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- Aug 26, 2002
- 188
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After working through the Valentine's Day Massacre and now the March Madness, I am struck that US doesn't have anyone in overall control of the moment to moment operation. We have 2 mainline dispatches and 7 express dispatches working away trying to keep up with the changing circumstances but no one to coordinate their efforts, sorta of a super operations contol issuing orders to all the dispatches. It is clear that even on good days the express dispatches have a totally different focus. Express will operate flights 4-5 hours late to keep their completion factor up and get paid. If the airplane is full or empty, they get paid as long as it operates. The impact of running a sequence hours late in a hub system is devastating to passengers and station employees. They also refuse to cancel ahead even when faced with the certainity of events. They would rather wait until they have to cancel before doing it. Of course this puts the passengers at the airport and upset and long lines for agents to try and rebook. The article in last weeks USA Today pointed out that customer service staffs have taken the major hit since 9/11. We have seen that there simply aren't enough agents to service the customers unless the operation is perfect. Somebody needs to look days ahead and adjust the whole operation to fit the anticipated circumstances. Cancelling a day or two ahead gives everyone a chance to cope without standing in line at the airport for hours or stranded on a aircraft waiting for a gate or missing a connection and then spending days and nights in PHL.
