Off to Tempe

[N924PS]

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

FYI-It's not a West attitude.

 

[crusher]

Give us the right tools (NOT SHARES) and we will take you around the world, Keep doing what you are doing(SHARES) and we are unabe to get you across the street. We need the tools for the next century not the last one.

 

[yvrusfa]

Art,

As a "west" employee and one who has frequently defended Tempe on this board, I do want to thank you for your "above and beyond" trip to Corp.to work for the employees interests and for the VFF's.

I still believe that senior mgmt. is trying to build a great airline, but lately there certainly have been some dropped balls from their court.
From time to time it is important for important folks like you and those you represent to keep em' honest.

Sounds like it went well and lets hope so.

Thanks again Art!

 

[wench1]

1) Thank You Art for opening 'Their'eyes.
2) My sympathy to your family for your loss....pets are WONDERFUL-they enrich our lives..

**hugs***

 

[Art at ISP]

My Dear Friends,

First, thank you for the outpouring of support and sympathy on the loss of my puppy Shelby--she blessed our lives for almost 17 years, and I can only say that the choices made were the right ones in the end.

I would also like to thank my wonderful friends here for the kind words and support for my "mission". There is much more to what happened while I was there, and some of the things I asked for are under serious consideration at this time, and when I get positive answers I will post loud and clear.

I am confident at the end of the day, regardless of the result, my voice (and by extension the voices of the VFF's AND employees), was heard. The discussions held were up front, honest, and to quote a TV news personality, held in a "no spin zone". We talked about the good, the bad, the ugly, and the REAL ugly.

One thing I neglected to mention is that I can say beyond the shadow of a doubt that the new Director of Customer Service, Ms. Henri Dawes, definitely gets it. She knows where things truly are today, and she is very involved in taking immediate steps to improve both the response time and the quality of the responses to complaints received. There are a number of initiatives currently in the planning stages to improve communication between her department and customers, and IN PARTICULAR, elite customers. Based on what I have heard, and what was discussed during my visit, I am confident that Customer Service will become much more effective, and will provide much more than just complaint resolution, as some of you feel it does today.

Again, there are certain benchmarks which were discussed, and as soon as I have a firm timetable for a response I will report to you.

The more I think about it, the more I am encouraged by the meetings I had in Tempe yesterday.

Stay tuned.......

My best to you all.....

 

[robbedagain]

Thank you very much Art for taking time to let tempe here you and everything I send my sympathies for th eloss of your family memeber. i can only hope that some positive changes be coming thanks againg and thanks for keepin us posted

 

[Hope777]

Art, THANK YOU. In this day and age, it would be so easy for You and the rest of the VFF's to take your Business elsewhere. I Thank All of you for hanging in there just as my fellow Employees have done thru the years. Thanks Again and VERY Sorry for your loss. What they did is one of the Hardest things to do.

 

[LGA777]

Art, just want to add my thanks both for your efforts and time on your trip to Tempe. People like you are a rare breed and we are very fortunant to have you on our team. Also as others have said although I am sure it has been tempting to jump ship, especially after some very positive experiances on the competition, but you haven't, and you still seem focused on making a differance, and for that many are greatful ! Something possibly good about the timing of your meeting is DP's current trip to FCO. While some may laugh at me for thinking this I am optomistic he sitting in the back of an A-330 for 8 hours with his family, feeling cramped with the reduced legroom seating and having to eat a transatlantic meal served in a cardboard box followed later with only a donut for breakfast and perhaps coments from other customers and employess will help him realize US needs to spend more on amenities, especially on International. And finally not only do you and your family have my sympothy over your loss but also I have been there, at age 20 my mom and I made the same painfull call for our beloved best friend of 17 years, that I had since age 3. It won't be an easy week at your home but at least Shelby gave your family so many years of happiness !

Regards

LGA777

 

[cactusflyer]

Art,

Just wanted to add my thanks for your trip to Tempe. My hope is that they truly "heard" you. My condolences on the loss of your puppy dog, our pets really are our family.

 

[Squonk]

Art,

Check your PM

B)

 

[drifterreno]

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.

Art--when are you guys coming up my way??? I heard you had a wonderful time with Mama and she called me on her way home. I have some stuff to tell you but you know how it is. Keeping my nose clean and out of trouble--at least for now.

 

[as the prop turns]

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...

Art,

First and foremost, please accept my condolences on the loss of your beloved puppy. I hope the pain of your loss subsides soon.

The boys in Tempe are really quite good at lip service but in the end they will do whatever they want. Spoke at great length will a CP today who has done personal business with DP and said the guy is an idiot. He has been talking to a lot us USAir employees over they system the last week, and we are all singing the same song. We have been told here in PHL that Sabre will NEVER come back and the a/c they are reconfiguring is going ahead as planned (they are destroying our airlplanes to squeeze a few more pax onboard). Mr. CP, John, going from PHL to DTW did agree with me that they are so used to dealing with Southwest in PHX and "following" their business model, that unless they start thinking "globally" we are doomed. The airport in PHL today was dead. Pax are cancelling reservations like crazy and our corporate accounts have contacted other carries to be picked up. Easter week bookings are almost non-existant. Employees are planning vacations over that week because the flights are so open. I know these guys and how they operate. Real friendly, receptive but ultimatley you and especially senior USAir employees have no idea what we are talking about. If I didn't know better, I would SWEAR they use phycological manipulation to bamboozle all.

 

[cactusflyer]

Art,

First and foremost, please accept my condolences on the loss of your beloved puppy. I hope the pain of your loss subsides soon.

The boys in Tempe are really quite good at lip service but in the end they will do whatever they want. Spoke at great length will a CP today who has done personal business with DP and said the guy is an idiot. He has been talking to a lot us USAir employees over they system the last week, and we are all singing the same song. We have been told here in PHL that Sabre will NEVER come back and the a/c they are reconfiguring is going ahead as planned (they are destroying our airlplanes to squeeze a few more pax onboard). Mr. CP, John, going from PHL to DTW did agree with me that they are so used to dealing with Southwest in PHX and "following" their business model, that unless they start thinking "globally" we are doomed. The airport in PHL today was dead. Pax are cancelling reservations like crazy and our corporate accounts have contacted other carries to be picked up. Easter week bookings are almost non-existant. Employees are planning vacations over that week because the flights are so open. I know these guys and how they operate. Real friendly, receptive but ultimatley you and especially senior USAir employees have no idea what we are talking about. If I didn't know better, I would SWEAR they use phycological manipulation to bamboozle all.

Sadly, you hit the nail right on the head!

 

[US1YFARE]

Sadly, you hit the nail right on the head!

I agree. I think it is all a bunch of crap. I hope I'm wrong.

Sorry about your dog.

 

[SegmentKing]

Here's another thing HP doesn't get.... PRICING

Friend was doing a group (65 pax) from PHX to Mexico, I even checked the loads in Shares... had 10 pax on each flight on A320/A319s. Fare was $650 roundtrip.

Mentioned Alaska to her, she called, don't fly PHX-Mexico, but they do fly LA-Mexico... B737-900s and fare was $309 r/t.

United gave her $140 r/t PHX-LAX, HP wanted $245 r/t, WN wanted $125...

so now she's going PHX-LAX on UA and LAX-Mexico on AS.

Wouldn't one think that HP would have wanted this business nonstop?

Oh, 1/2 of her passengers are US Golds and highers. they all tried to get published fare reservations on their own, was quoted about the same rate as the group rate on HP.

The way things are going, I wish HP would have kept the HP name.... the fact they kept the US name is starting to be a disgrace.