Phl Factor - Again!

[DFWCC]

I'm not sure what Management would do about bags not being off-loaded on time. 3 hours to pick up bags? Where were the people whose JOB it is to unload baggage? No offense, but that's not necessarily management's job.

Maybe the crew was getting off the clock or going on their assigned lunch period. Sometimes crews are told to marshall an aircraft in and go to lunch and are then sent to a different gate.. Another was to have been assigned to unload it, but the supervisor forgot to assign a ramp crew to unload the aircraft. The plane may have then been pushed to a parking pad and forgot about.
SEE, it always isn't just the ramp crew's fault. Maybe it was a SUPERVISOR who screwed up. Remember they would never admit it.

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

. Especially at a company where inititive is not rewarded and occassionally punished.

Jim

A painfully true observation! A certain UAIR employee with whom I am familiar has (yet again) just experienced this first hand. (Not that it had anything to do with the bag stituation in PHL).

 

[jimntx]

I'm not sure what Management would do about bags not being off-loaded on time. 3 hours to pick up bags? Where were the people whose JOB it is to unload baggage? No offense, but that's not necessarily management's job.

Under normal circumstances, no. But this doesn't sound like it was normal circumstances, does it?

Ask yourself. If this were WN, and they had an unusual number of sick calls by rampers, and Herb Kelleher was there in his ubiquitous jumpsuit, do you think he would be standing up on the concourse, looking out the window at the unloaded bags, and saying, "It's not my job, man"???? I can tell you the answer is a resounding NO.

I've flown WN maybe 10 times in my life and I've witnessed incidents of WN executives working the ramp and/or the gate. Their attitude has always seemed to be to take care of the problem first, then decide how to avoid it in the future.

 

[MarkMyWords]

I now that everyone wants to believe that the ramp agents in Philly are sitting in the breakroom watching tv while your flight sits....but that's just not true. The only time anyone sits these days is when they are taking their 1/2 hour lunch break. (legally and contractully deserving) Although I will admit, if they haven't had their break 5 hours into their shift...they take it! If a flight sits because of that...it sits. We are tired of getting a "paid lunch" everyday. The agents want and NEED the break.
Philly just isn't staffed properly. There isn't a crew available for every gate. After 8:30pm it drops down to 1 crew for 3 gates and after 10:30 there are 5 ramp agents to handle 5 flights that all come in within an hour and most with 5000lbs. plus. Management in PHL has always felt that the local passengers can wait as long as it takes to get the bags to them. Local bags have NEVER been a priority in Phl!!
Example:
The other night I was that only one on a 6000 lbs. offload. I parked it and hooked up the power then took the claim at gates up. I offloaded that connecting bags for the runner and pulled up the carts for the local bags....I then waited 1/2 hour for help. Two leads fianlly walked out and said that they didn't know I was the only one on the flight. (THEY posted the schedule that had only my name listed for the flight!!) After unloading the local bags the leads walked inside, I climbed out off the belly and ran the 180 local bags 1hour and 20 min. after it arived!
The new station mamager is hiring people hand over fist....but it's too little too late. The agents in PHL are beat up and not willing to stay 1 min. past the end of there shift to cover managements staffing model blunder! Management doesn't have a clue whats going on....some have no airline experience....the leads don't take responsablity....and no one is held accountable.
Less then 40% of the ramp in Philly is from Philly....the people you now call deadbeats are the same ones who worked their ass off along with you in PIT, BWI, DAY, IND, TPA, CLT, LGA and so on. We try to make Philly work despite the deplorable conditons we are given.

Just my $0.02.....end of rant!

Crushed -

Very good post and very true that the CCY staffing models do not work in PHL. It is my sincere hope that the new management team - when fully in place - will have free run of the station with minimal involvement from CCY. I know that Donna has been charged with fixing the PHL hub - hopefully Al will give her free reign over what needs to take place in this station. Not to say employee attitudes don't need to change also, but the biggest step in fixing things would be to get the resources needed to run the station. This includes employees, equipment and effective managers and supervisors.

 

[crushed]

- hopefully Al will give her free reign over what needs to take place in this station.

Oh Please!
Al IS the problem!
He HATES Philly!
When he was here a few months back he brought up the "wildcat walkout" of 198-something! I say 198-something because I don't know when it was! I wasn't even in Philly then. Al needs to get over it!!
He has this "if PHL says they need it then NO...I will not give in the their demands" mentality.
He is sure showing us...... :down:

 

[MarkMyWords]

I agree Crushed......Uncle Al is a huge part of the problem. How often have you ever seen him in PHL to see the problems first hand? Hopefully his days are numbered.

