Off to Tempe

[Fly4Free]

Maybe we'll consider turning things around for JBU! :groovy:

haha I hope not.

Or we could become PanAm 😀

 

[as the prop turns]

Uh....USAir/USAirways was never a great airline. Mediocre maybe, but never great.

Uh...Yeah it was

 

[CLTBWIDAYSYR]

Art, allow me to add my thanks to you as well. It is people like you who keep my payroll check coming and I appreciate it. I can only pray that Tempe listened and took good notes. I had a CP tell me on the plane yesterday that our particular flight was his last on US. He had given up on management and had grown weary of empty promises and lies from them. Since he has to connect regardless of where he goes (and isn't held hostage to US like some biz travelers in CLT), he contacted AirTran, told them of his background and how often he flies, and they gave him elite status there. After this week, he will be flying them instead of us.

 

[as the prop turns]

Hey Art,

On behalf of all the am agents in PHL we are all cheering you on and praying you get thru to these "young turks"!

I spoke to quite a few CP's today and they are very frustrated, pissed off yet very compasionate towards us. I do what I can, but it is like an up hill battle. I'm so tired of cleaning up managements mess all the time and having to apologize for their stupid ignorance. There are so many senior USAir/Piedmont/PSA that are from the "old school" that are desperate to have their imput heard, however THEY just agree with you to your face yet nothing EVER gets done.

Love ya Art! Best of luck! The club girls say Hi!

 

[Ramp Rat]

Or we could become PanAm 😀

Well we do have Mr. Mule. I think were ready.

 

[Squonk]

Unfortunately sad but true Squonk, employees can be such a great source of solutions to complex problems if only someone would listen.

Piney, I agree completely! Many of us have been around since DP was in puberty. We expressed our deep concerns for the anticipated problems the migration would muster. Our concern with insignificant training and the brilliant plan to move the migration forward even though the planned "fixes" were not ready. Our concerns went on deaf ears, yet our predictions rang painfully true. I affirm that no matter what they do to this system, it will not be as efficient and customer friendly as Sabre. Perhaps native Shares is a solution, or switch back to Sabre and teach QIK/Sabre to the newbies. I think DP was fed a bunch of crap and we and our customers are paying the price.

B)

 

[Art at ISP]

I am sorry this took so long to post, but I didn't have internet access at all yesterday after the meeting, and I had a wonderful dinner with two good friends which did not leave me time to check in from the club prior to my redeye home. PLUS, while I was away, my wife and daughter had the unimaginable task of having to decide to put our dog to sleep--which they had to do without me--so forgive me if I am a little distracted.

Bottom line----I think yesterday was an important first step. I do not think that they thought things were as bad as they are (or at least wouldn't readily admit that they knew), but when the meeting was over, there was no doubt that they are now aware that things are much worse than they thought. I laid things out in black and white--I printed comments that many of you sent me (with permission of course), and gave Elise and Travis some hard copy to reflect on.

At no point did the meeting take on the confrontational or argumentative tone that had previously been attributed to Travis. He seemed eager to hear what I had to say, and was open to my suggestions and requests, but time will tell if any materialize.

We did have a couple of laughs--I did tell him that the letter he sent last weekend to DM members was nominated for the Pulitzer Prize in fiction, and he did see the humor.

I gave them the AZ Republic story about recovering from a snafu (3 steps), and told them in no uncertain terms that they were 0 for 3 in their response to recent problems.

Without going into great analytical detail (sorry my head isn't into it this morning), I will summarize as follows:

They heard what I had to say loud and clear (including the rough amount of revenue at risk) and they know the competition is smelling blood

They have some suggestions on how they can reach out and make some gestures toward Preferred members to try to atone

They know they need to act fast--that people are fed up, and we will not wait very long for tangible results

We did discuss competition (old and new), and they are now aware in more detail on how they are perceived by their best customers

Time will tell if/how they respond, but if asked for my gut feeling, I think that they realize that we mean business and they need to do something.

Finally, I said many times during the meeting that they cannot have happy customers without happy employees, and that they need to do a better job of giving the front line folks the tools they need to do their jobs (I mentioned better pay, but acknowledged that was outside my purview).

So--on a scale of 1 to 10 I give this meeting an 8--now let's see how they respond. I'll keep you all posted.

As my head gets back to normal, I will review more notes and provide some specifics.

I hope this helps.......and thanks for your patience.

