost for PHL?

 

[LCC_#1]

Care to elaborate how the hub is getting worse? Some of the statistics I see show definite improvement. Can we do better, absolutely. Was Rome built in a day? nope.

I am curious to hear how you feel it is getting worse..

Some people will complain about complaining. The terminal just needs fixed up.

 

[SCUBAgal]

"The airline will spend $2 million on the high-tech readers it says will improve the percentage of correctly read bags to 98 percent and $500,000 on a joint project with TSA to add a security screening machine and related improvements that will boost its capacity to handle 940 bags per hour, from 540."

HOLY COW!!! That says a LOT right there...only 540 per hour? Shame on the TSA.

"C.J. Johnson, a customer-service representative at the ticket counter and departure gates, said that he has been floored by all the US Airways executives trolling the airport. He finds it amazing that they walk around and introduce themselves."

We felt the same way with Franke's departure. When he flew, he literally used to hide his face and run to the gate so no one would talk to him! (Along with several other execs...our lower mgmnt has always been fairly good about being out there for us to see...)

PHL does have a long way to go, and other than the reporter giving her monstly one-sided view of things, it sounds like the operation is starting to turn around. It's my hope that the powers that be really do realize it takes more than throwing money at the situation to truly improve it.