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

[sharktooth]

I heard that we are not using this capability on the FMC on the Bus. Why not?

Reading this will keep you busy for awhile..

http://www.boeing.com/commercial/aeromagaz...07_article5.pdf

Um, the people in Tempe might have to "think" for once, breaking their kindergarden training?

To throw Tempe a bone, CI is widely misunderstood. Go to the bluecoat forum for explicit and understandable thoughts on that issue.

The entire issue leads me, IMHO, to think management is deliberately setting a low bar on their own competence, for whatever reason (making it easier to "interdict" organized labor groups?).

 

[orioleman]

freedom,
"Dear jimmy , I understand where your coming from , for me a suggestion of charging even 20 dollars for a round trip is pricy (awa baggage handler here )… but I would FAR rather pick and chose what we give up NOW than be forced by a BK …"

Don't even go there cause guess what when this company goes back in BK YOU won't be around. As far as past BK's that you know

nothing about . Never Has a BK judge imposed fees to employees. Jimmy and I have been down that bumpy road and survived

will do so again. sorry my friend your days are numbered, so keep coming up with your insane "want to save the company" at all cost

ideas and maybe you'll get that management position you so desire to have.

 

[ILMgwm]

I suggest eliminating all blankets and pillows except for transatlantic flights for free. Perhaps charge $5.00 for a pillow/blanket combination wrapped and clean on transcontinental flights. However this may lead to more cost for cleaning. As it is now , the pillows and blankets have a long shelf life without ever being cleaned!

Also, how about eliminating the USAirways magazine? I have heard that advertisers pay for the magazine and it's basically free. Is that true? Don't we pay the publisher? Or offer the magazine every two months and keep the advertising.

Okay, this is a really radical attempt to make money. How about charging a fee to name our aircraft. Piedmont used to name their aircraft with Pacemaker names, ie Bluegrass Pacemaker, Potomac Pacemaker, Santee Pacemaker. So, perhaps a corporation, a locality, institution or even a person might want to name a plane. I'm not talking about painting a plane, but just a name or note near the nose or in front of the 1L door.

I'm just brainstorming folks.!

 

[orioleman]

Okay, this is a really radical attempt to make money. How about charging a fee to name our aircraft. Piedmont used to name their aircraft with Pacemaker names, ie Bluegrass Pacemaker, Potomac Pacemaker, Santee Pacemaker. So, perhaps a corporation, a locality, institution or even a person might want to name a plane. I'm not talking about painting a plane, but just a name or note near the nose or in front of the 1L door.

I'm just brainstorming folks.!

Hey that's the best idea I've heard in a long time . Keep brainstorming

 

[ANDROMEDA]

freedom,

You've got to be kidding. You seriously have to be kidding.

Out of all the possible ideas that one can come up with, that is the best you could bring? You said you work as a baggage handler. You probably get paid garbage as it is, are treated miserably by this company and you still suggest doing the executives a favor?

Something is just not right with your disclosure.

Sorry....

 

[ANDROMEDA]

Here are a few suggestions.

1)Remove all or most of the ovens of the airbus back galleys. This will probably reduce the weight of the aircraft.

2)Remove seatback pockets so that customers can no longer store trash in them. Print the safety demonstration information on the back of the tray table. I believe that one European low cost-carrier already does this.

As a result of the decreased garbage, the company will be able to reduce the cleaning staffing to perhaps even one only person for an entire A320, thus being able to renegociate that contract to lower cost on a permanent basis.

Discontinue the crappy onboard magazin - all it does, is kill more trees and create more pollution.

3)Automation, Automation, Automation..... Do like Delta does in some respect.... most of the gate agent functions have been automated. Normal attrition of ground staff can successfully be replaced with automation.

4)Discontinue printing unnecessary material.... Everything from crew news, bid packets to USToday/AboutUS etc. Most modern companies effectively communicate electronically. Crew news (must-reads) and other information can be relayed in the form of electronic notification during check-in.

5)Pay check stubs can also be discontinued and be made available online. Many companies already do this and were able to renegotiate their accounting and payroll services contracts. It saves on the whole distribution aspect as well. The company no longer will have to ship large amounts of paystubs all over the place.

6)Automation with regards to non-rev travel and deadheading. Do like Delta does. Employees, whether traveling non-rev or positive space, are not to have contact with customer service agents, unless there are unusual circumstances. Allow employees to effectively manage everything on their own. This shall include buying OAL tickets, buying upgrades, refunding tickets, refunding/cancelling buddy passes, checking-in for non-rev and deadheads as well as other positive space travel. This frees up the airport and reservation agents so that they can deal with paying customers - only.

7)Remove pillows and blankets. If you must, then sell those either at the airport or on the aircraft.

8)Discontinue pretzels. Sell softdrinks and juices if you must.

