More Filth & Lack Of Upkeep
- Thread starter vantheman63
- Start date
Less-short answer: As a lot of you know, I've worked with DOT data for years. One of my long-standing complaints about the way they classify complaints is their propensity to lump stuff into the "other" category. It was common for us to receive a complaint coded "OTHER-OTHER-OTHER-UNKNOWN." Or "FLIGHT PROBLEM-OTHER-OTHER-UNKNOWN." We had to read the entire letter, figure out what the customer was referencing, and translate it into US-speak to make sense of it. A very tedious process to deliver the level of specificity needed for Rakesh's dreaded "Weekly Quality Review."
All of that to say, based on the DOT's system of coding, one cannot derive an airline-to-airline comparison of aircraft interior condition complaints, as they appear to fall into the "other" category. See http://airconsumer.ost.dot.gov/reports/200.../200809ATCR.pdf (pages 39 and 43).
Short answer: No
Customer Relations would be the source for internal information on how many complaints there are on this subject.
In this instance, quantification of a qualified judgement is a waste of time.
The perception by customers is all that matters and I think you implied you understand customers are not happy but wanted that "quantified" before you take them seriously. When evaluating whether to book US or another carrier, perceived condition of an interior directly implies safety of flight to the average customer and an aware customer will always choose safety even if your ticket is less. E-ticket rides are for amusement parks, not airplanes.
Ding, ding, ding. Alarm bells going off. Somebody wanted "quantification"? Well, here it is.
Lipstick on a pig. I wonder how those wing spars look.......
I posted that my source was anecdotal, based on the number of flights I have taken on US and other carriers in the past two years.
However, I believe the DOT has some harder evidence of dissatisfaction among the customers of US Airways. As I remember in the latest statistics, US still had some work to do with regard to the high number of customer complaints.
and those are just the ones who take the time to complain. What about all the others voting with their feet?
Yes, yes. US is at the bottom of the barrel in the customer complaints category. As in dead last. As in worst.
That is what I thought, but decided to leave it to those really in the know.
N965VJ
Veteran
N965VJ
Veteran
I'm a playa, not a hata.
OP
vantheman63
Senior
- Thread Starter
- Thread starter
- #148
Well....two things....
(a.) I'm not a "US Airways hater." I'll admit I'm not a fan of the direction of the company and often shake my head in disbelief...but I don't "hate" the company
-and-
(b.) I have, in fact, seen duct tape on exactly ONE American Airlines airplane and 2 CO airplanes in the past 3 years....the AA tape was on a pannel in the F cabin on the starboard side bulkead...and the CO tape was on two aircraft...a B753 and a B735....
What I have seen is (a.) rolls and rolls and rolls of it and (b.) consistent duct tape jobs on, say, one in ever 5 or 6 airplanes I get on....and I fly CO easily triple what I fly US....
But I'm not a "US Airways hater," no way, no how.
FlyDCJets
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- Mar 21, 2006
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If you are not a US Airways hater, than why did you originally post this "Insult to Maintenance Intelligence"?
You don't understand maintenance operations, programs, and how we have to follow the letter of law. We are highly skilled, educated technicians who put our lives on the line every day, we don't cut corners. There are thousands of us behind the seen 24 hours a day 7 days a week that work on the aircraft and ensure they are in airworthy condition. We are FAA Licensed, and when we sign-off work, if something should occur we could lose our license, be fined, fired, and/or thrown in jail. Although the situation based on your original post was very unfortunate, we don't look for ways on how to make passengers life’s miserable. The duct tape was probably to secure some loose trim, to prevent a passenger from possibly getting poked in the eye or scratched in the face, cosmetically it does not good, but I'd rather have that than a passenger getting hurt.
Regards
DC
I don't think van aimed his post at mechanics, but at the structure in place. Passengers know you can only do with what tools you have. Ultimately, the decision to run for six weeks with duct tape is not one an individual mechanic can make.
It is the cheap attitude on the part of those deciding how little in the way of resources that will break this airline and not individual employees. It is the cheap attitude that reduces margins to the point that operational volatility is inevitable, with all the attendant risks of injury or death. Those making those decisions need to held accountable, in a criminal way, if appropriate.
