How To Irritate The Press By Us Airways

[EyeInTheSky]

Hi

I thought many of you would find the following story interesting. Especially since it originated on this forum.

USATODAY.com Drops Troubleshooter

http://elliott.org/about/press/dotcom.htm

December 2, 2003

Fired — To anyone familiar with the all the facts, it sure does look as if someone at US Airways orchestrated my removal as a USATODAY.com columnist. What facts are those? Here's my letter of termination and my response to it. Let's put this into a little perspective — the Travel Troubleshooter is a public service column and represents a negligible portion my income, so it doesn't hurt me as much as it does USATODAY.com's readers, who no longer have a credible travel advocate. So what do I think about all of this? I'm not usually shy about expressing my opinions, but this time I would prefer to let the facts speak for themselves.

Well, if you want to make friends in the press this is NOT the way to go about it.

EYE

 

[orwell]

You made my day. I've followed this guy since 1999 and he's got an overwhelming bias against the "legacy" carriers. He's the type that thinks air travel is a constitutional right, although he did mellow a bit in his articles for USA Today.

Getting rid of him because of advertising pressure isn't right, (assuming his claims are true) but sometimes the right things are done for the wrong reasons. This would be one of those times.

 

[FlyingHippie]

I don't think this should make anyone's day. In my humble opinion, Christopher Elliott was right. Go back and read the stories and you'll find out he was never critical of the employees. He is critical of what management has done to make the airline less user friendly for everyone including us. Isn't this true? This guy writes for a lot of respected newspapers and magazines. What message does this send to other journalists? I can see journalists all across the country sharpening their pencils on this one and it won't be positive. Without question I totally believe some management bozo is behind this. Nice going Chiames, you're going to make the public relations hall of shame on this one bud.

 

[A319FA]

"At least two editors at USATODAY.com read that comment and allowed it to be published. Then it sat online for several weeks without incident. Why did it only become a problem after a link to the story was posted to an online forum frequented by US Airways management?"

I did not like the negative tone of his articles. It appears that someone at CCY is watching these boards. :unsure:

 

[EyeInTheSky]

Hi FlyingHippie

I think there will be hell to pay for all this. Unfortunately I think the employees will be caught in the middle.

EYE

 

[orwell]

I don't think this should make anyone's day. In my humble opinion, Christopher Elliott was right. Go back and read the stories and you'll find out he was never critical of the employees. He is critical of what management has done to make the airline less user friendly for everyone including us. Isn't this true? This guy writes for a lot of respected newspapers and magazines. What message does this send to other journalists? I can see journalists all across the country sharpening their pencils on this one and it won't be positive. Without question I totally believe some management bozo is behind this. Nice going Chiames, you're going to make the public relations hall of shame on this one bud.

Well, you have a point about the need to distinguish between an employee doing his/her job and the policy/the people who made up the policy.

But I found he derided airline employees - rank and file, too, not just the policies and procedures. He would rail against overbooking and "use it or lose it" policies, yet not cover the other side of the story - passengers who don't bother to have the courtesy to call ahead to cancel.

I just don't think he's a friend of management nor of the rank and file. He's a pro-consumer type who thinks customers deserve compensation for just about anything that goes wrong.

You mention he writes for respected outlets. Don't forget he gathered most of his steam during the "passenger rights" BS back in the late 90s. Remember - when the majors were making money, there was a big push to come up with mandatory amounts of CASH to be paid out for DELAYS - I'm not talking oversale compensation, I'm talking about opening up your wallet because you put safety first and take a delay. That's garbage.

If I remember correctly, he supported that junk, and, in an industry whose customers have a "where's my stuff" mindset 24/7, he's going to be popular with his readership. Everyone wants free tickets.

Ok, I'm finished rambling.

 

[cavalier]

I don't think this should make anyone's day. In my humble opinion, Christopher Elliott was right. Go back and read the stories and you'll find out he was never critical of the employees. He is critical of what management has done to make the airline less user friendly for everyone including us. Isn't this true? This guy writes for a lot of respected newspapers and magazines. What message does this send to other journalists? I can see journalists all across the country sharpening their pencils on this one and it won't be positive. Without question I totally believe some management bozo is behind this. Nice going Chiames, you're going to make the public relations hall of shame on this one bud.