9)The little bit of recline that the seats already have - make it permanent. That one inch of recline is not worth the aggravation of people trying to force the seats back more than what they can, leading to broken seats and blocked rows as a result. Work with the FAA so that the seats can be manufactured with an already included inch of permanent recline. Seats will no longer be able to move forward or backwards, thus they will no longer break. This is what I call reinventing the travel experience. I believe that the whole FAA rule regarding seatback reclines comes from the age when seats used to recline 5 inches or more. Back in those days it was necessary to have a rule making sure that the seats are put back up. The FAR is outdated and no longer applies to the current seat reclines, thus the one inch recline should be made permanent.

 

[hp_fa]

Here are a few suggestions.

1)Remove all or most back galley airbus ovens. This will reduce the weight of the aircraft.

2)Remove seatback pockets so that customers can no longer store trash in them. Print the savety demonstration information on the back of the tray table. I believe that one European low cost-carrier already does this.

1) Will likely require a refiguring of the balance point of the aircraft since the aft galley is so far from the center of gravity and the weight is somewhat significant. The question is how much farther forward can the center of gravity move without exceeding the limits required for flight in all flight modes, especially, I believe, high angle of attack.

2) Just where do you think the customers will put their trash? Customers that put beverage cups in the seatback will otherwise place them on the floor. If the cups are not fully secured against loss of contents then the carpets become abnormally soiled, plus significant amounts of liquid, over time, may cause premature corrosion issues.

 

[Quickcall]

How about finally charging for special meals on flights to Europe? Most people don't know they ordered them for one reason or another and those who do remember usually want the regular meal. Amazing how many vegetarians prefer to have the beef entrée. On some flights there are 40+ special meals. Charge $5.00 per meal and that's $200.00 a flight for the special preparation. With 40 flights a day both ways that's $8000.00 a day based on those numbers. Even at half of that number it's $4000.00 a day, even on an off day it's $2000.00 a day. Take $2000.00 a day x 365 days and you get my point=$730,000.00 a year for meals that are wasted and never used. You get the children who are so spoiled they have to have a "special" meal even though they eat pasta at home three times a day. When it's time for "precious" to eat, they don't want anything to do with it. So instead of charging employees to non-rev, even to have lunch in San Francisco, let's charge for something that actually does not get used.

Since people will gladly shell out $5.00 for a Starbucks coffee at the airport and/or mall I don't think many who actually want a special meal will resist.

Ten years down the road we're talking over $7M in meals. I doubt BOB generates that much revenue.

 

[ANDROMEDA]

1) Will likely require a refiguring of the balance point of the aircraft since the aft galley is so far from the center of gravity and the weight is somewhat significant. The question is how much farther forward can the center of gravity move without exceeding the limits required for flight in all flight modes, especially, I believe, high angle of attack.

That doesn't mean it can't be done. Others have done it. Where there is a will, there is probably a way. US AIRWAYS is hauling around those ovens for nothing.

http://www.airliners.net/aviation-forums/g...d.main/2909568/


http://news.delta.com/article_display.cfm?article_id=10334

2) Just where do you think the customers will put their trash? Customers that put beverage cups in the seatback will otherwise place them on the floor. If the cups are not fully secured against loss of contents then the carpets become abnormally soiled, plus significant amounts of liquid, over time, may cause premature corrosion issues.

Don't say it can't be done. Just look at Ryanair of Ireland.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Ryanair/Boe...next_id=1274375


http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6098255/print/...splaymode/1098/

See the paragraph inside the article:

Over the next decade he did even better. In addition to adopting the Southwest approach of standardized planes and direct flights to outlying airports, O'Leary attacked costs. He eliminated seat-back pockets to make it easier to clean planes. There are no blankets or pillows onboard Ryanair. There are no free drinks or snacks—the company charges extra for everything. Feeling airsick? Plan ahead: vomit bags are distributed only by request. If your luggage weighs more than 35 pounds, you'll face stiff charges. There are no frequent-flier miles, no commissions for travel agents and no refunds. "He's trying to cut it down to exactly what the customer wants," says aviation consultant Michael Boyd, who half-jokingly adds that he wouldn't be surprised if Ryanair instituted pay toilets. Says O'Leary: "Our trick is: can we shave 30 cents per passenger? When you're serving 30 million passengers, that's an awful lot of money."

 

[2clippedwings]

Some of us remember "Ideas that Fly" and other programs that came before. In fact employees with working ideas received a portion of the savings for presenting the idea. Let them fish through some of those ideas.

Speaking for myself, I am absolutely unwilling to have the company take any more from me. No more.
I already qualify for public assistance which is reprehensible when working a full time safety related job.

I don't agree that it all comes down to oil. We've had the highest costs even after 2 bankruptcies.
The large payouts for unmerited rewards to top management are unacceptable. Let them earn their paychecks.

