Just a friendly reminder UW,
FFOCUS stands for:
Frequent Flyers Organized & Committed to US Airways Success
By our name alone it should be clear that we are on your side. Yet like many airline Management Types you seem to take the view that the customer is the enemy. I just can't grasp that attitude.
To me a customer is like a flower bed. You take good care of the flower bed, water it, fertilize it and the plants grow and bloom with beautiful flowers. Don't take care of the flower bed and you get smaller blooms and lots of unwanted weeds.
Employee Satisfaction and customer satisfaction are not mutally exclusive. In fact I would argue the opposite, that they are intertwined to the point that they are inseperable. Consider the times on here when the employees state how easy it is to deal with a Chairman's Preferred. Some in the Sandcastle clearly feel opposites, that we are free loading whinners. So it's kind of funny that those who have the most contact feel the opposite. Why do you think that is?
Is it because you refuse to have a dialog with your best customers? That we have to pitch a fit on the internet to make ourselves heard?
I'll sum it up in the words of a older man from down TX way, perhaps you've heard of him? Goes by the name of Herb Kelleher. Here is what he has to say regarding employees, customers and investors. Ponder this if you will?
S+B: Not to deny the importance of intangibles, but what’s the source of Southwest’s cost advantage?
KELLEHER: Now, how do you get low costs? Through a lot of things, including the inspiration that you give your people, their productivity, the fact that they feel that they’re doing something that is really significant and that they enjoy. If you take all of Southwest’s compensation together — wage rates, profit sharing, the full 401(k) match, the stock options that our people have —
S+B: Virtually all of the major U.S. airlines have tried to copy you at some point. None of them has come remotely close. What’s so hard? It looks like it ought to be a pretty simple model.
KELLEHER: We’ve had many airlines that professed that they were going to be low-fare carriers. There’s only one problem: They had high costs. You can do that, but Chapter 11 is your destiny.
I think the difficulty for them is the cultural aspect of it. That cannot be duplicated. One of the things that demonstrates the power of people is when the United Shuttle took out after us in Oakland. They had all the advantages. I mean, they had first-class seats for those who don’t want to fly anything but first class. They had a global frequent flyer program, which we did not have. They probably spent $25 million or $30 million on their advertising campaign. I probably have something like a thousand letters at my office that tell you why they finally receded from Oakland. Those letters say, “Herb, I tried them, but I just like your people more, so I’m back.†Don’t ever doubt, in the customer service business, the importance of people and their attitudes.
With the attitude you displayed in your reply to Art it is clear to me that US will NEVER have the quality of work life required to deliver truly world class Customer Service. Break down and buy a copy of "Flight of the Pacemaker" and take the time to read and learn how great an airline can be. Wouldn't surprise me to learn that Herb K got his ideas from Piedmont. Just ponder if you will, having the Star Alliance & F/C just how powerful US Airways would be if it treated it's employees right.