That's how this management team deals with anyone who doesn't have the same mind set. Stomp them out completely. This management team believes when someone criticizes them, the critics must be the problem. This management team absolutely refuses to look inward and see their own faults and short comings. They are in total denial that they lost control and are way in over their heads. The problems facing U are the product of everyone who disagrees with their flawed vision of success, so they believe. First and foremost they must realize they themselves are the problem, and if they don’t, the problems will never end but only grow worse. I wonder how far into the abyss we will venture before this wonder team of egomaniacs are replaced! What’s it going to take until the powers to be wake up, or do the powers themselves want a failing airline for some reason?

 

[orwell]

You're right - some of the things the industry did only fanned the flames of the passengers rights craze. And, you sound like a completely reasonable customer to me, but many out there expect a free trip for a 45 minute weather delay.

Look at what was happening back then and compare the airline industry to others -the standards the legacy carriers were/are held to are a joke. I mean, this is supposedly a DEregulated industry?

They could not win for losing - they try to lower a fare to match some upstart, and they get sued. "It's not fair to charge less!" On the other hand, there was constant whining about collaboration to raise fares. Airlines that reduced commissions to agencies were called cartels.

So stringent are the "anti-trust" rules that airlines could not even talk together to try to work out congestion problems at airports, yet they're blamed for "overscheduling." But to try to work out a reasonable agreement that benefited passengers would be "collusion."

What I'm trying to say is that, even after deregulation, the airline industry was and is a hyperregulated one. And Elliott took advantage of this sentiment - the idea that air travel is an entitlement of some sort - in pandering his "woe is the consumer" articles. Commodity carriers are not held to this standard and are in fact praised in areas where legacy carriers are superior - no one complains about WN's lack of meal service and B6 gets rave reviews for their "meals" of blue tortilla chips and bottled water.

If we as a nation want air travel to be a public utility, fine, but then don't force airlines to have one foot in a vicious free-market economy and the other in a enormously regulated world that limits there efforts to compete. That's something I think Elliott missed.

 

[Atlantic]

USA Today, which I have never bought. I hope the door did hit him in the ass on the way out.

 

[biztraveller29]

You're right - some of the things the industry did only fanned the flames of the passengers rights craze. And, you sound like a completely reasonable customer to me, but many out there expect a free trip for a 45 minute weather delay.

Look at what was happening back then and compare the airline industry to others -the standards the legacy carriers were/are held to are a joke. I mean, this is supposedly a DEregulated industry?

They could not win for losing - they try to lower a fare to match some upstart, and they get sued. "It's not fair to charge less!" On the other hand, there was constant whining about collaboration to raise fares. Airlines that reduced commissions to agencies were called cartels.

So stringent are the "anti-trust" rules that airlines could not even talk together to try to work out congestion problems at airports, yet they're blamed for "overscheduling." But to try to work out a reasonable agreement that benefited passengers would be "collusion."

What I'm trying to say is that, even after deregulation, the airline industry was and is a hyperregulated one. And Elliott took advantage of this sentiment - the idea that air travel is an entitlement of some sort - in pandering his "woe is the consumer" articles. Commodity carriers are not held to this standard and are in fact praised in areas where legacy carriers are superior - no one complains about WN's lack of meal service and B6 gets rave reviews for their "meals" of blue tortilla chips and bottled water.

You're correct. Customers are such whiners.

"Whhaaaa, we don't want to be stuck on a runway in Detroit for 8 hours in a snowstorm with no working lavatories."

"Whhaaaa, we actually wanted to get where we were going on time, and we don't support the United Airlines pilot sick-out (i.e. summer from hell)."

"Whhaaaa, we want to get reimbursed for luggage that was lost 4 YEARS ago."

We're such whiners.

Do you want to know why US Airways and other legacy carriers are held to a "higher standard" than WN or B6? Perhaps it's because WN and B6 don't RAPE you for last minute fares, and because they get you there on-time (and sometimes with ammenities such as TV or blue chips).

If you charge someone $2,000 to go from PHL-LAX last minute, you better be prepared to hear some "whining" when luggage is lost, the plane is late, etc.

