My supervisor has to call their supervisor then he calls. . .

[Dont call me Shirley]

And now for my monthly rant, I've noticed an increase in agents requesting to board 'a little early'. To the tune of about 10 mins or so (seems coincidental to me since they want to close the door 10 mins early). ..since I've noticed this trend within the last couple months. Please fellow F/A group, do not give them this option and follow your contract. If they cannot board an airplane in the alloted time, it's not our problem.
Thanks.

That would be right around the time that agents started getting even more pressure fom mgmt for closing the door on time. On time meaning - in many cases - 10 minutes or more before scheduled departure.

 

[flybynite]

And now for my monthly rant, I've noticed an increase in agents requesting to board 'a little early'. To the tune of about 10 mins or so (seems coincidental to me since they want to close the door 10 mins early). I would remind every F/A on here to stick to your contract of the 30-35-45 minute rule. I for one pull out my cell phone and make sure that the time on my phone is just that before I allow anyone on the plane. If you do the math, and have a 5 leg day, you've just given the company 50mins for FREE!. I'm sending a letter to MF regarding this, since I've noticed this trend within the last couple months. Please fellow F/A group, do not give them this option and follow your contract. If they cannot board an airplane in the alloted time, it's not our problem.
Thanks.

Oh yeah, they've been doing that for a couple of months now. I don't know if it's because so many of them are new and don't know the rules well yet, or they're just trying to get finished early so they can take a break before their next flight. Never mind that 10 min. is my break time and I'm trying to eat my lunch or dinner without someone breathing down my neck.

But, there are plenty of agents that are very aware of our "down time" and will not violate boarding times.

 

[blue collar]

any maintenance on an a/c requires a write up. if i write up a light bulb, then i'm going to defer it rather than change it. remember, cost neutral = effort neutral.

 

[galley princess]

sigh. So that's how it is?

Okay. I can respect that, even if y'all did just ratify a contract.

I have to tell you that while I understand the impulse, while you're sticking it to the company you're also jacking me too. I am the one answering for Tempe's mess for 8-9 hours. I guess my standard answer will have to be something in the vein of "USairways is a low cost carrier, we have limited ground time and that is manifested in items not getting addressed. Please write Doug Parker . . . "

Beautiful.

 

[CLT CS AGENT]

sigh. So that's how it is?

Okay. I can respect that, even if y'all did just ratify a contract.

I have to tell you that while I understand the impulse, while you're sticking it to the company you're also jacking me too. I am the one answering for Tempe's mess for 8-9 hours. I guess my standard answer will have to be something in the vein of "USairways is a low cost carrier, we have limited ground time and that is manifested in items not getting addressed. Please write Doug Parker . . . "

Beautiful.

That is exactly what we in CLT did after the res. system change and each time a passenger was disgruntled..give them the telephone # and address in Tempe'. If DP wants to run a company like this, he and his people can answer for it. We kept a copy of the address and number for Consumer Relations and the FAA at the ticket counter, Special Services, and most of the boarding gates. We would hand it out each time the passenger had a legitimate complaint about the New US. Maybe Flight Attendants should also keep this information and hand it out. Could you imagine the number of complaints Tempe' and the FAA would recieve??!?!? Maybe after the number of complaints spike again they might do something. At one point about a year ago, Tempe hired temporary employees to handle the large number of complaints sent to Consumer Relations. Good Luck to yall!

 

[sharktooth]

That's ABSOLUTELY WRONG. Only SAFETY OF FLIGHT items are REQUIRED to be written up. In fact there is a cabin logbook that other "nice-to-have" stuff goes in. It only gets looked at at the end of the day. If mechanics DO fix something, they can write it up or request the pilots do so.

Been that way forever.

I always find a way to enter everything in the big book.

Cabin logbook is a joke.

 

[sharktooth]

That would be right around the time that agents started getting even more pressure fom mgmt for closing the door on time. On time meaning - in many cases - 10 minutes or more before scheduled departure.

Remember that recent SEC filing that detailed rewards for executives for certain categories? A bonus of 200% of his pay, on top of his pay? One category was "on time departure"?

Heh, heh. You guys know what to do.

 

[blue collar]

placing a reading light on nef is not meant to 'jack' you. they are not high on my list of priorities, or anyone elses for that matter, since we dont get gate calls for them. thats why you have a blue book to write them up in. the only time we hear about lights is while performing other mx, and the lights are always 'by the way' nickel and dime items. usually by the time we can address the issue, the plane has to go.
on the other hand, while dealing with broken items is part of my job, customer service is part of your job. i agree that you should forward all complaints to consumer relations and or the faa.
as far as the contract is concerned, it is the definition of cost neutral; and not all mechanics voted yes on it, so obviously not all are happy with it. it is now a thing of the past that we must deal with, each in our own way.