 

[MrAeroMan]

Oh Please!
Al IS the problem!
He HATES Philly!
When he was here a few months back he brought up the "wildcat walkout" of 198-something! I say 198-something because I don't know when it was! I wasn't even in Philly then. Al needs to get over it!!
He has this "if PHL says they need it then NO...I will not give in the their demands" mentality.
He is sure showing us...... :down:

Al has been the problem for years yet he is still allowed to browbeat those that do the real work. He's no leader as that would require vision, he's no leader as he has no compassion, he's no leader because he refuses to listen, he's no leader because he's Big Al C. with a chip on his shoulder that would make Mt. Everest look like a bunny hill. The person can fix PHL is Donna P. but if Big Al sticks his little boot in the mix all bets are off. He just needs to go manage an IHOP someplace or better yet a little 7-11.

 

[RedOne]

First, I don't work at PHL. Can offer a few thoughts.
...Agents sitting around. May be on paid lunch. May be part-time emplolyees between split shifts. May be cargo agent on lunch or break at ops break room. May be off duty agent waiting on "friend" to get off to go to where-ever.
...Just as at maint, or on aircraft. Just because a person is in the uniform, it don't mean they are on duty and available to work. If an agent is there in uniform and is not on duty he does not have the authority to say, "Boy, they sure are short of help...I think I'll work some overtime and bail them out of this situation." Overtime call-in procedures as established by the contract must be followed.
.....
I've said it before, but at my age I tend to repeat myself. The crews on the airplane will never experience what the ground crews experience....WORKING SHORT. If you ain't got the help (as required for the aircraft by the FAA) the flight cancells. If the ground crew aint got the help...they do the best they can.

 

[Fubijaakr]

Burning the sick banks before the doors close?

Truth!

 

[Harry Callahan]

Crushed, this is a great post & thanks for sharing the PHL info. Some of the people that critize fleet service need to try to do these jobs. Most would not last one shift much less day after day working short all time & told to do more & more. We are humans & no matter what our personal opinions are we can only do so much. We are beat up we are wounded.......

 

[mweiss]

Their attitude has always seemed to be to take care of the problem first, then decide how to avoid it in the future.

The hallmark of a successful company.

 

[Harry Callahan]

First, I don't work at PHL. Can offer a few thoughts.
...Agents sitting around. May be on paid lunch. May be part-time emplolyees between split shifts. May be cargo agent on lunch or break at ops break room. May be off duty agent waiting on "friend" to get off to go to where-ever.
...Just as at maint, or on aircraft. Just because a person is in the uniform, it don't mean they are on duty and available to work. If an agent is there in uniform and is not on duty he does not have the authority to say, "Boy, they sure are short of help...I think I'll work some overtime and bail them out of this situation." Overtime call-in procedures as established by the contract must be followed.
.....
I've said it before, but at my age I tend to repeat myself. The crews on the airplane will never experience what the ground crews experience....WORKING SHORT. If you ain't got the help (as required for the aircraft by the FAA) the flight cancells. If the ground crew aint got the help...they do the best they can.

I offer a great big second to this one also. Another excellent post.......

 

[crushed]

The PHL station manager...oops, I mean "director"....said on Manday that with the July schedule the ramp will have 8 agents for 3 gates!
Wow Frank! That's one LESS than we are working with now!

Maybe he should go join his buddy Dave!

At Usairways SAFETY FIRST means "Damage our employees not our airplanes"

 

[mweiss]

To help my ignorance, could one of you explain why you need more than two agents per gate? AS seems to do fine with that ratio.

 

[Harry Callahan]

To help my ignorance, could one of you explain why you need more than two agents per gate? AS seems to do fine with that ratio.

Its a big safety issue. You have 2 agents in the bins(loading the bags freight mail)
You have one on the ground who puts the above items on the belt loader. You can NOT load the bins with only one agent. And also on one type of airplane (321) you need 3 in the bins and that does not happen. Many ojis do this reason alone and lost time from work. A "small" of & on load these days is 6000lbs off another 6000 back on. Then they want it done all over again. People are human even though the company don't think so. They give out. Hence a lot of sick calls & I dare say most are job related.........