 

[freedom]

How about finally charging for special meals on flights to Europe? Most people don't know they ordered them for one reason or another and those who do remember usually want the regular meal. Amazing how many vegetarians prefer to have the beef entrée. On some flights there are 40+ special meals. Charge $5.00 per meal and that's $200.00 a flight for the special preparation. With 40 flights a day both ways that's $8000.00 a day based on those numbers. Even at half of that number it's $4000.00 a day, even on an off day it's $2000.00 a day. Take $2000.00 a day x 365 days and you get my point=$730,000.00 a year for meals that are wasted and never used. You get the children who are so spoiled they have to have a "special" meal even though they eat pasta at home three times a day. When it's time for "precious" to eat, they don't want anything to do with it. So instead of charging employees to non-rev, even to have lunch in San Francisco, let's charge for something that actually does not get used.

Since people will gladly shell out $5.00 for a Starbucks coffee at the airport and/or mall I don't think many who actually want a special meal will resist.

Ten years down the road we're talking over $7M in meals. I doubt BOB generates that much revenue.

wow that sounds like a really great idea! :cop:

 

[doing it on my knees]

Freedom,
Kudos first, for trying to do what people that get paid six figures don't do. That's something I love about my peers. We constantly think about our jobs, how to improve them, how to help make money etc.
Just think, as we speak there are probably a dozen VPs, executives and so on, teeing up. Not a word has been mentioned about improving our company or saving money. The biggest problem that they are trying to figure out is what slurpee to get at FAT TUESDAYS, I prefer the 190 octane.
As a person that watches the stock market and thinks about the business side of my job, I often try to come up with ideas on how to save/make money.
Charging to fly was something that I would say tongue in cheek. But it's all we have left.
Management should look in the mirror before looking down at us to help anymore. There's no reason for dozens if not hundreds of executives. They need to work with a skeleton crew like most of us have.
Morale is terrible and if they keep taking from us it will get worse. The ramp is finally getting some of it's due after years of taking it in the rear. The gate agents aren't even used to their new contract and already we're asking to start giving back? And we won't get into the Pilots and FAs.
I saw an interview with Herb Kelleher recently and he said that back in the 90s when we had a similiar oil crisis, WN employees took it upon themselves to start up some heart program to help the airline pay for gas. In return they got job security, profit sharing, and great morale. Would that work for us? Doubt it.
I mentioned in a different thread early retirements for 10yr + employees. It would save on the salary and insurance. Give them FREE flight benefits and call it a day.
I will now step off of my soapbox. thanks for listening.

 

[N965VJ]

This post goes out to all the advocates of nickel and dimeing out there:

How to fix the airline industry
Many CNNMoney.com readers say they'd tolerate higher fares if it meant better service. Are you listening airline execs?

By Paul R. La Monica, CNNMoney.com editor at large
May 23, 2008: 10:35 AM EDT

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- You get what you pay for. And that means you don't get much anytime you fly these days.

In yesterday's Buzz, I criticized companies like American Airlines , which just announced a $15 baggage-check charge, for finding new ways to annoy customers.

I sympathize with the plight of the airlines. Even when jet fuel was much cheaper, it was a tough business. Now, it's nearly impossible for airlines to make money.

Talkback: What do you think of new airline fees?
But instead of infuriating passengers with clever new fees for basic services, I suggested that the airline industry should end its decades-long practice of price wars and raise fares dramatically.

I figured consumers would be willing to pay higher ticket prices if it helped keep more airlines in business and also led to a better flying experience. Many of you agreed. Here's a sampling of what some readers had to say about the airline industry on our Talkback page.

Interestingly, many readers felt that big fare increases were not just long overdue, but would actually be welcomed...especially by airline workers.

"This is 2008, not 1968. And airline fares have remained basically the same for 40 years," wrote Clint from Palm Springs, Calif. "To do that, airline executives have cut all frills and forced drastic pay cuts on employees to subsidize cheap fares. Finally there is nothing left to cut and airline employees have endured so much, they are ready to riot. Fares MUST GO UP."

Link to the rest

 

[freedom]

This person is out of touch with America … they must be upper middle class or wealthy …

Paul R. La Monica
“I figured consumers would be willing to pay higher ticket prices if it helped keep more airlines in business and also led to a better flying experience.â€￾


This is the type of person who most likely has never been to a wal-mart and wonders what all the fuss is about wal-mart shutting down the small businesses ..I hope paul goes down to one of the small town main streets and tries giving THAT speech there .. LoL..

 

[sharktooth]

This person is out of touch with America … they must be upper middle class or wealthy …

Paul R. La Monica
“I figured consumers would be willing to pay higher ticket prices if it helped keep more airlines in business and also led to a better flying experience.”


This is the type of person who most likely has never been to a wal-mart and wonders what all the fuss is about wal-mart shutting down the small businesses ..I hope paul goes down to one of the small town main streets and tries giving THAT speech there .. LoL..

Did you ever think that the reason someone with a few bucks does not shop at Wal-Mart is because they know that items are more expensive over time there than, say, at a Costco? That may be why they have a few bucks as opposed to those with your thought process? (I would much sooner pay slightly more for an item knowing it will last four times what the cheaper item will last.)