Best,
Art

PS--the line about knowing the price of everything and the value of nothing is reverberating through their heads--as is the "perception is reality" statement...

 

[phillyphlyer]

Uh....USAir/USAirways was never a great airline. Mediocre maybe, but never great.

typical west attitude...here we have someone willing to go to Tempe to try to improve things for everyone involved...customers and employess alike and all you can do is bash the east(USAIRWAYS)...we on the east complain about the tools we have and lament what could be ..just check out all the other threads...and the west comes back and bashes the employees for complaining making it personal...I for one hope someone can get thru to mgmnt..because they are definetly not listening to us...and this is typical west attitude I fear for our survival

 

[SKY HIGH]

PLUS, while I was away, my wife and daughter had the unimaginable task of having to decide to put our dog to sleep--which they had to do without me--so forgive me if I am a little distracted.

sky high states: Sorry for your loss, Art. You lost a member of the family.
Just yesterday, I had to put my cat to sleep. He enriched my life for 18 years.

{{{{{ART}}}}}


only stating opinions.

 

[wildirishrose]

Art,
Thank you for doing this! It's so great we have someone in our corner willing to do this for us! It was also great meeting you yesterday and hearing what you had to say. I have a feeling this is just the start of many meetings with management and if they are smart they will listen to you!nnYou are "our" voice. My condolences about your dog.

 

[Charlie_Tuna]

I am not sure if I should start a new topic on this or not but what exactly Art is ffocus wanting from USAirways. What would you like to see and what is the the absolute minimum that would be acceptable?

 

[PhxMama]

I also had the pleassure of meeting Art yesterday. Its always nice to put a face to a name. Its even better to meet someone who cares enough to take the time away from his own life to make everyones life better. I couldnt tell you if things will get better but I can tell you that with customers like Art, we CAN soar to the top of the industry. Those of you that have the pleasure of seeing Art on a continuous basis, I envy you your job. Mama

 

[PA18]

They heard what I had to say loud and clear (including the rough amount of revenue at risk) and they know the competition is smelling blood...


...We did discuss competition (old and new), and they are now aware in more detail on how they are perceived by their best customers.

Art,

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of everyone, and I am very sorry for the loss of your "family member", as another poster so accurately put it.

You are spot on with the observations quoted above. Here is a story from an American Express SkyGuide e-mail I received today:


JetBlue may start courting business travelers, corporate accounts

JetBlue Airways CEP David Neeleman told a group of corporate travel managers in New York last week that his airline is planning to make some changes in its policies and fares to appeal more to the needs of business travelers. According to the trade publication Business Travel News, Neeleman told the managers that JetBlue is "in the process of rolling out a program" that would reserve some preferred seats on the airline's all-coach Airbus planes for passengers who book at the last minute and thus pay the highest fares. The preferred places would include aisle seats in the front of the aircraft - an area where JetBlue offers greater seat pitch than in the rear. He said the company is also testing refundable, changeable fares with a few corporations; currently, all JetBlue's standard fares are nonrefundable. And he said the airline may also be open to negotiating fares with corporations based on the volume of travel they could provide.

 

[wildirishrose]

Art,

Thank you for your efforts on behalf of everyone, and I am very sorry for the loss of your "family member", as another poster so accurately put it.

You are spot on with the observations quoted above. Here is a story from an American Express SkyGuide e-mail I received today:
JetBlue may start courting business travelers, corporate accounts

JetBlue Airways CEP David Neeleman told a group of corporate travel managers in New York last week that his airline is planning to make some changes in its policies and fares to appeal more to the needs of business travelers. According to the trade publication Business Travel News, Neeleman told the managers that JetBlue is "in the process of rolling out a program" that would reserve some preferred seats on the airline's all-coach Airbus planes for passengers who book at the last minute and thus pay the highest fares. The preferred places would include aisle seats in the front of the aircraft - an area where JetBlue offers greater seat pitch than in the rear. He said the company is also testing refundable, changeable fares with a few corporations; currently, all JetBlue's standard fares are nonrefundable. And he said the airline may also be open to negotiating fares with corporations based on the volume of travel they could provide.

You are spot on. In this day and age of competitive fares, all we have left to give is customer service. Thats the only thing that differentiates us from the rest of the pack.

 

[BuffaloJoe]

Thank You Very Much Art, Sorry to hear about Your Personal Loss.