Massive Psa Cancelations

[tadjr]

I keep copy's of Consumer Affairs address and the name and address of Bruce Lakefield and pass them out daily to irate customers with my apology for the mess corp. management as ALLOWED to happen. Do the same, and I assure you, maybe that will get the attention of all our "talented" exec's.

h34r: Dont give out C.A.s address, they are too busy to deal with this. I was scolded for saying I gave it out (even though they didnt bother to find out WHY I give it out). You dont want a PM chastizing you for not being able to correct ALL of USAirways problems while you're working your flight and own problems now do you?

 

[WestCoastGuy]

We handle problems locally also, but thats the JOB of Consumer Affairs to deal with complaints and suggestions from customers. If my manager ever threatened me because of giving information such as their address to a customer, when it is easily available in the Attache Magazine and SOLICITS feedback from our customers, I would grieve that all the way to Crystal Palace. Besides, our station manager barely knows where our gates are located. The only time he's there is when he's catching a flight back to his home. He throws us to the wolves, coz he knows he dont want to get involved with those pesky customers and their complaints about our service.

 

[tadjr]

If my manager ever threatened me because of giving information such as their address to a customer, when it is easily available in the Attache Magazine and SOLICITS feedback from our customers, I would grieve that all the way to Crystal Palace.

It wasnt the station manager having a fit, I dont think he minds as long as its not a local issue. He certainly has enough to deal with without having to take on someone elses problems.

It was someone on the board who thinks CA is too overworked right now. Hmmmm, wonder why that could be? Any guesses? :unsure:

 

[ClueByFour]

Clue- did you mean the agent working the INTL flight in PHL wanted it pushed on time? The agents are told we dont wait, even though we often manage to find something to delay (printer breaks no paperwork until everyone shows up, etc) because we have to have ON TIME no matter what, even though you're walking down the hall. Of course, management given the directive isnt the one who has to deal with the customer then. :down:
I've had a few times where passenger coordination has agreed to a hold, but there has to be a large number of people involved. CLT is also very good on the last bank of the night if needed sometimes. PHL- forgetaboutit.

Indeed, the agent working the flight.

Now, here is a destination (BGI) that only gets one flight a day from PHL, and there is virtually no other way down there short of a multi-airline two-step via SJU or the like (perhaps AA via MIA, did not bother to check).

In any event, the morning in question had seen ground stops into PHL all morning and the Cleveland ARTCC decided a reboot of practically everything was in order. My contention was that nothing was going to get into PHL (except, of course, the BGI aircraft itself which must have RON-ed in PHL).

I don't know how, but subsequent conversations lead me to believe the flight crew was made aware of it (that would be me, pulling an OJ thru PHL) in addition to the agent at the gate. I'm assuming that the CP desk was responsible for this (the CP desk is perhaps the biggest reason I can give anyone to fly US frequently anymore, but I digress).

Even if they had pushed off the gate, they'd simply sit with the brakes reset, since the departure line in PHL was about 20 aircraft deep, even once the flight got into it.

Had the agent been able to push that flight, US would have paid an extremely high price to some other airline/airlines to get me to BGI in one form or another. Much more than the value of my ticket.

Moral of the story? All 1/day flights to the islands should run ex-CLT.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

We handle problems locally also, but thats the JOB of Consumer Affairs to deal with complaints and suggestions from customers.

Many stations "encourage" local staff to give the address of the local mgr or someone designated handle customer feedback. It helps to make the local statiion stats look good, but also hides problems from Ms Thompson's office. She actually does have more pull than local mgmt to get other departments to address problems. Having a local person to handle a strictly local problem is one thing, but anthing else should go to to CA. The local address can be used for a CC.

BTW, that goes for compliments, too.

Clue, I'm glad that you made your flight. (even if is cost the station a "ding" on their on stats. It's not uncommon for the gate to pull the jetway (after being sure to ask the captain to release the parking brake) even if it is known that there will be an ATC delay. As I mentioned earlier, some captains - if advised connecting customers are runinng - will help out.

Another cost we will never know: rerouting customers who have been left behind in order to protect on time goals. (I am not suggesting holding everthing for 30 minutes. But a plane leaving 10 minutes late will still get to the destination on time in most case.

 

[BoeingBoy]

Dont call me Shirley,

FWIW, the old "close the door and release the brakes" trick doesn't work any more - at least not on the 737. ACARS is using wheel spin as the out time, so we've got to move to get "out".

