New FC meals - where's the promotion?

[EricLv2Fish]

PRIOR to the merger, AWA brought food back by way of vendor. The vendor takes all the risks (and I suppose the profits) from serving meals. That was the AWA deal for food. Better service, no risk to AWA...pretty smart. Could be the vendor was asked by the Sandcastle to try something better for FC? Dunno.

 

[UWCactus]

Well UW thanks for the "Master of the Obvious" statement regarding Revenue. A plausable reason for the upgrade in Meals could be ALL about Revenue, as in the loss of high yield revenue that more than outweighs the cost of delivery.

If AZ Jetdudes figures are correct and there is a specific cost associted in backing up the catering truck, the off loading of Cavier versus Alpo really isn't all that big a deal as what we are talking about is the incremental cost differential between what was and what will be. If You raise the cost of each meal by say $3.00 you're talking about an incremental increase of $36.00 on a 737 up to $78.00 on the 321's. Or put another way you need to make sure the F/A's push another 6 Buy on boards on a 737 or 11 on a 321 for the upgrade to be revenue neutral.

Now if an additional $78 bollars in cost cause ONE person per flight to spend oh say double the bottom of th barrel coach fare to say SFO then I think the value proposition is pretty clear.

This is why I get so venomous on here. I HATE when the Management apologists get on here and insult out intelligence. We can count too and some of us don't even need to take off our shoes when we get past 10.
Hate to break the news but it is possible to earn a free ticket from merely dining at select restaurants. There is a program called Dividend Miles Dining. Just got an e-mail from them today with a listing of new restaurants in my area.

The company that does that program buys miles from US Airways and that's one way that the DM Program is a PROFIT CENTER for US Airways, not a cost center as so many employees are led to believe by management that outright lies on this issue.

Great math..but don't forget US only gets a fraction of what BOB brings in. As Eric said...the airline (America West) was not going to bring back food to coach at all. The catering companies couldn't have this, they wouldn't make any money..so they foot the bill, the own the food, they take the money except for a few cents. And if you think a rise in food costs of $3.00 isn't a lot...take another look at your numbers to include hundreds of flight a day and then look at the bottom line. It adds up...and a rise in fuel costs by one penny will impact that even greater.

 

[whlinder]

Which frankly I'm OK with, It's their assigned seats or lack thereof that keeps me off them.

So what is it going to take to get you out to SAN and try WN with assigned seats?

 

[mbmbbost]

People expect too much. Food? On an 8 PM flight? Really? If you visit a friend's home after 8 PM, do you expect a meal? (not counting an invite for a meal, of course)

Absurd.

Oh...OK...I guess I will have dinner at about 3 pm before I leave for the airport in BOS, park, wait for the flight, stress about delays in PHL, run to catch my flight in PHL. It's not as though the trip starts at 8 PM for a lot of us. 8 PM is often just the first chance I've had to sit and relax for a while in the past several hours. I'd guess many people, if not most, have already been travelling for several hours before they get on that 8 PM flight, and may very well not have time between flights to grab something in the airport.

 

[SS255]

I agree with the other poster that something on a PHL-Florida flight is warranted in FC.

Especially when you factor in the amount of time spent sitting on the tarmac in PHL, waiting in line to take off.

 

[Art at ISP]

First of all, I just arrived in SAN, and experienced the new catering first hand. It is certainly an improvement over what was. It actually seems like there's more to each serving as well. Ravioli Alfredo was a stretch, but it's good hearty food..no complaints here.

The FA did mention that they now have to assemble the entire meal tray one by one, rather than having them preassembled as they used to be. Perhaps they should make the setups complete except for the entree, and then just plate the entree? This is just from a workflow perspective for the crews, not a criticism.

As usual, I had a wonderful crew this morning, and enjoyed chatting with them after the service. PLUS, I had the unheard of experience of flying on a JET out of Islip this morning...36 min runway to runway!!
Now THAT's progress...

So it is an enhancement for sure, just not perhaps one I would think they'd need to advertise or publicize--but definitely a step in the right direction.

My best to you all...

 

[Travelpro72]

leaving PHL or CLT to DFW around 5:30pm is in the meal window. You should have a two choice meal selection. Bon appetite....