Are there passengers that complain too much? I'm sure. But to insinuate that the "passengers' rights" movement was initiated because of people getting sick of 45 minute weather delays is completely inaccurate.

 

[AtlanticBeach]

Welcome to usaviation, biztraveller.

Your points about the NW and UA debacles are well taken. And the b*tchfest that is untied.com certainly supports your other complaints. However, my experience in watching the American public is that the infrequent travelers are usually bigger complainers than the more experienced folks (and the people who used to buy the $2,000 tickets). We are better prepared to deal with irregular operations than those customers who do not know the system.

That being said, our biggest complaints with US are about things that the company knows are wrong; lack of proper staffing in Philly resulting in delays, the time it took to fix the baggage belt in Philly, convoluted and absurd fares, weak and fractured IT systems just to name a few.

Getting back on topic, I agree with previous posters that US probably doesn't have the pull to have gotten Elliott fired.

My suggestion is that if you want accurate, well-researched and relatively unbiased reporting on the airline industry, read Susan Carey in the Wall Street Journal.

 

[PITbull]

USAirways had something to do with the definite firing of Chris Elliot. How blatant!

Wow!

Here's an airline that can't "stabilize" to save even its management, and have the audacity to write to critisize an editor for his critisizm of U's "unfriendly" customer policies. How in the hell do you elicit vhange?????????????????


AND SO WHAT??????

Bob,

Since WHEN can't folks display arrogance? P-L-E-A-S-E 10 fold!


Chris,

Anyway you can write to the BOD of U and rid us of the majority of this new "Unfriendly- labor mangement? Return the favor, in kind.

 

[Scamp]

To believe that US Airways has the clout to get this clown fired is flat out bulls**t.
He did it to himself. I've read Conde Nast Traveler Ombudsman for YEARS and they have never once stated or implied that they hoped a company would go out of business. And amazingly enough, they can still get their job done.

 

[Scamp]

You're correct. Customers are such whiners.

"Whhaaaa, we don't want to be stuck on a runway in Detroit for 8 hours in a snowstorm with no working lavatories."


"Whhaaaa, we want to get reimbursed for luggage that was lost 4 YEARS ago."

We're such whiners.

Do you want to know why US Airways and other legacy carriers are held to a "higher standard" than WN or B6? Perhaps it's because WN and B6 don't RAPE you for last minute fares, and because they get you there on-time (and sometimes with ammenities such as TV or blue chips).

If you charge someone $2,000 to go from PHL-LAX last minute, you better be prepared to hear some "whining" when luggage is lost, the plane is late, etc.

Are there passengers that complain too much? I'm sure. But to insinuate that the "passengers' rights" movement was initiated because of people getting sick of 45 minute weather delays is completely inaccurate. [/QUOTE]


Oh, yeah! I clearly remember that day in Detroit. Subzero temperatures, snow up to a man's armpits, icecycles hanging from the roof big enough to sink the Titanic. "Oh, sure, we'll just rush that lavatory truck right out to your 747 and pump out all 15 of the lavatories; but can you wait until we dig one of the five ton salt trucks out of the mammoth drift that its stuck in so we can plow the tarmac thus allowing the lav truck can get there? Oh, yes, we're looking for a bunch of guys to push the mobile stairs saturated with ice right on over to your DC 10 so we can watch 270 people fall on your a**es right down those stairs and sue us for eight million dollars. Oh! and by the way, we have hot dinners over at the catering buildings that we'll just drive right over in the middle of this friggin' blizzard and serve to you, piping hot. Will you have an oaky chardonnay with that, or perhaps a fruity merlot?"

 

[delldude]

To believe that US Airways has the clout to get this clown fired is flat out bulls**t.
He did it to himself. I've read Conde Nast Traveler Ombudsman for YEARS and they have never once stated or implied that they hoped a company would go out of business. And amazingly enough, they can still get their job done.

please take note:
during sessions to deal with the airbus issue at IAM,there were several options brought up as to doing some type of advertising campain against the company's position regarding airbus 's' checks...well during these brainstorming sessions{yes we still have several people in IAM capable of this function}it was brought up that we should advertise in USA TODAY....well we were informed that 1] the cost and 2]they are US AIRWAYS freindly and wouldn't accept an anti-U ad.
well does this do anything to add light to this subject?