Ideas on what we can do to cut costs at US airways …or generate revenue 2

[WhatBag?]

Airline employees everywhere have been asked or forced to supplement airfares for the last 25 years. ENOUGH!! Want to increase revenue? RAISE THE PRICE OF THE TICKETS!! Perhaps. just perhaps, everyone will realize $400 to fly from LGA-MIA is a heck of a light cheaper than driving, not to mention the time spent. And then there's the transcon entitled flight club. Everyone wants to spend $200 to fly from PHL-LAX-PHL. Try just once driving. Wasn't the whole concept of flying to get you there faster?

I would love to see Dateline or 60 Minutes do a study on all of this. Hell, pay me and I would participate.

 

[sharktooth]

One thing is for sure - regardless if you agree or disagree with Freedom, he loves the company he works for and he loves what he does and that is really commendable. If each and every one of US Airways 30,000 + employees had the attitude of Freedom, I would bet my life that US Airways would be 5% more efficient in everything it does, right off the bat. I would love to have him working for my company, and I would hire him in a heartbeat.

All true, if, the company rewarded "hard work". With US, you would lose your bet (life). People like him are an asset in most any well-run company.

What do you think about this one? ONE WAY...

AVP to SFO 2523/965 $438 through PHL
Eliminate AVP to PHL and 965 costs $897

So I'd save $400 to fly from AVP. WOW, honestly, if I lived in PHL, I would DRIVE TO ABE or AVP to save $400. Something about this pricing does not make sense. It isn't just AVP, US prices all regionals like this... (AVP is intl, but thats another story - its really a regional as far as we're concerned)...

EWR-SFO on CO is $1298. Wow! is Tempe trying to expand the marketing basin centered around AVP with fire-sale prices?

 

[InternationalShannon]

I have a revenue generating idea....we'll pass free kazoos out at the gate to all the kids and then when everyone on the plane gets pissed, we'll charge each passenger ten dollars to make the kids stop.

BEST IDEA EVER.

 

[SolidCactus]

All true, if, the company rewarded "hard work". With US, you would lose your life. People like him are an asset in most any well-run company.


EWR-SFO on CO is $1298. Wow! is Tempe trying to expand the marketing basin centered around AVP with fire-sale prices?

Exactly. At AVP we have DL, US, CO, NW. Now, I can understand why to an extent that AVP has a fire sale market... Many of us take the 1 hour drive to SWF where we have B6 and FL. We are also only about 1 hr, 30 min from EWR. I'm sure even though we dont have another discount carrier at AVP, market research has probably shown that at AVP they are really competing with SWF. AND B6 and FL do market to us. BUT even taking that into consideration, this pricing model is messed up.

 

[InternationalShannon]

Exactly. At AVP we have DL, US, CO, NW. Now, I can understand why to an extent that AVP has a fire sale market... Many of us take the 1 hour drive to SWF where we have B6 and FL. We are also only about 1 hr, 30 min from EWR. I'm sure even though we dont have another discount carrier at AVP, market research has probably shown that at AVP they are really competing with SWF. AND B6 and FL do market to us. BUT even taking that into consideration, this pricing model is messed up.

Yes, but what about my KAZOOOOOO idea???

 

[FWAAA]

Industry load factors are at historic highs. Airlines are not adding capacity. The argument I keep hearing is that if we raise fares in any significant way - enough to substantially offset the increase in oil price - and other carriers (read Southwest) do not follow suit, then our airplanes will be empty.

Where will these passengers go? Unless Southwest and Delta start converting lavatories into passenger seats in response to our fare hike, travellers will either pony up or choose not to travel.

That's the issue - raise the price high enough and some will "choose not to travel."

Price elasticity of demand. Airline travel is discretionary. It's not something people absolutely have to do.

Should not our management at least try? See how future bookings respond? They could always announce a sale and drop prices if necessary. It's called rational pricing.

Someone splain it to me.

I'm certain that even US has tried and has a very good idea of how future bookings respond.

 

[InternationalShannon]

test. test. does this mic work? What about the KAZOOS?

Forget it, I'm giong over your head - - can't acknowledge a good idea when it drop kicks you.
*sigh*

Hey Doug, I know you're gonna wanna call me , just FYI, I found a website where you can get the kazoos for like .0000005 cents if you buy them in bulk. B)

 

[aptboeses]

I personally don't think charging for non rev travel is a good idea. The last thing you want to do is take away a perceived benefit. That only serves to decimate morale and make it harder for future programs/ideas to work.

What we can do to help US Airways save money is to do our jobs to the best of our ability. As a flight attendant I can do my job the way it's supposed to be done. I will do predeparture beverage service whenever I can for our first class customers. I will smile and greet every customer (external and internal) that comes on board. I will assist customers in placing their bags in the overhead bins. I will track down pillows/blankets for my customers. I will perform service onboard as per requirement. I will maintain a visual presence in the cabin after service is completed. I will answer questions from my customers (knowledge permitting). I will say goodbye/thank you to every customer (external/internal) as they leave the airplane. I will clean the aircraft. I will cross seatbelts. I will fold blankets. I will pick up and properly put away pillows.

I think it's important to realize that everything we do our customers notice. And they remember. They have the ultimate say in whether this airline survives. They contribute the revenue that pays our wages. If we treat them as well or better than we want to be treated they will come back and spend their hard earned money with US Airways again.