 

[galley princess]

Blue Collar, I agree with you that this is little stuff in the grand scheme. I just remember the fond old days when stuff worked, or if it didn't you guys fixed it, airplanes were staffed, people were reasonably happy at work and agents could call catering without Big Brother hovering. Our departures were on time without the agents being terrorized and the mechanics didn't mind fixing lightbulbs quickly before departure.'

I know those days are gone, but I just found it mind boggling the whole supervisor calling supervisor stuff. I get it, this is our new reality.

I meant no disrespect to what you do, I just get tired of answering for a lousy company. You're right, my job is customer service. The reality is, for the customer it's like buying something that cost you a chunk of change. You get it home and you put it together and one piece is missing. It still works, and you're busy, so you don't take it back to the store and just deal with it, but it bugs you. Well unlike the store, I get to be there as it bugs them. Throw in a non functional video system, lousy screw top wine, seats that are too close together . . . Do you start getting the picture? From a customer perspective, US is a train wreck. And I'm the conductor.


BTW, I'm sorry that you got a lousy contract.

 

[ALCARLOS]

I am the one answering for Tempe's mess for 8-9 hours. I guess my standard answer will have to be something in the vein of "USairways is a low cost carrier, we have limited ground time and that is manifested in items not getting addressed. Please write Doug Parker . . . "

Could lead fAs be trained to change light bulbs?

 

[YVINTERN]

Could lead fAs be trained to change light bulbs?

They could...I mean we could train Monkeys to change light bulbs but the Lead FAs are too busy applying makeup or chatting the cute nonrev in Envoy up with their layover information.

 

[jetmech01890]

Okaaaaaaaaaaay, so all of those years when the mechanics fixed the lightbulbs for me they were violating FARs? BTW, we volunteered to put it in the logbook for them if they wanted it that way. They still said no. I get what you're saying, write it in the logbook, but sometimes they don't get discovered till too late, so this means you can't change a lightbulb?

Sorry, I don't buy it.

I do understand them not having a lot of turnaround time and prioritizing, but FARs against changing a lightbulb?

hey princess seems you asked the wrong mech 9 times out of 10 the napkin note works for me then I enter it in the log book and fixem he must have been one of those up tight dinosaurs lumbering round besides you sound hot

 

[blue collar]

princess, i hear ya. you guys got a tough job, always having to make excuses for the company. im glad i dont have to be shut in a plane with the complaining for a few hours at a time. and its not their fault for complaining, they arent getting the service they thought they had purchased. at the same time though, you get what you pay for. pay for a cheap ticket, then you fly cheap. nothing you or i can do about it, people expect more bang for their buck.
as for the sup's, i totally agree. they're so fat on sup's here, its ridiculous. i remember at aa they had about half the sup's, and they were still fat on mgmt. they need to trim the fat.

 

[allstrike]

Sorry, I don't buy it.

I do understand them not having a lot of turnaround time and prioritizing, but FARs against changing a lightbulb?

Princess,back in the old days you would have got the lights fixed,things have changed though.Heres the whole picture.Any mechanic can make a log book entry and fix a light bulb.That sounds simple,the truth is its not any more.
Usairways even pre Tempe has always used the policy of dont mess with it on through flts if you dont have to,fear of delays plays in here.

If I as a mechanic came out and was told about your problem made a log book entry and tried to fix it,and heaven forbid blew some breakers or anything out of the ordinary happened now we have a MX issue.People start to get stressed,you know that.If it runs into a delay,I get stuck with it.

Even if the lead and the supp are ok with doing the work,We get the delay if something goes wrong.All the fingers will point back to the guy who screwed up changing a light bulb,lol.Now if it was a bulb in a PSU and the PSU broke,now we have big problems.Either change the PSU if we have it or MEL it.Now that means someone isnt going flying today,cause that seat or seats now have to be blocked off,safety issue here.And all the fingers point back to the guy who broke the PSU and lost revenue for 3 people and caused a delay on a through flt....wow.

In other words my job is at risk because I tried to fix an a/c...the only person that ever gets in trouble is the guy who tries to fix an a/c cause hes the only one doing anything.Doing nothing if it doesnt have to be done is better then blowing it when it doesnt have to be done in the eyes of the overseers.

Things have changed. :down: :down: :down:

 

[allstrike]

hey princess seems you asked the wrong mech 9 times out of 10 the napkin note works for me then I enter it in the log book and fixem he must have been one of those up tight dinosaurs lumbering round besides you sound hot

Yeppers silence is golden, get er done.