 

[UWCactus]

First of all, I just arrived in SAN, and experienced the new catering first hand. It is certainly an improvement over what was. It actually seems like there's more to each serving as well. Ravioli Alfredo was a stretch, but it's good hearty food..no complaints here.

The FA did mention that they now have to assemble the entire meal tray one by one, rather than having them preassembled as they used to be. Perhaps they should make the setups complete except for the entree, and then just plate the entree? This is just from a workflow perspective for the crews, not a criticism.

As usual, I had a wonderful crew this morning, and enjoyed chatting with them after the service. PLUS, I had the unheard of experience of flying on a JET out of Islip this morning...36 min runway to runway!!
Now THAT's progress...

So it is an enhancement for sure, just not perhaps one I would think they'd need to advertise or publicize--but definitely a step in the right direction.

My best to you all...

When catering plates the food and makes the tray ready to deliver...it adds to the cost. FA's have plenty of time to make up the tray...it's a pain, but it's very easy to do in the long run.

 

[Art at ISP]

UW,

You may have a point, but it might be penny wise and pound foolish. I am not sure the amount saved would make a significant difference but it would make the FA's life a little easier, and remember--a happy employee means a happy customer.

So which department in Tempe do you work in?????

Feel free to PM me at any time.....a DIALOG would be a good thing.

 

[UWCactus]

UW,

You may have a point, but it might be penny wise and pound foolish. I am not sure the amount saved would make a significant difference but it would make the FA's life a little easier, and remember--a happy employee means a happy customer.

So which department in Tempe do you work in?????

Feel free to PM me at any time.....a DIALOG would be a good thing.

Come on Art, you're stretching this....a flight attendant is either a good FA or not, a meal whether it is pre-plated or not, will not make a flight attendant happier. A good employee will simply deal with it..keep in mind we are talking about flights that are over 3 hours long on domestic routes. If it takes a pre-plated meal to make a flight attendant happy....then we have some bigger problems to deal with.

 

[Art at ISP]

No need to be so defensive, UW.

I was just making a point which I heard from a couple of FA's, and am just putting it out there. It matters not to me which way it's done, as long as it's consistent.

Personally, the new meal service represents an improvement in the inflight service, and I am happy for that.

Like I said, we are on the same side here UW...and I'd be happy to talk to you off line....

 

[UWCactus]

No need to be so defensive, UW.

I was just making a point which I heard from a couple of FA's, and am just putting it out there. It matters not to me which way it's done, as long as it's consistent.

Personally, the new meal service represents an improvement in the inflight service, and I am happy for that.

Like I said, we are on the same side here UW...and I'd be happy to talk to you off line....

Not being defensive here, just making a point that you read things on this board, which are generally complaints of some type or another. If you write anything positive you're a "kool aid drinker".

Flight attendants come in all shapes, sizes, attitudes, backgrounds, levels of happiness and reasons for doing what they do. Some do the job, simply because they love the flexibility and the time off, others do it because they get to travel. Believe it or not..many do it because they love the job overall. As in any profession, you have the good, the bad and the ugly. No matter the field of the profession

 

[tadjr]

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.

Come on Bob, you're getting plenty of manure in the flower bed, you ought to be bloomin your head off by now. h34r:

 

[UWCactus]

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.

OK Bob....I think you should re-read my posts to Art. This was about first class food and his comment about pre-plating and a happier flight attendant. Please don't go off on me here for no reason. If you only knew how I feel about customers. You would take back every word of what you wrote. I am in no position to change the corporate culture of this company. I have made my contributions and comments to those that are in charge of that area and thats all I will say. To say that my attitude seems to be that the customer is the enemy is such a ridiculous statement after all of my posts that it is hardly worth a reply. There are two dominant characters on this board that seem to think the airline simply revolves around them. Even Herb Kelleher stands up against a customer now and then, to support his employees.

 

[USCREW]

Pre-plating is not done for the convenience of the F/As. It is done for the consistency of presentation and for the speed of delivery. Even on a three hour or eight hour flight, passengers do not want their courses to come one at a time, row after row, over a long stretch of time. Not only are we plating individual items, we get stopped often while serving them for numerous drinks requests and tray pick-ups. It is not as if we have all the time in the world, and passengers have more things to do inflight than eat.