 

[InternationalShannon]

 

[pit 4ever]

hey freedom
just to show you how flawed your non-rev idea is
not all employees you this for vacation purposes.i happen to be a volunteer fire fighter and over the years i have traveled along with 6 buddies to help in other parts of the USA while using my flight benefits.we have made over 25 round trips to nyc after 911.we made over 20 round trips to florida after numerous hurricanes.we have made over 50 round trips to msy after katrina.we have made over 20 round trips to california to fight fires.we just got back from the midwest tornados 2 round trips.we have understanding managers that allow us to use vac time and comp time to do this.we often get free hotels and food while we are in these areas but still incur our own expenses as well as losing pay at work.with your non-rev model it would have cost me and my guys over 2500 dollars each just in non rev fees.would i still go absolutely.but sure would be nice to fly for free.and before you say maybe usairways would allow us to go for free we have asked in the past for help and they have denied us every time.even had to argue once with a tkt counter manager who wanted to charge us for excess baggage.fire fighting equipment.come on let these clowns figure this out for themselves.

 

[sharktooth]

Airline travel is discretionary.

In reality, only for the leisure traveler. The business traveler can accept a range of costs to comply with time constraints.

The fact that Tempe has almost completely transitioned most of the passenger load from business to leisure (it did not start with Tempe) has reduced the US ability to respond to different market conditions like increase operating costs, etc. Did they think the leisure bubble would last forever?

Also, about airlines "colluding" with each other over pricing.

They do it all the time. AVP as an example:

US underprices AVP-PHL-SFO, basically telling everyone else, "We own this market and we are willing to underprice this to keep you out". CO says, "OK, suckers, bleed yourselves", pricing AVP-SFO at almost $1700. I am certain CO does something similar to US but in a different market. DAL did it ATL-LAX when Jetblue and Airtran tried to enter that market, not only with below cost fares but even to having all printed schedules showing competing DAL flights printed in red, an expensive but effective technique.

Another way to communicate is to increase/decrease fares, waiting for a concensus, then backing down or standing pat, depending on what the others do, a form of communication that allows any carrier to veto the direction.

Airlines communicate all the time. Sometimes their signals get messed up but most of the time, it works pretty well. The language they use, most important, would seem to be incomprehensible to a court intent at proving "collusion".

 

[sharktooth]

Are they made in the US?

 

[binderella]

Freedom,

This is an idiotic idea. USAir is famous for poor employee relations and this will just add fuel to the fire. Mergers have been tanked because oal employees would do anything not to work for us. In my station we can't hire enough people at this low wage. The bulk of the applicants cannot even make it through badging. The best employees we have are the ones who are here because they LIKE aviation. Non-revving is not so much a perk as it is alternate compensation. The employees you are trying to drive out are the ones who bring professionalism and experience. Not one of our good gate agents would stay, the bulk of our good ramp agents would go, and most of our good ops agents would leave. The way to "save the company" is to increase customer satisfaction, increase efficiency, and decrease waste. Tank our morale and not one of those things is going to happen. Harried, unhappy gate agents equals harried, unhappy pax. Angry F/A's equals unhappy pax. Unmotivated rampers? Missed bags, fuel burn as p.o'd agents saunter out to a flight, slow loading, and damaged bags from the "they only payin me $9.00" crowd. Pax are more likely to fly others because the experience was poor, not because the fare was slightly lower. People are paying $2.50 for a bottle of soda in the terminal, I hardly think $5-$10 bucks will drive them away.

If the company wants to save money, they need to make sure stations have jetway power and working gpu to decrease fuel usage. Better staffing to meet flights so the jetways can be pulled up to an aircraft without delay. Better tracking of bags to reduce compensation and delivery charges. Delivery on a single bag can vary from $20 to $150, depending on distance, so multiply that by thousands a night, system wide. Decrease the overload of managers. US Air is top heavy on management because the lower levels are unhappy and understaffed. Fire some unnecessary managers, bank half of the savings and use the rest to create a happy, safe and productive work environment.

I could go on and on, but based on your posts here and other places I think you are not looking for answers so much as probing for a reaction.

 

[gaucho99]

For all you posters that have suggested raising prices.......please understand the company is way ahead of you on this. Many attempts have been made to do just that. Most have been unsuccesful. If one airline does not follow suit, then we lose customers and are forced to back off in price. How many remember just a few weeks ago when we announced we were not going to match those ridiculous $69 fares anymore? Well, when we stopped matching them, our future bookings were flushed down the toilet. We had to back off on that. Getting $69 for a seat is better than $0.00

The fair increase last week by UA that we matched is ony going to stick in markets where WN does not fly. Since we compete head to head against wn probably more than anybody else, we will get less benefit from this price increase than the other Legacy carriers. I think this is why Freedom started this thread....to brainstorm ways to generate revenue. If increasing fares would work, it would have been done a long time ago.

As far as charging non revs to fly, I'm certainly against it. But, if it was a last resort, if all other options had been tried and it came down to closing our doors or charging non revs to fly, then I say go for it. But it would have to be temporary. America West did this back in 1992, I beleive and it was rescinded as soon as was feasibly possible. It brought in millions in revenue when we really needed it. But again, all other options should be tried first. This should be a last resort and I know Doug has no desire to start charging employees to fly.

So, lets think of some ideas so we won't have to start charging non revs. I'll even go for the idea for the whistle for kids or whatever..if it works.

 

[InternationalShannon]

Are they made in the US?

No, I think the company was outsourced to Bengladesh or something, something about the cost of labor too high in the US? Whatever tHAT means....(sarcasm)