And you're right about a 10 minute late departure usually being on time at the other end. Most times there enough "pad" in the schedule to make it up. A case of spending crew productivity to buy on time performance.

Jim

 

[mweiss]

Another cost we will never know: rerouting customers who have been left behind in order to protect on time goals.

The short-term cost is probably low in most cases, but someone who is rerouted often will reconsider the choice of airline.

I think it's a much bigger deal if you're late going into a hub than leaving one. Of course, if you leave a hub late enough, you'll be returning to the hub late, too. But within reason, it's a good decision to hold for an outbound flight.

Most times there enough "pad" in the schedule to make it up. A case of spending crew productivity to buy on time performance.

This one's a hard choice to make. You don't want to pad too much because that's costing money in ground time. OTOH, if you don't pad enough, a small problem cascades into being hours late by the end of the day.

From my own personal observations, it seems that NW has the most significant padding at the hubs. At both DTW and MSP, I've seen airplanes sit at the gate for close to an hour between the last incoming passenger deplaning and the first outbound passenger enplaning.

 

[BoeingBoy]

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear on what I meant by "pad". I was talking about the extra time built into the scheduled block time for a flight, not the scheduled ground time (or sitting on the gate time).

In April and May my actual flying time for the month averaged 6 hours less than my scheduled flying time for the month. That's the total of how long the legs took to actually fly vs how long they were scheduled for.

With the weather in June and July, that's dropped some. June was 4 hours less actual than scheduled, July looks like it'll be about 3 hours less (though with half my month left it could go either way).

Jim

 

[mweiss]

I'm sorry, I should have been more clear on what I meant by "pad". I was talking about the extra time built into the scheduled block time for a flight, not the scheduled ground time (or sitting on the gate time).

So'm I. On good weather days, the airplanes often get to the gates in DTW or MSP 20+ minutes early. I think NW pads a bit more because they have pretty severe weather hubs...but I'm just guessing.

 

[Heinrich]

Looking up at the monitors this morning, there seemed to be half as many of these cancellations through PHL at least. But I don't see the full picture...

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

This thread has drifted a bit since it was started. In the meantime the PSA cancelations continue by the score every day! I wonder if there is any light at the end of the tunnel (other than the headlight of an oncoming locomotive!)

Not only are there the daily planned crew cancelations (now planned several days out) but there are "spot" crew cancelations as well. Word from PIT tonight has iit that a PSA flight cancelled just two hours before departure (while connceting customers were winging their way in from around the system) because the first officer suddenly became unavailable. Of course no reserve pilot available for a back-up.

Another 40 people overnighted. Some not getting to their destination until the next evening.

Folks, this simply has to stop. We have enough problems already. The express division people at CCY need to have a "sit down" with the PSA mgmt in DAY and decide just how many flight they can support for the next month or so. And then adjust the sked accordingly.

(and the question I asked at the start of this thread "how much is all this costing" will never be revealed to the rank and file)

 

[tadjr]

(and the question I asked at the start of this thread "how much is all this costing" will never be revealed to the rank and file)

Sounds like another good topic for the Cockroaches to talk about. It involves Customer Service and costs which means something else is gonna take a hit to offset the costs of this fiasco.

 

[Brownstreak]

PSA is having us all re-bid for August because of all these problems. Apparently they based the bid on the number of A/C we had, not the number of crews we had trained to fly them, hence the problem. With any hope it will get better. Our head of crew resources resigned this week (long overdue) so hopefully we are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.

 

[deelmakur]

No pun intended, but the place is rudderless. Express operation has never been a day at the beach, and this simply underscores the systemic nature of the problem. Meantime, a linchpin of the recovery of the line is expanded use of these services. Knowing they wait for nobody, you book destinations like BGI at your own peril. Even if you make the thing at the last minute, if you're in the front cabin, they probably already gave your seat to someone. And be prepared to be told the late arrival of your flight (often Express) is your fault. While this is all going on, somebody at scheduling is creating more 30 minute connections at PHL.

 

[tadjr]

While this is all going on, somebody at scheduling is creating more 30 minute connections at PHL.

Thats because it looks good on paper or in the computer.

Do you ever think there might be too much BOOK LEARNING and not enough common sense or real world experience around here? A 25 min conx in TPA can even be a problem sometimes and the gates are only 100 feet apart, let alone 3 terminals and a bus ride. :down: